Too often, the lives and works of authors who called Upstate New York home are overshadowed by the icons of New York City. Resting among Us uncovers the region's rich literary heritage through Steven Huff's journeys to the graves of writers both famous and celebrated as well as those that have been forgotten. While most Upstate residents are aware that Mark Twain's grave is in Elmira and that James Fenimore Cooper's is in Cooperstown, many people don't realize a noted author may be buried in their local cemetery. For instance, Paul Bowles is buried in Lakemont, John Gardner in Batavia, Rod Serling in Interlaken, John Burroughs in Roxbury, and Adelaide Crapsey in Rochester. Interwoven with these remarkable literary lives are the connected stories of the region's history and Huff's own encounters and friendships with some of the writers included in the book. With directions to each author's grave, as well as photographs of the graves and authors themselves, Resting among Us is the perfect companion for your own enlightening literary pilgrimage.
Steven Huff teaches creative writing in the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program at Lasell University in Boston. He is the former publisher and managing editor at BOA Editions, Ltd. and the founder of Tiger Bark Press.
Acknowledgments Introduction 1 East 1. Albany: Charles Fort 2. Auriesville: Daniel Berrigan 3. Austerlitz: Edna St. Vincent Millay 4. Cooperstown: James Fenimore Cooper, Susan Fenimore Cooper 5. Kingston: Walter B. Gibson 6. Roxbury: John Burroughs 7. Saratoga Springs: Mansfield Tracy Walworth, Charles Brackett 8. Stamford: Ned Buntline (Edward Zane Carroll Judson) 9. Woodstock: Howard Koch, Hervey White, Paula Danziger, Janine Pommy Vega Central 10. Clinton: Alexander Woollcott 11. Elmira: Mark Twain 12. Fayetteville: Matilda Joslyn Gage 13. Geneva: Sarah Hopkins Bradford 14. Hamilton: Walter R. Brooks 15. Interlaken: Rod Serling 16. Ithaca: Carl Sagan, Deborah Tall, A. R. Ammons, William Strunk Jr. 17. Lakemont: Paul Bowles 18. Newark: Charles R. Jackson 19. Ontario / Furnaceville: Jane Roberts 20. Port Byron: Clara Barrus 21. Syracuse: Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews, Edward Noyes Westcott 22. Pulaski: Claude Bragdon 23. Utica: Harold Frederic 24. Watertown: Frederick Exley West 25. Allegany / Olean: Robert Lax 26. Arcade: Fran Striker 27. Batavia: John Gardner 28. Brockport: A. Poulin Jr., Mary Jane Holmes 29. Buffalo: Al Boasberg, Shirley Chisholm, Leslie Fiedler, Anna Katherine Green, Edward Caleb Randall, Edward Streeter 30. Canandaigua: Austin Steward, John Chapin Mosher 31. Coldspring: Governor Blacksnake 32. Fredonia: Grace S. Richmond, Olive Risley Seward 33. Geneseo: Carl Carmer 34. Kendall: Anthony Piccione 35. Mayville: Albion Tourgee 36. Rochester: Susan B. Anthony, Adelaide Crapsey, Algernon Crapsey, Frederick Douglass, Lewis Henry Morgan, Lillian Wald, Edward R. Crone, Louise Brooks, Henry Clune, Arch Merrill 37. Rushford: Philip Wylie
Takes readers on a literary tour of Upstate New York, exploring the graves of authors who called this region home.
One of the many virtues of this book is that it will spark a renewed and deserved interest in some of these writers." - Bill Kauffman, author of Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism
