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Gulf Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books explore local lore
With deep knowledge of Stephen King's books and curiosity about their inspirations, writer Sharon Kitchens began a journey around Maine. As she learned about the real-life settings and people behind such fiction as 'IT' and 'Salem's Lot,' she arranged them into an online map and story she called 'Stephen King's Maine.' 'It was amateur hour, in a way,' she says. 'But after around 27,000 people visited the site one of my friends said to me, 'You should do something more with this.'' Published in 2024, the resulting book-length edition of 'Stephen King's Maine' is among hundreds released each year by The History Press. Now part of Arcadia Publishing, the 20-year-old imprint is dedicated to regional, statewide and locally focused works, found for sale in bookstores, museums, hotels and other tourist destinations. The mission of The History Press is to explore and unearth 'the story of America, one town or community at a time.' The King book stands out if only for its focus on an international celebrity. Most History Press releases arise out of more obscure passions and expertise, whether Michael C. Gabriele's 'The History of Diners in New Jersey,' Thomas Dresser's 'African Americans of Martha's Vineyard' or Clem C. Pellett's 'Murder on Montana's Hi-Line,' the author's probe into the fatal shooting of his grandfather. Andrew Higgins and Savannah Shealy peruse the biography section of the Green Hand Bookstore. Like Kitchens, History Press authors tend to be regional or local specialists — history lovers, academics, retirees and hobbyists. Kitchens' background includes writing movie press releases, blogging for the Portland Press Herald and contributing to the Huffington Post. Pellett is a onetime surgeon who was so compelled by his grandfather's murder that he switched careers and became a private investigator. In Boulder, Colorado, Nancy K. Williams is a self-described 'Western history writer' whose books include 'Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier' and 'Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado.' The History Press publishes highly specific works such as Jerry Harrington's tribute to a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor from the 1930s, 'Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall.' It also issues various series, notably 'Haunted' guides that publishing director Kate Jenkins calls a 'highly localized version' of the ghost story genre. History Press has long recruited potential authors through a team of field representatives, but now writers such as Kitchens are as likely to be brought to the publisher's attention through a national network of writers who have worked with it before. A customer shops at the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland, Maine. 'Our ideal author isn't someone with national reach,' Jenkins says, 'but someone who's a member of their community, whether that's an ethnic community or a local community, and is passionate about preserving that community's history. We're the partners who help make that history accessible to a wide audience.' The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' 'Stephen King's Maine' by Sharon Kitchens and 'The History of Diners in New Jersey' by Michael C. Gabrielle. Photos: Associated Press History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighbourhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010. 'My blog had been going for about 4 years, and had grown from brief speculative and expressive posts to longer original research articles,' she wrote in an email. 'I often wonder how I did it at all — I wrote the book just as I was opening up the Green Hand Bookshop. Madness!!! Or a lot of coffee. Or both!!!' Associated Press
New Indian Express
7 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books cover local lore around US
The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' Getting the story right History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighborhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010. 'My blog had been going for about 4 years, and had grown from brief speculative and expressive posts to longer original research articles,' she wrote in an email. 'I often wonder how I did it at all -- I wrote the book just as I was opening up the Green Hand Bookshop. Madness!!! Or a lot of coffee. Or both!!!'
