I recently took a trip to Saranac Lake, New York, located in the heart of the Adirondacks. Hypnotized by the mountains that I have missed so much since moving to Kansas more than a decade past, and with my lungs filled with the famously clean, crisp, cool mountain air noted for its curative effect on tuberculosis suffers (before antimycobacterial drugs were discovered), and with my feet toasty warm in my old winter jumper boots despite the foot-and-a-half of snow on the ground, I wandered in to a bookshop and discovered Adirondack Reflections (The History Press, 2013, $19.99). The 100-page collection of essays, poetry, and art is subtitled, “On Life and Living in the Mountains and the Valleys.”
Co-editor Neal Burdick, a Plattsburgh, New York native and St. Lawrence University graduate, is a freelance editor and writer who has been published in many different genres, running the gamut from fiction to non-fiction to poetry. Co-editor Maurice Kenny, a Watertown, New York native, “has been hailed by World Literature Today as the dean of Native American poetry. Also an essayist and reviewer, his work appears in nearly one hundred anthologies and textbooks.” [AR, p. 100]
In her forward, North Country Public Radio anchor Ellen Rocco boldly comes right out and states what she loves about the book: “It is unabashedly about this place, these Adirondacks. No excuses, like ‘the stories could happen anywhere,’ or ‘this is not a work by simply regional writers.’” She is not wrong, and that is a good thing. The book is divided into sections of essays and a bit of poetry about “The Land” and “The People,” and a final section of art, essays, and a bit more poetry about “The Flora and the Fauna.”
I have rarely read a collection of essays where I enjoyed every single one of the essays as I did here, and I will make some comments (without significant spoilers) about some of my favorites among the individual pieces presented, but first, some general comments. All of the essays were written by natives of or transplants to the Adirondack region. All of the authors were seduced by the unique, mostly wild, and oftentimes dangerous landscape of mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes. A fascinating common theme emerges of a paradoxical love of isolation and self-sufficiency while at the same time appreciating the small but tight-knit communities and community activities. These are the denizens of the Winterfell of our world, whose motto could easily be in truth, as expressed in George R. R. Martin’s fiction, “winter is coming.” Always the cold and the snow loom with a quiet menace.
My favorite essay in the collection is “From Wasteland to Wilderness” by Alan L. Steinberg. It may be found in the “The Land” section. Steinberg tells the story of how he grew up in poverty and in constant danger of a violent death in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of New York, a dismal concrete jungle where noise drowned out the songs of birds and light and air pollution hid all but the brightest stars. Then his life changed forever after he was sent to the Adirondacks for two weeks of summer camp as a fresh air child.
Another favorite, found in the “The People” section, is “In the Shadow of the Walls” by Lita Kelly. Few think about it (or even know about it), but the Adirondacks is home to Dannemora Prison, a maximum security men’s state prison--a harsh place to be incarcerated, the beautiful view notwithstanding. Kelly’s family moved to the town of Dannemora where her father worked as a prison guard. The story of how her Adirondack experience was influenced by growing up in the proximity of the prison makes for an especially interesting read.
My favorite from the “The Flora and the Fauna” section is “Adirondack Goat Boy” by Jonathan Collier. Although the most common source of dairy products worldwide is goat’s milk (a fact I learned by reading the essay), the raising of goats and the use of goat products is not common in the United States and particularly not common in the Adirondacks. Collier tells of how he grew up on a goat farm and earned the (at first) unwanted moniker “Goat Boy.” His transformative moment came when he joined the local 4-H Club. The story is heartwarming and, in a way, a triumph of the human spirit. Collier could have been that loner who shoots up a school. Instead, he embraced who and what he is, “owned” it, and went on to become a happy and financially successful maker of goat’s milk products.
It would help at least to have visited the Adirondacks in order to fully appreciate the nuances of this lovely and inspiring collection of essays. It is definitely a regional book--and unabashedly so as Rocco notes. That said, I believe city dwellers, flatlanders, southerners, and even foreigners would still enjoy reading Adirondack Reflections. The collection can easily be read in one sitting (I did that). I recommend waiting for a cold day and choosing a comfortable chair before a roaring fire to set the mood.
