The Author
Partial list of presentations, 2011. |
WelcomeHooray! Book Number Two is all ready for the printer, with wonderful photos, courtesy of the CCC Legacy archives, from all over the United States. IMAGES FROM THE PAST is just waiting for the CIP information for the inside of the cover page - which seems to take much longer for a book for young people than for an adult book. Waiting with baited breath, hoping for a publication date of June 15, and already planning presentations for the summer and fall.
I've learned SO much about the Civilian Conservation Corps over the past year, lots of it by doing presentations at libraries, schools and historical socieites whose audience held people with relatives in the CCC. And great research opportunities from archival material has led me to change focus a bit. There is just too much to be said to not expand the years covered. Book Two is still mostly concerned with Ascutney, and very much with Will and his life and relationship with the CCC and his friends. Book Two is now 1934 - 1935 and called DANGER ON THE MOUNTAIN. Book Three will be 1936 - 1937, sill titled TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN. Sales of Book One are wonderful, and I'm available for presentations all through the spring and summer. ( I also still present on Lewis and Clark, and have several of those dates coming up in April.) It's been fun! Now I'm starting to write Book Three - I can't seem to get away from Will and Ascutney and the CCC. Though Lewis and Clark and the Expedition will always be close to my heart and mind, the Civilian Conservation Corps and what it gave to the United States in a time of deep trouble has joined them! The cover photo on Book One below, was taken by master photographer Richard CoFrancesco, and the boy in it is my own grandson (yes, named Will). An album of photos of the men and buildings on Mount Ascutney, Camp #129, were loaned to us by Sharlene McEachern. They belonged to her father, who was a CCC member in Camp 129. Photos from that collection, along with other archival photos, will continue throughout the series of three books. Huge thanks to Rick White and Ethan Phelps of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation, who gave and loaned me research materials and fact checked the book. I presented in Ascutney and Wilgus State Parks last summer, where the book can be purchased, as well. 
Invasion on the Mountain is the first of a series of three books set in 1933, 1934 -35, and 37-37 based on the author's solid historical research, familiarity with the region, and imagined young protagonist. Twelve year old Will Ryan, in the spring of 1933, learns he must share his beloved Ascutney Mountain with the young men of the 129th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps. This invasion turns out, through many adventures, to benefit both Will and his new CCC friends. The specific corpsmen who become his friends are also imaginary - but their tasks, travails, and stories are actual details and anecdotes from Ascutney and other CCC camps. Includes historic photos of the camp, road building, and the terrain.
The narrative is followed by: short essays on the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the corpsman's album from which photos have been chosen to illustrate the book; and eight Topics and Questions for Discussion focused on issues in the book. Ordering Information:
90 pages 6" x 9" ISBN 978-1-884592-53-9 Paperback, $12.50 Available May 2011 Invasion on the Mountain The Adventures of Will Ryan and the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933 It is also possible to order from the author, same price and mailing fees. Click on "Contact", above, for mailing address and information. |
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