Credit card orders, visit www.nhbooksellers.com

Conveniently print out our online ORDER form and mail to: Plaidswede Publishing Co. PO Box 269 Concord NH 03302-0269

NEW:  Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New England Lives by John Walters, 22.95

John Walters, the creator and former host of ‘The Front Porch’ on New Hampshire Public Radio, has published Roads Less Traveled: Visionary New England Lives.

In the course of his work as a writer and radio personality, John Walters has interviewed some of the most extraordinary people in New Hampshire and Vermont. For Roads Less Traveled he has written extended profiles of some of his very favorite people.
Including:

Bob McQuillen, Peterborough, N.H.: Contra dance musician and composer, and retired teacher at Conval Regional High School in Peterborough High School. 
Kate Phillips, Keene, N.H.: Hollywood actress in the 1930s and ‘40s, screenwriter for television and film. Most notable work was The Blob, the original sci-fi quickie, starring Steve McQueen. (Phillips, now deceased, was a well-known and beloved figure in the Keene State College community.) 
 Walters writes of brilliance, talent, dedication, and persistence; of devotion to an art, craft, a cause; or simply of a life lived long and well. He writes of people who have, quite literally, taken a road less traveled. They have pursued their own visions. Their stories testify to the breadth of human intelligence and creativity, and the indomitability of the human spirit.
John  Walters is a writer, editor and radio journalist. He was the creator and host of The Front Porch, an award-winning interview show on New Hampshire Public Radio. He is a former resident of Elkins, N.H., and now lives in East Montpelier, Vt. He is the managing editor of The Bridge, a weekly newspaper, and is the 2009 winner of the Donald M. Murray Outstanding Journalism Award presented by the New Hampshire Writers’ Project.

Fritz Wetherbee’s In Good Company, Fritz Wetherbee, $19.95

We never doubted Fritz would keep his promise to tell 1,000 remarkable stories about New Hampshire. In fact, with the publication of FOUR bestsellers and this FIFTH volume, he’s getting close!

Fans of all ages fill lecture halls, book signings, conventions and town events to hear “that voice” talk about New Hampshire.In this collection of tales, Fritz shows us the strength of human values and heroic toil in four chapters: “Stories,” “Towns,” “People,” and “The Wetherbees.”

You will be introduced to:

* The first Englishman to explore the Isles of Shoals

* The courageous pilots of the Flying Circus

* The brave engineer in Barrington’s train wreck

* The Henniker Shakers who were hustled out of town

* New Hampshire folks who rushed for gold

And you will learn about:

* Frightened townspeople fighting a plague

* A gruesome grave robbery in Hopkinton

* The famous White Mountain Freezers

* The REAL first battle of the American Revolution

Mutual Aid, Ruth Doan MacDougall, $19.95

As Mercy Wheeler Blodgett says of herself, she seems to be related to almost everybody in the small town of Chiswick, New Hampshire. To those she isn’t, her husband, Bob, is likely to be. Just when a mill closing in 1986 costs the Blodgetts their jobs, this town is suddenly terrorized by an arsonists, and heart attacks may cause Bob his life.

( The title of Ruth Doan MacDougall’s new novel, Mutual Aid, refers to the emergency system in which fire departments from neighboring towns assist each other, but it also emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of all people, whether they are family, friends, or, as with Mercy and the young man who has become her pen pal, strangers at the outset. The word ‘aid’ summons up the word ‘AIDS,’ and this, too, is part of the story.)

Ruth is the recipient of the New Hampshire Writer’s Project Lifetime Achievement Award, and Professor Ann Norton of St. Anselm College said in her nomination, “Critics have accorded her high praise for her spare yet lyrical realism. To my mind, MacDougall is the quintessential New Hampshire writer…”

Ruth Doan MacDougall was born and grew up in New Hampshire, where she lives with her husband, Don. In addition to writing novels, she updates her father’s hiking books.

Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter, Steve Delaney, $19.95

Who is Kevin Beaujolais?

