Everett Hunt
Greetings to all. I am, Everett Hunt, the creator of Pitus Peston and his adventures. I live in Castile, NY with my wife Sally. I was born in Glens Falls, NY and attended Fort Ann (NY) Central School. I graduated in 1971 and entered Albany College of Pharmacy. In the bicentennial year I graduated from pharmacy school and have been a pharmacist for 39 years. My writing career began in 1990 when the 18th century space traveler Pitus Peston came to life. Since then five novel length adventure stories have been written.
Our four children are out on their own. Greg and Geoff are twins. Greg is a computer programmer, Geoff is an electrical engineer, Alicia the next in order is an accountant, and Jeremy, is an addiction counselor.
After a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2007 I decided to take up after 25 years, the fine art of hiking. I needed some getting into shape. I started on January 1 of 2008, and by summer I was backpacking all over the place. I bagged Mount Marcy in September of '08 and the next Summer I trekked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with my son Jeremy. Remember he's the one who is a psychologist. If only he had finished his professional training before that trip I could have had my head examined by him for undertaking such a feat. Actually it went well and I would recommend hiking down the Canyon to anyone fit enough to manage it. The bottoms of canyons and the tops of mountains are some of the best places to go. I visited Mt. Washington this past June. Get reservations for the Lake of the Clouds Hut to overnight it and have a good rain suit handy. The Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail is a good way up and the Jewell Trail is a good way down. It's not an easy trek but a grand view from the top especially when you made it there by the power of muscle and will. Carry 4 or 5 liters of water with you...you'll need it.
I started collecting books long before I began writing them. It began on a Sunday trip into New Hampshire in 1970 when my traveling companion spotted a bookshop and told me to stop. While he was browsing, I began to feel the effects of being in an antiquarian book shop. There was the smell of old paper and leather bindings. The feel of the books, some hundreds of years old, sent their spirits through my fingers and into my brain. Even the light coming in the windows on that sunny day snared me in its spell. I was going to buy something, dammit! I happened onto a stack of odd pamphlets. As I drew near I recognized what they were. There on top of the pile was the familiar yellow cover of the Old Farmer's Almanac, but this one was for the year 1878! My grandmother was born in 1880 and it was this point in time that I separated the ancient from the modern. This was older than her and definitely in the ancient and its cover was as crisp and bright as though printed last year. I asked the proprietor how much it was expecting it to be a fortune. I had ten bucks on me, some of which had to go into the gas tank. "Twenty-five cents for any in that stack" was his reply. I searched down the stack and found one for 1850. This had a yellow cover but with a more crude design. Below this was one for 1830. This was without a cover but was still bright and supple. It was the 38th issue and the title read The Old Farmer's Almanack ..."fifty-fourth year of American Independence". I was hooked. I picked up a few others. The book seller then said "I have a 1798. It has a defective last page, but for three dollars it's yours." He pulled open a small drawer and took out a dusty dark brown pamphlet. I took it and read the title page. "The Farmer's Almanack for the hear 1798...twenty-second of American Independence..." This was the sixth year of the longest running publication in America! There went the gas money. Since then I succeeded in collecting all the years from its start in 1793. The same book dealer later sold me a large collection of almanacs many of which were from colonial times, the oldest being a Cambridge Mass. imprint from 1691. Some of these I still have and some of them I sold to other collectors.