Irish Examiner
08-08-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Book Review: A treasure trove of folk tales
BEFORE there was a lake or a castle or anything else there, there used to be a hurling field where Lake Inchiquin is now. Boys used to come from all around the area to play hurling matches there. So one day there was a big crowd of lads playing hurling, and they began to quarrel when one of them had hit another. The one said the other tripped him up on purpose, the other denied it. Voices were raised and fists would be out next, as the quarrel got louder and louder. There was an old woman who lived in a cave on the side of Clifden Hill. She was sitting there working at her knitting, and minding her own business, when the sound of the boys' fighting caught her attention. She got up from her rocking chair, and with her knitting under her arm, she went marching down to see what the cause of all the noise was. Finding the boys still fighting with each other, she shouted at them crossly to stop it at once. When the boys paid her no heed, and just kept on with their sport, the old woman took out one of her knitting needles and stuck it deep into the ground. When she pulled the needle out again, up sprang a well full of water. It spouted up into the air, and ran bubbling over the ground, rising higher and spreading further until it covered the whole field. That was how Inchiquin Lake was made. If you pass by any of County Clare's many lakes, you will often see a party of swans gracefully taking their ease on the still waters. When they fly over the lakes, it is surely one of the most beautiful and haunting sights, with the sound of their wings beating echoing through the air, it is easy to picture the sad story of Conor O'Quin who met with a beautiful swan maiden on the shores of Inchiquin Lake near Corofin. There was a young chief, Conor O'Quin, who lived near Inchiquin Lake. One day as he was out walking near an old stone fort by the lake, he saw a large number of swans swimming on the lake, heading in towards the southern shore. As he watched them, the swans stretched their necks, shook out their wings and walked ashore. There they seemed to grow taller, and removing black hoods and feathered dresses, became a group of graceful young women dressed in thin white shifts. These girls danced and chattered there at the lake's reedy edge. One girl sat on a rock to comb her black hair and turned her face in O'Quin's direction. The Irish Anthology Folk Tales: Volume Two The History Press, €19.99 O'Quin had never seen such a beauty before, and he was immediately smitten. The girl, when she noticed the man watching her, took up her feathered dress and flew off over the water, the other swan-girls behind her in graceful flight. O'Quin could not get the face of this beautiful swan maiden from his mind. He took to wandering down by the lake each day in the hope of seeing her again. Three times he caught a glimpse of her as she sat on the rock by the water's edge combing her dark hair. Each time he approached she would quickly pull on her hood and feathered dress and take flight. One day however O'Quin, now consumed with love for the swan maiden, had a plan. He rose early and hid himself behind some scrubby trees and bushes near the water's edge and waited for the swans to come to shore. When they did, he watched them shake off their feathered dresses and hoods, biding his time, waiting only for the right moment to make his move. As his beloved lay down her black hood, O'Quin quickly grabbed it up and held it fast. This time the swan maiden could not escape him. He asked her to marry him and come live with him in his grand house. She tried to dissuade him. 'You would be better to marry one of your own kind,' she said. But O'Quin would not be put off. He asked again, stressing the depth of his love for her. At last she agreed to become his wife, but she named three conditions to her consent. The first condition was that the marriage must remain a secret; the second, that he must never invite an O'Brien into their house; and third, that he must not engage in games of chance. O'Quin agreed at once, and swore that he would tell no one about his lovely bride; that he would never invite an O'Brien to the house; and that he would neither gamble nor play cards. He thought these conditions a small price to pay for the love of his life. O'Quin scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the grand house. There they lived happily together for many years. As time went by two children were born, and as they grew, all seemed well in the world for Conor O'Quin. ONE day, O'Brien of Leamanagh and some of the other chiefs of the area decided to hold a tournament nearby at Coad. There would be horse races, and great sport was promised. O'Quin's wife begged him not to go, but when he insisted, she pleaded with him to accept no invitation to dine, nor to invite anyone to dine at their house. O'Quin gave her his solemn word and set off for the races at Coad. In the excitement of the day, he quite forgot his promise. He invited O'Brien to dine with him and the chief came with all his retinue to O'Quin's house. O'Quin's wife prepared a glorious feast and served it up on the finest of