Some of the people in Nilesburgh, Vermont, know a bit about him … but they don’t know everything. Newcomers know nothing. Kevin keeps to himself, works hard for the townspeople and hunters, and is somewhat of a Robin Hood figure. But he is a mystery man — even where he lives in town is a mystery.

How, in this day and time, can a fellow like Kevin Beaujolais live with us, work with us and … not exist?

Broadcaster Steve Delaney brings to life Kevin Beaujolais in his first novel, “Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter,” published by Plaidswede Publishing Co., of Concord, N.H. This is Delaney’s second book. The first, “Vermont Seasonings,” a collection of essays on life in Vermont, was published in 2007 by Plaidswede.

Kevin is one of the most vivid characters ever to bubble up from the deep well of Vermont fiction. His struggle between the fears that drive him to hide from bureaucracy and the love that tugs him toward the alluring Maureen drives this tale of romance and mischief … and mayhem. Their story unfolds in the northern Vermont town of Nilesburgh … a town that holds many secrets.

Delaney’s distinctive voice has been heard on Vermont Public Radio for the past decade. He has won national honors for two NBC White Paper television documentaries, and for radio documentaries and news programs produced for VPR. Delaney is a fifty-year broadcast journalist who has covered politics and other petty crime in Washington, finance and other felonies in New York and wars on three continents. He is the middle link in a five-generation family love affair with Lake Champlain and the state and now calls Milton his home. “Kevin” is his second book.

Wah-Say-Lan, James Smith, $19.95

She is a Seneca, a unique, courageous and adventurous woman.

He is a slave, a Continental soldier fighting for his freedom.

In their journey, they fall in love and cross paths with Cornplanter, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Lafayette and Red Jacket.

In his first novel, author Jim Smith tells the story of the Seneca, one of the six nations of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy and allies of the British in the Revolutionary War, and the love story of Wah-say-Lan and Freeman Trentham/Jamwesaw.

James Herbert Smith has been a journalist for 40 years. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors and is a member of the Academy of New England Journalists. He is the author of A Passion for Journalism, A Newspaper Editor Writes to his Readers. Smith is executive editor of The Bristol Press and The New Britain Herald in Connecticut.

The Birthday Gift, Ellie Kraner, $9.95

A popular pastor is sharing her grandmother’s mighty childhood lesson in a recently published book, “The Birthday Gift,” a tender, heart-filled story of “furry friend finders keepers.”

“The Birthday Gift” is a childhood memory of Ellie Kraner and is published by PlaidSwede Publishing of Concord, N.H. Her story is of little Ellie and the surprise she finds for her mother’s birthday. It is illustrated by Lin Bourie.

“Ellie comes out of Grove Street School in a hurry on Friday afternoons. She is heading to the grocery store on the corner. Ellie gets paid on Thursday for helping her mother with the dishes each night. She buys a special treat at the store and is walking to her Nana’s house . . . And who does she meet along the way?”

Author Ellie Blaisdell Kraner is pastor of the Brookfield, Massachusetts, Congregational Church and a marriage and family therapist and spiritual director. Her passions include kids, dogs, reading, travel and gardening. She and her husband Dave raised four daughters and are the grandparents of six. This is her first published book.

Artist Lin Bourie helps support a ministry that impacts the lives of disenfranchised women and children. Her latest projects include murals, portraits, house portraits, jewelry, and producing prints and cards of original work. She has illustrated a children’s book about the Stari Most Bridge in Mostar Bosnia. She and her husband George have raised their three daughters in central Massachusetts.

A portion of the proceeds go to helping the Sugar Cane Kids go to school and eat at least one meal a day.

On the eastern savannahs of the Dominican Republic, sugar cane is harvested by men who live in some of the most primitive conditions in the Western Hemisphere. They barely earn enough to feed themselves, let alone their families. Yet their families are happy. Their children play and laugh just like our kids, but they go to bed hungry most nights. If their families can afford the school uniform, shoes, and a few pesos for a meal, these Sugar Cane Kids can attend school. When they are allowed to attend school, many excel at their studies and go on to graduate from the best universities in the Dominican Republic.

