The review of the book can be found HERE

Thank You Weston for accepting to be interviewed by Bookpleasures and sharing your thoughts about It Happened in Woodstock with our readers.

Norm-Can you tell us something about yourself and your sister Julia, and why you and your sister went into the publishing business?

Weston

After the death of our mother in 1999 Julia and I inherited Stonecrop—the stone house built by Anita Smith in Woodstock, NY. Julia was working in market intelligence in New York City with clients such as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Disney, and I was living in the Eastern Townships in Austin, PQ, doing a syndicated book show on radio. We decided to join forces, re-locate to Woodstock, and resurrect a family publishing venture. Our current titles include Anita Smith’s Woodstock History and Hearsay, It Happened in Woodstock and As True as the Barnacle Tree.

Norm

It Happened in Woodstock was published by your family in 1972 honoring the blue ray. Can you tell us why they had embarked on this project and why they wanted to honor the blue ray?

Weston

Anita Smith passed away in 1968, and she had been a very close friend of our family. To honor her memory we decided to bring out an updated history of Woodstock…and so It Happened in Woodstock was launched in 1972.

The Woodstock area has long been identified with the color blue. At one time hemlocks dominated the landscape, giving the mountains a blue aspect. For this reason the Native Americans named a nearby mountain range the “Onteoras”—meaning “land of the blue sky.” Another neighboring area is called “Blue Mountain.” Further, bluestone is pervasive in Woodstock’s mountainous terrain. A reading of occult books—and in particular, texts on color therapy—revealed that our planet is entering the “blue” Age of Aquarius. Traits of this age include an emphasis on healing, diplomacy, meditation and creativity. Blue (Aquarian) Woodstock is blessed with this creative force, and it was our hope that a book infused with “the blue ray” would help readers access that special energy.

Norm

Who gave you the idea of using reverse lithography, and has this ever been done before?

Weston

We were prompted through meditation to employ the reverse lithography format. To our knowledge this “blue print book” is unique.

Norm

How did your family manage to gather all of the photos and tidbits that are included in the book, and how did they decide which ones to publish?

Weston

Anita Smith wrote Woodstock History and Hearsay in 1959. Her files were the source of many of the photos. Our idea was to tell a story with photos and captions alone—so that even without the text, readers could get a good sense of the narrative.

Norm

I understand you are the principals in a new WoodstockArts company; perhaps you can tell our readers something more about the company and its objectives?

Weston

WoodstockArts, our publishing and production company, is about all the arts of Woodstock, including the art of living. We have adopted an image of Pan, the Greek nature god, as our logo. On our website (www.woodstockarts.com) we are creating a clearinghouse for arts in the Woodstock area—through calendar listings and by coordinating various ventures such as the 2002 guitar festival. At the same time we are trying to promote an ecologically responsible “new/blue age” consciousness. (On a personal note we recently traded in a Jeep Cherokee Limited for a Prius—Toyota’s hybrid automobile. The car is blue, of course, and its license plate reads “Blue Ray.”)

Norm

When I read a newspaper clip from the August 16, 2001 edition of the Woodstock Times, it mentioned that Stonecrop, the publisher of the book, is also the name of the home you and your sister Julia inherited from Anita Smith. Please tell the readers who Anita Smith is and her connection to the book.

Weston

Anita Smith came to Woodstock from Philadelphia in 1912 to study art—with money intended for a ball gown. Her work was eventually exhibited internationally at such venues as the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Art Gallery of Toronto (as well as the Woodstock Artists Association). Anita Smith’s work may be classified as impressionist and post-impressionist and she painted until the early 1930’s. At this point she was becoming a collector of folklore—and she authored one of the first papers for the fledgling Woodstock Historical Society in 1931. In 1934 she began work as an herbalist and by 1940 she was dubbed the “Herb Lady of the Catskills” in an article that appeared in the New York Herald Tribune. Smith’s garden was one of only four of its type on the East Coast, and her many clients included H. J. Heinz. In 1954 she embarked on a third career as full-time writer—and published the town’s first official history: Woodstock History and Hearsay.

Norm

How do you go about marketing the book?

Weston

We re-released It Happened in Woodstock in conjunction with the 2002 centennial celebration of the Woodstock art colony. Our press releases noted the colony’s historic past at Byrdcliffe and the famous Festival of 1969—and its continued existence today via music, sculpture, film and poetry festivals. This centennial story garnered us a worldwide Associated Press article and other international publicity. The eighteen-month celebration concludes in September 2003, and we are continuing to promote the book through reviews in various outlets. In 2004 we hope to raise awareness regarding the blue ray and the new/blue age via a campaign to designate February (Aquarius) Blue Ray Month.

Norm

Are there any other books you plan to publish?

Weston

We will be bringing out a revised second edition of Woodstock History and Hearsay in early 2004 and we are readying several other projects.