Moose River Diary 2: The Mole People

By Judy Jones

Paperback. 222pp.

These books (and two others by Judy Jones) are available on Amazon.com. However all proceeds from her books purchased here (minus shipping) will be donated to Colony Caregivers, a local cat-rescue organization, in her memory.

Author's Note:

Judy Jones was breathing easy following the daunting research, production and publication of Moose River Diary: in search of The Settlement, in which she documented the history of not only a ghost town called Moose River Settlement, but the vital position her own Adirondack camp held there. It is a humble dwelling sans such amenities as plumbing, central heating, TV, Internet, or cell phone reception (though you might raise a bar or two if you sit in the car with the windows rolled up or if you stand in the middle of the road facing south. Or north). It is a ragtag place while at the same time alive and cheerful, and it sports electric power now (most days) and a house number! She was breathing easy all right until the pestering voice in her head spoke up, asking about those bales of notes and all of those leftover folders: "So you're going to burn them?" "No, I might as well save them for now." "Sounds like there is more to the story." "Nah, I'm too old for that and I've already told the story, and how can I tell someone another story if they haven't read the first one?" "Yeah, try running that by Grandma Moses." The "conversation" went on and on. It's true that the first book had drawn enthusiastic responses. Readers sprang from their cars and cried "That's my great-grandfather you're talking about! That was my family's hotel!" Then there were the olden people-the ones seemingly long gone. Time after time they awakened, flung icicles from their mustaches and sighed "We love it here . . ." After taking the author by the hand they led her back to Moose River Settlement and then they raised the lantern high enough to light the shadows. There were boatmen in the shadows, and hotel keepers. There were scoundrels and bigamists and murderers. Inventors stood beside guides and teamsters and orphans and paupers. Each one had something on his mind, in his heart, right on the tip of his tongue. Nothing to do but gather them up and combine them with the flora, the resident wildlife, and those on their way to somewhere else. Nothing to do but stir in the days as they are now at Moose River and then write the whole thing down. Such was the birth of Moose River Diary 2: The Mole People.