New Hampshire Wine, James Beauregard, $19.95

Wine in New Hampshire? OF COURSE!

The state is dotted with beautiful scenic vineyards, not to mention private wine shops and state stores that offer the best of the land.

When it comes to wine in New Hampshire—the growing and the selling- Jim Beauregard knows and writes about it all.

Ever wanted to know the difference between Cab Sauv and Sangiovese but were too intimidated to ask? This “WINE 101” is for Granite State wine enthusiasts and beginners. This instructional and helpful guise includes an ever important glossary of wine terms, and information on New Hampshire wine tastings, bars, vineyards, specialty shops, even pairing wines for special occasions- including creating your own New Hampshire wine dinner. Grab a cork screw, some cheese and start tasting from the comfort of your own home!

Cheers!

Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire’s Favorite Son, by Peter A. Wallner.

The most recent biography of Franklin Pierce was published nearly seventy-five years ago. Yet the nation’s least known president is also one of the most charming, charismatic, and interesting men to ever hold the nation’s highest office. Described by his best friend Nathaniel Hawthorne as “deep, deep, deep,” with “most of the chief elements of a great ruler,” Pierce is also the greatest trial lawyer in New Hampshire history. A master politician at the state level, Pierce ruled over the most consistently successful state Democratic Party in the Northeast, before he and his supporters devised and executed the plan to capture the national party’s presidential nomination in 1852.

The first of two volumes on the life of Franklin Pierce, Wallner’s thoroughly researched, engagingly written account of Pierce’s rise to national prominence will surprise readers with accounts of the many triumphs and tragedies of Pierce’s life leading up to his presidency.

About the Author
Peter A. Wallner earned a B.A. from Waynesburg College (PA) and MA and PhD in U.S. history from The Pennsylvania State University. For thirty years he taught history and was a school administrator in Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania before moving to Concord, New Hampshire to research the life of Franklin Pierce. He continues to work for the New Hampshire Historical Society and teach as adjunct instructor at the New Hampshire Community Technical College at Nashua, and at Franklin Pierce College, Concord.

$32.95 ($29.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Hardback.
$21.95 ($18.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Franklin Pierce, Martyr for the Union, by Peter A. Wallner

This 500-page second volume of the presidential biography examines his life during and after the White House — and it throws everything we know about the Pierce administration out the window. Franklin Pierce is uniformly ranked among the nation’s worst presidents, but Wallner shows Pierce as an honest, dedicated president doing his best to avoid a civil war, and honoring the law of the nation, even at the cost of his political career.

Pierce’s low rating is often based solely on his advocacy of the explosive Kansas-Nebraska Act which ripped a national debate on slavery that had been calmed by the Compromise of 1850. By repealing the Missouri Compromise, the Act touched off violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers that led to “Bleeding” Kansas. The resulting turmoil over slavery brought about the end of the Whig Party, the formation of the Republican Party and, ultimately, the Civil War.

Wallner concludes that the life of Franklin Pierce is relevant today as he confronted many issues that still resonate including proposed restrictions on open immigration, the imposition of religious agendas into the political process, threats to individual liberties and the Bill of Rights, and the unchecked growth of presidential power particularly in time of war.

$35.45 ($31.95 plus $3.50 postage and handling). Hardback.
$27.00 ($24.00 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Fritz Wetherbee’s New Hampshire, by Fritz Wetherbee

New Hampshire’s master storyteller weaves the tales of the Granite State. You see him on WMUR-TV’s New Hampshire Chronicle now read his stories about the people, places and events in the state. This is the book that started it all – the First book of this delightful series!

Included stories: The Fitzwilliam Highwayman, Little Commodore Nutt, Suitor Horace Greeley, Controversial Hutchinson Family Singers, Hermit Ben Lear, Rail-fisted Ruel Durkee, New Hampshire’s Winston Churchill and, of course, the Wetherbees.

