Anne LaBastille: Remembering the legendary Woodswoman
Anne LaBastille was a larger-than-life figure who tramped across the wild and wooly narrative of the Adirondacks with gusto.
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Through a lens, darkly
Like most people, I’ve stood beneath starry skies gazing in wonder at the heavens. There are objects and phenomena out there beyond our comprehension. Adirondack night skies host mesmerizing celestial light shows. I’ve seen such beauty: the moon rising through and backlighting layers of clouds, casting blue light into eerie forests; meteors and comets streaking…
Think global, eat local
Adirondack farmers cultivate a market for home-grown produce, cheese, and meat. By Adam Federman I grew up in Saranac Lake and have to admit that until recently I could name only one farm in our 5.8-million-acre Adirondack Park: Tucker’s, famous for its potatoes. The Adirondacks is known for many things, but farming is not…
BluSeed grows into arts force
Sculptor Carol Vossler turns an a abandoned warehouse into a community treasure. By KENNETH AARON Inside the warehouse-turned-apartments-turned-warehouse (again)-turned-art gallery known as BluSeed Studios one Saturday, five people were painstakingly inserting tiny bits of lead type into metal trays. They were attending a two-day workshop on making broadsides, posters that combine art and words. Eventually,…
Idyll on Schuyler Island
Three guys play Robinson Crusoe on Lake Champlain’s forgotten island. By BRIAN MANN A few quick strokes with the paddle draw me out from the Port Kent beach, my kayak threading through the tar-black pilings of the ferry dock. It’s hot and still. Lake Champlain is glassy calm, and the Green Mountains lie against the…
Popular outdoors writer dies
By Phil Brown
We were shocked to hear of Dennis Aprill’s death over the weekend. Dennis was the outdoors writer for the Plattsburgh Press-Republican and taught journalism at Plattsburgh State College. The newspaper reported that he died Saturday from pancreatic cancer. Dennis, who was sixty-three, had just published the third edition of his guidebook Good Fishing in the Adirondacks.…
Banff Film Festival in Lake Placid
By Phil Brown
Ever dream of mountain biking in the French Alps, rowing across the Atlantic, or jumping off a cliff? Probably not. But other people have, and you can watch their adventures at the Banff Film Festival at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, starting at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. In all, eight films will be shown,…
ADK honors ‘Explorer’
By Phil Brown
I went to Albany this past weekend to attend the Adirondack Mountain Club’s annual Presidents’ Dinner and pick up an award for the Adirondack Explorer. ADK gave me the Eleanor F. Brown Communication Award, which is named after its first recipient, who several years ago published a marvelous reference work titled The Forest Preserve…
An artist by nature
Painter Paul Matthews draws inspiration from the Adirondack landscape. By KAREN BJORNLAND It’s late afternoon, and the big sky over the High Peaks is thick and gray. The dark clouds could crack open any moment and spill their cold rain. But artist Paul Matthews doesn’t mind. In his studio high above the hamlet of Keene,…
Finch, Pruyn in art
By Phil Brown
The history of Finch, Pruyn & Co. and its paper mill in Glens Falls is intertwined with the history of the Adirondack Park. Two years ago, the company sold all its lands, more than 160,000 acres, to the Nature Conservancy and its mill to Atlas Holdings. Much of the land is expected to added to the…