In the area where I live, near the the NY/Pennsylvania border just south of the Finger Lakes, there is a great monthly magazine called Mountain Home. It’s a beautifully produced and edited magazine that is free, distributed through grocery and convenience stores and a variety of other outlets throughout the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of NY. When it first came out several years ago, I was immediately taken with the quality of the writing about local stories. The writers really focused on real storytelling, giving the stories of local people and places real depth and interest, exposing aspects of everyday life here that are often overlooked. Just plain good writing.
A rare thing in modern journalism of any kind.
Turns out there’s good reason for this. The publishers are a married couple, Theresa and Michael Capuzzo, who had both been journalists in the Philadelphia area and relocated back to Wellsboro in Tioga County, PA, where Theresa grew up. Michael had been a police and crime writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald, nominated four times for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of numerous other awards for his writing. He is also the author of Close to Shore, the bestselling account of the summer of 1916 when Great White shark attacks along the northeast coast were epidemic, providing the inspiration for Jaws.
More recently, he has a new book out, The Murder Room, which has been garnering tremendous reviews and media coverage, including a recent ABC special cenetring on the book’s main character. It is the real-life account of the Vidocq Society, a group of the best detectives and forensics experts from around the globe who meet monthly in Philadelphia where they go over and attempt to solve the most baffling cold cases, on a pro bono basis. You can read an excerpt from the book as well as an interesting article on the main character of the book by clicking on the magazine cover above and going to the Mountain Home website.
The great writing and editing of the Capuzzos and their staff has been a real gift to this area. They shine a flattering light on the places, people and history of this area and make me proud to call it home.
Redtree Times 