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

I’ll Tell You the Story, by Fritz Wetherbee

More New Hampshire stories from the master storyteller. Fritz Wetherbee, in his second Plaidswede volume, tells the tales of Daniel Webster’s bad table manners, Ocean Born Mary, how several towns got their names, and a mix of Granite State characters — Count Rumford, Aunt Jenny the Witch, Doctor Whipple, Prince Whipple, Mary Corliss’ cheese and Salmon Portland Chase. You seen and heard his stories on WMUR-TV’s New Hampshire Chronicle, now let Fritz tell you more of his stories.

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Fritz: More Stories From New Hampshire Chronicle, by Fritz Wetherbee

Floggings, flags, runaway daughters, death on Mount Washington, bears, and kinky schoolteachers of old. This third volume from New Hampshire’s master storyteller tells all about the state’s people, places and towns.
Fritz tells stories of:

• An English earl’s edict and his daughter’s daring escape to a lovely valley in New Hampshire…
• A shoeless Newport boy’s rapid rise to world shoemaking magnate…
• The general on horseback who refused to move as the enemy’s cannonball arched toward him…
• The romantic and treacherous life of the men who worked Manchester’s log run…
• An adopted black woman in Concord whose greatest fear was freedom…

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Fritz Wetherbee: Taken For Granite, by Fritz Wetherbee

Fritz has published his fourth collection of Granite State favorites. His popular series, which appear on the best-seller lists at New Hampshire book stores throughout the year, heat up town history with Fritz’s take on how people have lived in the Granite State from the first settlers to the present day.

In “Taken for Granite,” Fritz tells of a musical rat delighting wedding guests, the “instant” parade that celebrated Alan B. Shepard space ride, a Civil War veteran’s foolish wife sealing his fate, and Enoch Hale’s Bridge, a story of lust and greed. Then there’s Fritz’s opinion on New Hampshire’s best author (you’ll be surprised).

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Could Have Been Worse, by Becky Rule

It’s all Yankee.

You don’t have to claim any particular ethnic heritage, have seven generations in the ground, or even have been born in New England to be shaped by this rough, rocky landscape.

“Yankee” is an attitude, built on the bone-deep optimism of that old true saying, “Could have been worse.”
Rebecca Rule explores this attitude and many others that contribute to that highly philosophical, peculiar, and often humorous, state of being called “living yankee.”

This book is of true stores, an embellishment here and there, and, yes, outright lies. As only Becky Rule can tell.

$18.95 ($15.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Dead Sand: A Lewis Cole Mystery, by Brendan DuBois

Plaidswede Publishing has re-published the first novel in the acclaimed Lewis Cole mystery series by award-winning New Hampshire author Brendan DuBois.

The novel, DEAD SAND, was first published in 1994 by Otto Penzler Books, a division of Macmillan Publishing. Since that first novel in the Lewis Cole series, five more novels have been published. However, for newer readers of the Lewis Cole series, it has been nearly impossible to find a copy of DuBois’ first published novel.

DEAD SAND tells the tale of Lewis Cole, a former Department of Defense research analyst who investigates things mysterious in and around the New Hampshire seacoast. In DEAD SAND, the discovery of a body buried for more than 40 years and the murder of a teenage waitress are connected to a decades-long grudge of death and betrayal.
Since DEAD SAND, Lewis Cole has appeared in BLACK TIDE, SHATTERED SHALL, KILLER WAVES, BURIED DREAMS and PRIMARY STORM.

George Geers, owner of Plaidswede Publishing, said, “The Lewis Cole novels are the most well-known detective mystery series set in the state of New Hampshire, and they should remain in print for the benefit of Granite State readers. We’re happy to re-publish this and future Lewis Cole novels so that the adventures of Lewis Cole continue to be read and enjoyed.”

DuBois, 49, has published a total of eleven novels, two short story anthologies and one hundred short stories. His short fiction has twice won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America for Best Short Story of the Year, and has three times been nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an Edgar Allan Poe Award. His short stories have extensively been anthologized here and abroad, including the 2000 publication of “The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century,” edited by Tony Hillerman and Otto Penzler.

