Reviewer Persis ("Perky") Granger: Perky is
an avid reader and a writer of fiction and nonfiction, including
Adirondack Gold, A Summer of Strangers and Shared Stories from
Daughters of Alzheimer's: Writing a path to peace. She studied at the
College of Wooster (OH) and the University of Massachusetts
(Amherst), earning a BA at the latter. She later completed her Master
of Science in Teaching at SUNY Plattsburgh.
She presents
programs to adults and youth, and hosts writers’ retreats in New
York and Florida. Learn more at www.PersisGranger.com (also accessed
as www.FictionAmongFriends.com.)
Author: Glenn Pearsall
ISBN: 978-1-886166-20-2
Publisher: Pyramid Publishing 2008 for Johnsburg Historical Society
Author: Glenn Pearsall
ISBN: 978-1-886166-20-2
Publisher: Pyramid Publishing 2008 for Johnsburg Historical Society
In Echoes in These Mountains, Glenn Pearsall has tackled the
herculean task of capturing the history of fifty-five historic sites
in the town of Johnsburg, NY. Originally planned as a short guide for
a self-guided auto tour, the text of Echoes in These Mountains
mushroomed as Pearsall discovered documents, photographs and oral
history to supplement his material. A highly readable history that
will appeal to the dilettante as well as the scholarly historian,
Pearsall’s book is a pleasant blend of research and local
recollections. Readers will enjoy following the author’s
speculation about the path of Sir John Johnson’s military trail,
his recounting of the rags-to-riches life of poet/model Jeanne Robert
Foster, or his discussions of Johnsburg’s garnet and graphite
mines, ski areas, tanneries, woolen and calico mills and sheep and
dairy farms in Johnsburg. We learn about the enterprises of John
Thurman and his relatives, and the people they induced to move to
what must have seemed a godforsaken country. We are introduced to
famous people whose lives touched and were touched by this Adirondack
town – Theodore Roosevelt, photographer Matthew Brady, perfume
magnate Richard Hudnut, movie star Rudolph Valentino, railroad tycoon
Thomas Durant, preservationist Howard Zahniser and others. We are
even treated to some tidbits of juicy local gossip, like the tale of
Melissa Ordway
Those who wish to visit the fifty-five sites (some on public lands, some on private) may do so on a trip that covers about one hundred and three miles. GPS coordinates supplied for each site will confirm correct location. This reader found the many, many (well over two hundred) photographs in the book to be of invaluable help. Old photographs of many sites (loaned from private collections and from the Johnsburg Historical Society files) are displayed next to pictures recently snapped at the same location (and at the same angle) by the author—visual “echoes” of the old photos, if you will. Pearsall’s extensive bibliography offers lots of additional reading for those who wish to learn more. And after you’ve whetted your appetite with “Echoes in These Mountains,” you’re bound to want to read further. The Upstate History Alliance awarded “Echoes in These Mountains” a Certificate of Commendation in its 2008 competition.