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Read in the Blue Line

Black stories from St. Lawrence County

Over recent years many of us have learned that New York’s North Country had long been a more ethnically diverse area than has been appreciated. Older histories that categorically denied any permanent indigenous presence have been refuted. Furthermore, plenty of evidence confirms more African ...

A different kind of guidebook

The Adirondacks have generated guidebooks galore. The newest does not, for the most part, give trail information, describe summit views or tell how to find a trailhead. What it does do, in considerable and exquisite detail, is present aspects of the histories of nearly 30 specific locations, ...

In honor of bold and courageous women

In honor of Women’s History month, this week’s book review discusses “Bold and Courageous: 25 North Country New York Women and Their Exceptional Contributions” by Daniel LaDue. The author is a retired English and Spanish teacher and librarian. A Plattsburgh native, LaDue still lives ...

McKibben explores big questions in memoir

In 2005, environmental activist Bill McKibben wrote “Wandering Home,” a chronicle of his journey from Vermont to his Adirondack residence in Johnsburg. The optimistic subtitle of the book is “A Long Walk Across America’s Most Hopeful Landscape.” That hope is mostly gone in ...

A work worth rereading

New books keep piling up. Consequently I don’t go back and re-savor favorite novels as often as I probably should. That deficiency in my behavior became eminently clear as I reread Russell Banks’ “The Sweet Hereafter” for this review. Banks’ death just over a year ago, in January ...

The dark side of the Olympics

Those who’ve been around the Tri-Lakes long enough can remember the gilded moments of the 1980 Winter Olympics: The elegant opening ceremonies, more suited to their setting than today’s made-for-TV extravaganzas; speed skater Eric Heiden’s seemingly daily accumulation of gold medals; and ...