$21.95 ($18.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Bittersweet Beginnings: Sketchbook of a Great Depression Boyhood,
by James V. Wyman

Comprised of 23 essays, with prologue and epilogue, Bittersweet offers readers insightful reflections, observations and snapshot images of one boy’s odyssey through the economic nightmare that was the Great Depression for his family and millions of others. Wyman, retired executive editor of The Providence Journal chronicles a boyhood overshadowed but not overwhelmed by the Depression.

Ironically, the journey brought the author considerable joy, even as it schooled him in despair and the grimmer facts of life along the way. And, occasionally, it led him into wayward activities that tried the patience of his parents and his teachers.

For eight years, until he approached 12 in 1935, Marshall’s Corner, a rural neighborhood on the western outskirts of Brockton, Mass., was young Wyman’s beloved universe. And the setting for “Bittersweet Beginnings.” From this stage, readers are introduced to the boy, his home and family, his inner thoughts, concerns and interests, his favorite haunts and games. They also meet an arresting array of relatives, friends and neighbors, who enriched his life in varied, often enduring, ways. The story is told in the clear, often lyrical, voice of an author familiar with his subjects and the landscape they inhabit. In “Hard Times Shared,” readers learn how the boy, concerned about mounting family debt and his father’s lack of steady work, vowed to share his parents’ worries in silence, day by day. Among his concerns and regrets was the fact that he seldom saw his parents smile or laugh aloud.

Wyman worked for The Providence Journal for more than 44 years as a reporter and in a succession of editing and administrative roles. He retired in December of 1995 as vice president and executive editor. In 1989 he received the Yankee Quill Award from the New England Chapter Society of Professional Journalists and the New England Society of Newspaper Editors for contributions to excellence in New England journalism. He is a graduate of Boston University and a veteran of U.S. Army service in New Guinea and the Philippines during World War II. He lives in Wakefield, R.I. with his wife, Viola.

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback

Vermont Seasonings: Reflections on the Rhythms of a Vermont Year,
by Steve Delaney

The voice of Vermont is now in print.

“Vermont Seasonings: Reflections on the Rhythms of a Vermont Year” is broadcaster Steve Delaney’s affectionate salute to Vermont.
Delaney, self-described Recovering Flatlander, writes of Vermont in this weekly and seasonal collection of essays. A Recovering Flatlander, he says, is “a person from Away who has moved to Vermont and believes it is possible to pass as a Real Vermonter. It’s not.”

Delaney’s distinctive voice has been heard on Vermont Public Radio for the past decade. He has won national honors for two NBC White Paper television documentaries, and for radio documentaries and news programs produced for VPR. Delaney is a fifty-year broadcast journalist who has covered politics and other petty crime in Washington, finance and other felonies in New York and wars on three continents. He is the middle link in a five-generation family love affair with Lake Champlain and the state and now calls Milton his home. “Vermont Seasonings” is his first book.

In “Vermont Seasonings,” Delaney writes of sugaring (“The Fragrant Mists of Fairfield”), mud season (“That Joyant Sucking Sound”), families (“Reunion Season”), foliage (“Flo and Bert Alert”) and the weekly pace of life in this well-seasoned collection. His glossary also lists three definitions of a “Real Vermonter” — loose, strict and ultra-orthodox with an emphasis on seven generations.

$21.95 ($18.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback

Life is Still Good: Rob Szymaszek: One Man’s Coaching Philosophy Applied to the Toughest Challenge of His Life, by Bryant Carpenter

The life, lessons and philosophy of coach Rob Szymaszek can be found in this book by the sports editor of the Record-Journal in Meriden, Connecticut.

The book, and mantra of legendary Connecticut high school football and life coach, Rob Szymaszek, is an awe-inspiring account of a hometown boy turned icon who, in the prime of his life, was stricken with a terminal illness. True to form, Coach Smaz refused to go quietly into that premature night with the support of his family, community, and team: the Maloney High School Spartans.

