Inside New England - Softcover

Hale, Judson D.

3.67

15 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0872331407 ISBN 13: 9780872331402

Publisher: Bauhan Publishing, 2010

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Inside New England offers a timeless warm and delightful tribute to what it means to be a Yankee: clambake and tea party etiquette; Lizzie Borden's breakfast; how to avoid driving the town fire truck; the six responsibilities of being a Vermonter, who actually landed on Plymouth Rock. This handsome gate-fold edition features wood engravings by the New Hampshire artist Randy Miller, and has been refreshed by the author with a new introduction, as well as updated references. Few people know New England as well as Judson Hale. As editor of the quintessential New England magazine, Yankee, he has been absorbing and writing about its people and places for more than fifty years. A native New Englander, he includes himself in his droll and often teasing observations. A consummate story-teller, Mr. Hale gives New Englander's something to smile about, while"folks from away" might just get a better idea of what makes New England unique.

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About the Author:

JUDSON D. HALE, SR., joined Yankee Publishing Incorporated in September 1958 as an assistant editor. He worked his way up in the family business as associate editor and managing editor, and also became editor of The Old Farmer's Almanac. In 2000 he became editor-in-chief for both publications, and is now also chairman of the board of Yankee Publishing.

A sought-after speaker, Jud makes regular local and national appearances to talk about The Old Farmer's Almanac and the New England way of life. He has been a guest on the Today show, Good Morning America, CNN, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and numerous other television and radio programs. He is the author or editor of many books, including The Education of a Yankee (Harper & Row, 1987), and Discovering Our Faraway Brother (PublishAmerica, 2007). Born in Boston and raised on a dairy farm in Vanceboro, Maine, Jud graduated from Dartmouth College (Class of 1955) in 1958, having served with the Third Armored Division as a Tank Commander from 1955 to 1957. He makes his home in Dublin, New Hampshire, with his wife, Sally.

From the Inside Flap:

One day not long ago, a New York driver pulled up next to a local walking along the side of a road in small-town Dublin, New Hampshire. “Can you tell me how to get to Penacook?” the driver asked. The New Yorker didn’t realize that the man he’d stopped for directions wasn’t just any old New England Yankee. As it happened, he was the longtime editor of Yankee magazine and the Old Farmer’s Almanac, Judson D. Hale. The driver also didn’t realize that he’d just delivered the perfect set-up line.“Well,” replied Jud “if I was to go to Penacook, I don’t believe I’d start from here.” But to get at the root of New England humor, the New England character, New England lore, and the New England way of life, you definitely want to start from here – here being Inside New England. Jud Hale’s 1982 classic comprises a lifetime of observation, research, and musing on all things New England. Now updated and with a new introduction from the author, the book provides a path to understanding the crux of a quintessentially American region for new generations of “insiders” and “outsiders.” A seasoned storyteller, Jud takes on small-town life (“We’re not quaint and there’s plenty to do all winter”), traditional foods (the early settlers considered lobster junk food best suited for prisoners and servants), the weather (forecasting is one thing; getting it right quite another), legends (Lizzie Borden, Molly Stark, Marie Antoinette, etc.), genealogy (hobnobbing with snobs), and more. How do you avoid driving the town fire truck? What are the six responsibilities of being a Vermonter? How do you correctly mispronounce the names of places like Bangor, Berlin, Worcester, and Gloucester? Inside New England delves into these and other questions with trademark Yankee understatement and humor. For instance, that romantic idea about sea captain’s wives watching for their husband’s ships from widow’s walks? Pure bunk. Rather, widow’s walks were platforms for storing sand and water for dousing chimney fires. And did you know that in seventeenth-century Connecticut, ministers were forbidden by law from performing marriage ceremonies? The blue law was designed to protect the clergy from participating in an institution that encouraged “procreative activity.” Ayup, it’s true.The way into the essence of New England and the Yankee character? You can get there, it turns out, from here: Inside New England, Judson Hale’s funny and fascinating look at Yankee life and lore.

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