dishes, but she spoke not one word. While O'Brien and his party ate their fill, entertained by her foolish husband, she took up her swan gown and put it on, along with her black hood. She carried her children, one under each arm from their beds, and then slipped away down to the shores of the lake and was never seen again in human form. Not knowing about his loss, O'Quin played cards with O'Brien after dinner. He wagered his house and lands and lost it all to Tadg O'Brien of Coad. O'Quin was a ruined man. Having broken his promises, he had lost all that he held dear: his wife, family, house and lands, all gone in one foolish, thoughtless night. They say O'Brien gave him a place to build a small house and he lived out his days there, a sad and broken man. I can see him still wandering the shore on Lake Inchiquin in the hope that his beloved swan maiden might one day return. Review/book extract: Forthcoming new book 'The Anthology of Irish Folk Tales: Volume Two', a second selection of tales from a wealth of authentic Irish storytellers, honouring the unmistakable character of Ireland's customs, beliefs, and dialects
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books cover local lore around the US
NEW YORK -- With deep knowledge of Stephen King's books and curiosity about their inspirations, writer Sharon Kitchens began a journey around Maine. As she learned about the real-life settings and people behind such fiction as 'IT' and 'Salem's Lot,' she arranged them into an online map and story she called 'Stephen King's Maine.' 'It was amateur hour, in a way,' she says. 'But after around 27,000 people visited the site one of my friends said to me, 'You should do something more with this.'' Published in 2024, the resulting book-length edition of 'Stephen King's Maine' is among hundreds released each year by The History Press. Now part of Arcadia Publishing, the 20-year-old imprint is dedicated to regional, statewide and locally focused works, found for sale in bookstores, museums, hotels and other tourist destinations. The mission of The History Press is to explore and unearth 'the story of America, one town or community at a time.' The King book stands out if only for its focus on an international celebrity. Most History Press releases arise out of more obscure passions and expertise, whether Michael C. Gabriele's 'The History of Diners in New Jersey,' Thomas Dresser's 'African Americans of Martha's Vineyard' or Clem C. Pellett's 'Murder on Montana's Hi-Line,' the author's probe into the fatal shooting of his grandfather. Like Kitchens, History Press authors tend to be regional or local specialists — history lovers, academics, retirees and hobbyists. Kitchens' background includes writing movie press releases, blogging for the Portland Press Herald and contributing to the Huffington Post. Pellett is a onetime surgeon who was so compelled by his grandfather's murder that he switched careers and became a private investigator. In Boulder, Colorado, Nancy K. Williams is a self-described 'Western history writer' whose books include 'Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier' and 'Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado.' The History Press publishes highly specific works such as Jerry Harrington's tribute to a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor from the 1930s, 'Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall.' It also issues various series, notably 'Haunted' guides that publishing director Kate Jenkins calls a 'highly localized version' of the ghost story genre. History Press has long recruited potential authors through a team of field representatives, but now writers such as Kitchens are as likely to be brought to the publisher's attention through a national network of writers who have worked with it before. 'Our ideal author isn't someone with national reach,' Jenkins says, 'but someone who's a member of their community, whether that's an ethnic community or a local community, and is passionate about preserving that community's history. We're the partners who help make that history accessible to a wide audience.' The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighborhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From Stephen King to New Jersey diners, History Press books cover local lore around the US
NEW YORK (AP) — With deep knowledge of Stephen King's books and curiosity about their inspirations, writer Sharon Kitchens began a journey around Maine. As she learned about the real-life settings and people behind such fiction as 'IT' and 'Salem's Lot,' she arranged them into an online map and story she called 'Stephen King's Maine.' 'It was amateur hour, in a way,' she says. 