Carpenter, a seasoned sports journalist who became a Szymaszek family friend, writes of a man, “bigger than this page can encompass;” a trusted and hallowed guidance counselor, husband, and father who faced an extraordinary disease as if it were just another bump in the road.

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback

Too Dead To Die, A Memoir of Bataan and Beyond,
by Steve Raymond and Mike Pride.

On April 9, 1942, an allied force estimated at 68,000 men, including 12,000 Americans, surrendered to the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. That day, these men disappeared from public sight in the West. The surrender began an ordeal of death, torture, disease, deprivation and slavery that, for the American soldiers who survived it, ended only after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in August of 1945. Too Dead to Die is the story of one man’s survival.

Steve Raymond, an Army Air Corps clerk, had been converted to a frontline infantry sergeant by the time of the surrender on Bataan. As this book describes with vividness and detail that can be achieved only in an account begun as the events unfolded, he survived the Bataan Death March and nearly 3? years in the archipelago of Japanese slave labor camps.

These “fabulous stories” Raymond first recorded in a diary kept on scraps of paper and in notebooks – anything on which he could write. A determination to bear witness motivated him through the terrors and privations of captivity.

Home at last in 1945, he spent his first months of freedom recreating early diaries lost when a Hell Ship to Japan sank. He began drafting a memoir but soon lost interest. Over the years he sometimes took the memoir out of the drawer and expanded it.

Finally, in 2003, he got his manuscript into the hands of Mike Pride, a New Hampshire newspaper editor and amateur historian. Pride became Raymond’s editor and co-author, reshaping the manuscript into a streamlined narrative.

$27.95 ($24.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Hardback.

A Passion for Journalism: a newspaper editor writes to his readers,
by James H. Smith

The Connecticut editor explains to the readers of his newspaper why newspapers do the things they do, how editors think and why they so champion the public’s right to know.

Jim Smith wrote these columns to the readers of the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn., but the place and issues could be Anywhere USA. His writings, said the judges for the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award, are “classic small-town editor facing challenges from powers unappreciative of the role of journalism in their community.”

Smith, now the editor of the ConnecticutPost.com in Bridgeport, writes on such topics as, “No secrecy needed in free society,” “We’re all hunting for the truth, “Religion as a weapon,” and “Messenger’s plea: Don’t shoot.”

Introduction by William Breisky, retired editor of The Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, MA.

$21.95 ($18.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Live Free, Drive Fast: Behind the Scenes at the New Hampshire International Speedway, by Allen Lessels

This year hundreds of thousands of race fans will attend the largest sporting event in New England. It’s not in Foxborough or Boston Massachusetts. It is seventy-five miles north in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Two races are held at the New Hampshire International Speedway: the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 on July 1 and the Sylvania 300 on September 16.

A well-known New England journalist has penned an inside look at the raceway, drivers, fans and the magnitude that goes with producing such a huge event in 2005.

Twice each year, 101,000 auto racing fans pack the speedway to watch the likes of Stewart and Newman, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. do battle on the one-mile racetrack.

Those fans include people like best-selling author Janet Evanovich. Evanovich, an NHIS regular, has written a dozen books with bounty hunter Stephanie Plum as the hero and now has started a new series with NASCAR as the setting.

The foreword is by NASCAR veteran and local favorite Ricky Craven: “For me stepping onto pit road at NHIS is like the Celtics stepping onto the old parquet floor at the Garden,” Craven writes. “This is home: The place I know best. . . . I’ve always had the winds at my back at New Hampshire. . . . ”

$21.95 ($18.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Dem Little Bums: The Nashua Dodgers, by Steve Daly

Baseball history was made in Nashua, N.H., in 1946 when Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella joined the Nashua Dodgers. Steve Daly’s book takes a look at the team and its vital role in the racial integration of baseball.

“Sign your name and pick up your bags. We’re roommates,” Galipeau said.

With that, Galipeau and Newcombe became the first interracial roommates in professional baseball.

All that seemed so long ago. As Newcombe basked in the bright sunshine and adulation of the crowd at Holman Stadium, Galipeau stood quietly to the side, content to let his friend and roommate get all the attention he deserved.

The glory days of baseball had returned to Nashua and historic Holman Stadium, if only for one day.

STEVE DALY is the assistant sports editor of The Telegraph of Nashua, New Hampshire. In 1997, he was awarded first place by the New England Press Association for “Coverage of a Racial or Ethnic issue.”

$17.95 ($14.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Swinging for the Majors: Inside the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Championship Season, by Michael Cousineau

They won it all their first season. New Hampshire Union Leader reporter Mike Cousineau introduces you to the players, the ballpark, life on the road, and on the field during the inaugural season of Toronto’s farm team in Manchester, N.H.

Cousineau captures life in the minors as players nurse injuries, grapple with family issues and question their abilities- how Adam Peterson was devastated after his poor performance in the majors, to Josh Bank’s Subway lunch ritual on days he pitches, to teammates partying after hours on a Portland road trip. Baseball fans can even read about the experiences of a player who kept a journal.

“Each baseball season is filled with hopes, dreams and heartbreaks,”

Cousineau said. “You never know who may surprise people and make it to the big leagues.”

$22.95 ($19.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Good Junk: The Humor Columns of Leon Thompson, by Leon Thompson

The author is a reporter and award-winning humor columnist at the St. Albans Messenger, a daily newspaper in northwestern Vermont. He has also written for the Chronicle-Independent in Camden, S.C. This book is a collection of his columns that have appeared in both newspapers. “These columns have an edgy, big city feel. They are well-crafted, too. They made me laugh out loud.” — New England Press Association judge, 2001.

“Thompson’s humor is fresh and creative and taken from real-life events and observations. His writing is clean and strong. ” -New England Press Association judge, 1998

Good Junk is part of The New England Columnists Series is a collection of books that preserve the voices-past and present -of those who write opinion pieces for newspapers throughout the region.

$12.95 ($9.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Dork, another look at my junk, by Leon Thompson.

The award-winning humorist is back with his second volume of award-winning newspaper columns.

$17.95 ($14.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Only in New Hampshire: My journey on the campaign trail, by B.J. Rudell

Every four years, the politically experienced, politically inexperienced, curious, and passionate descend on New Hampshire to elect a president. Some work for frontrunners, while others labor for long shots dreaming of breaking through.

“Only in New Hampshire: My journey on the campaign trail” offers an insider’s look at the 2000 New Hampshire presidential primary and serves as a how-to for campaigners.

On Aug. 25, 1999, author B.J. Rudell came to New Hampshire to campaign for Bill Bradley. For more than six months, the 26-year-old spent seven days a week, 15 hours a day fighting for a candidate he believed in. This book goes beyond “the Bradley campaign” and looks at an experience shared by all who are involved in the presidential primary-from those who stuff envelopes to those who direct hundreds of volunteers across the state.

A true lesson in New Hampshire Primary 101!

$19.95 ($16.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Further Ado: Practical Protocol for New Hampshire, A Non-Partisan Guide to Political Etiquette, by Donna Sytek

What is the right way to show respect for public officials in New Hampshire? The Former Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives shows: How to write, how to address, how to introduce dignitaries in New Hampshire. This reference work includes contact information for New Hampshire officials.

In the course of attending hundreds of events where a public official was a speaker or guest, Sytek noticed that the sponsoring organizations often had little or no idea of the protocol for handling their official guests.

Donna Sytek is a former Speaker of the New Hampshire House and chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Since her retirement from the legislature, she has been elected to the boards of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the Center for Public Policy Studies. She is currently chairman of the Judicial Conduct Commission

$17.95 ($14.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Random Overthoughts: the best (give or take) of the humor column “Overthinking” by Joyce Wagner

Her columns have appeared in the Concord Monitor and Martha’s Vineyard Times, now Joyce Wagner has collected her favorites in this collection that is part of Plaidswede’s New England Columnists Series.