'But after around 27,000 people visited the site one of my friends said to me, 'You should do something more with this.'' Published in 2024, the resulting book-length edition of 'Stephen King's Maine' is among hundreds released each year by The History Press. Now part of Arcadia Publishing, the 20-year-old imprint is dedicated to regional, statewide and locally focused works, found for sale in bookstores, museums, hotels and other tourist destinations. The mission of The History Press is to explore and unearth 'the story of America, one town or community at a time.' The King book stands out if only for its focus on an international celebrity. Most History Press releases arise out of more obscure passions and expertise, whether Michael C. Gabriele's 'The History of Diners in New Jersey,' Thomas Dresser's 'African Americans of Martha's Vineyard' or Clem C. Pellett's 'Murder on Montana's Hi-Line,' the author's probe into the fatal shooting of his grandfather. A home for history buffs Like Kitchens, History Press authors tend to be regional or local specialists — history lovers, academics, retirees and hobbyists. Kitchens' background includes writing movie press releases, blogging for the Portland Press Herald and contributing to the Huffington Post. Pellett is a onetime surgeon who was so compelled by his grandfather's murder that he switched careers and became a private investigator. In Boulder, Colorado, Nancy K. Williams is a self-described 'Western history writer' whose books include 'Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier' and 'Haunted Hotels of Southern Colorado.' The History Press publishes highly specific works such as Jerry Harrington's tribute to a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor from the 1930s, 'Crusading Iowa Journalist Verne Marshall.' It also issues various series, notably 'Haunted' guides that publishing director Kate Jenkins calls a 'highly localized version' of the ghost story genre. History Press has long recruited potential authors through a team of field representatives, but now writers such as Kitchens are as likely to be brought to the publisher's attention through a national network of writers who have worked with it before. 'Our ideal author isn't someone with national reach,' Jenkins says, 'but someone who's a member of their community, whether that's an ethnic community or a local community, and is passionate about preserving that community's history. We're the partners who help make that history accessible to a wide audience.' The History Press is a prolific, low-cost operation. The books tend to be brief — under 200 pages — and illustrated with photos drawn from local archives or taken by the authors themselves. The print runs are small, and authors are usually paid through royalties from sales rather than advances up front. History Press books rarely are major hits, but they can still attract substantial attention for works tailored to specific areas, and they tend to keep selling over time. Editions selling 15,000 copies or more include 'Long-Ago Stories of the Eastern Cherokee,' by Lloyd Arneach, Alphonso Brown's 'A Gullah Guide to Charleston' and Gayle Soucek's 'Marshall Field's,' a tribute to the Chicago department store. The King guide, which has sold around 8,500 copies so far, received an unexpected lift — an endorsement by its subject, who was shown the book at Maine's Bridgton Books and posted an Instagram of himself giving it a thumbs-up. 'I was genuinely shocked in the best possible way,' Kitchens says, adding that she saw the book as a kind of thank-you note to King. 'Every choice I made while writing the book, I made with him in mind.' Getting the story right History Press authors say they like the chance to tell stories that they believe haven't been heard, or were told incorrectly. Rory O'Neill Schmitt is an Arizona-based researcher, lecturer and writer who feels her native New Orleans is often 'portrayed in way that feels false or highlights a touristy element,' like a 'caricature.' She has responded with such books as 'The Haunted Guide to New Orleans' and 'Kate Chopin in New Orleans.' Brianne Turczynski is a freelance writer and self-described 'perpetual seeker of the human condition' who lives outside of Detroit and has an acknowledged obsession with 'Poletown,' a Polish ethnic community uprooted and dismantled in the 1980s after General Motors decided to build a new plant there and successfully asserted eminent domain. In 2021, The History Press released Turczynski's 'Detroit's Lost Poletown: The Little Neighborhood That Touched a Nation.' 'All of the journalist work that followed the story seemed to lack a sense of closure for the people who suffered,' she said. 'So my book is a love letter to that community, an attempt for closure.' Kitchens has followed her King book with the story of an unsolved homicide, 'The Murder of Dorothy Milliken, Cold Case in Maine.' One of her early boosters, Michelle Souliere, is the owner of the Green Hand Bookstore in Portland and herself a History Press writer. A lifelong aficionado of Maine history, her publishing career, like Kitchens', began with an online posting. She had been maintaining a blog of local lore, 'Strange Maine,' when The History Press contacted her and suggested she expand her writing into a book. 'Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State' was published in 2010. 'My blog had been going for about 4 years, and had grown from brief speculative and expressive posts to longer original research articles,' she wrote in an email. 'I often wonder how I did it at all -- I wrote the book just as I was opening up the Green Hand Bookshop. Madness!!! Or a lot of coffee. Or both!!!' Hillel Italie, The Associated Press Sign in to access your portfolio