$21.95 ($18.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Hey Bossie, You’re a Spokescow! by Mickey de Rham

This is the story of a real New Hampshire cow (with a mark on her shoulder that looks like the Old Man of the Mountain) and her important mission: to educate humans about pet overpopulation and about the need for spaying and neutering programs. This is a children’s book with a message for all ages. Illustrated by Leigh Gusterson.

Mickey de Rham founded the White Mountain Animal League in 1989. She has been involved in animal welfare work for 40 years, beginning in Westchester County, N.Y. Author Roger Caras encouraged her with the nonprofit WMAL and wrote to her that “spaying/neutering is the only way to address the horrific problem of overpopulation of pet animals and the subsequent death of over six million animals every year in animal shelters.”

$12.95 (9.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Tor Takes a Trip, by Edythe Ghen.

This is a children’s book by Beverly, Mass., artist Edythe Ghen. Little Tor, the Gray Harbor Seal, longs for the day when he can swim in the great big sea. The day arrives, but Tor swims ahead and becomes separated from his mother. Tor’s search along the coast of Massachusetts’ north shore has a happy ending. Edythe Ghen lives in Beverly, Massachusetts. She paints mainly in watercolor and oil and is an exhibiting member of the New England Watercolor Society, Rockport Art Association, North Shore Arts Association, Academic Arts, and Copley Society. Edythe has been given numerous awards and, in 1993, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from her alma mater, The Massachusetts College of Art.

$12.95 (9.95 plus $3.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

The Little Book of Parenting Magic: Bedtime Tricks, by Jackie Letendre.

Bedtime does not have to be a nightmare for child and parent. If your child won’t go to bed or stay in bed, the Jackie Letendre’s advice is for you. If you recognize these, then Bedtime Tricks is must-reading: “Bed time is always a battle.” “Is it all right to let him sleep with us?” “It takes her two hours to get ready for bed each night.” “I have to lie down with him until he falls asleep every night.” “He wets the bed at least three or four times a week.” Solid advice. Answers that work.

$7.95 (5.95 plus $2.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

ULYSSES S. GRANT ATE THIS? Recipes for Living in 1872.

Editors George Geers and Roland Boutwell collaborated on this look at the year 1872. The book includes recipes, Horace’s household hints (guess who Horace is?), history, book reviews, music of the day, poetry and even a look at proper “lovemaking.” Fun reading and an entertaining look at everyday life in 1872.

You can also order “Ulysses S. Grant Ate This?” through Plaidswede.

$11.95 (9.95 plus $2.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

DONUT DEACONS COOKBOOK

Desserts, soups, casseroles — good things from many kitchens. Proceeds from the sale of this cookbook from Wesley Methodist Church in Concord, N.H., support the efforts of the men who man the kitchen and serve up the goodies after Sunday morning services.

$9.00 (7.00 plus $2.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Twelve Years of Christmas, by Douglas Schwarz

This is a collection of Doug’s holiday columns that appeared over the years in
The Concord Monitor.

$11.95 (9.95 plus $2.00 postage and handling). Paperback.

Singing with Doug: His holiday album is available from Plaidswede!

In “Twelve Years of Christmas” Doug Schwarz writes about the Seasonal Singers. Founded in 1994, the Seasonal Singers are a vocal quartet specializing in Christmas music. Though they have seen a few personnel changes over the years, founding members Doug Schwarz and Betsey Stebbins remain with the group. The Singers perform together every holiday season and have recorded an album as a fund-raising effort for the Community Players of Concord, of which Doug is an active member. The album includes: “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” “The Cherry Tree Carol” (Kerry Rosenthal, solo) and “The Huron Carol (Doug Schwarz, solo). The Singers’ repertoire includes traditional carols, contemporary arrangements of holiday classics, forgotten songs of Christmas past, and a few original pieces.

You can also order the sounds of “The Seasonal Singers” through Plaidswede.

Send $11.95 (9.95 plus $2.00 postage and handling) for the cassette
or $13.95 (11.95 plus $2.00 postage and handling) for the CD!