Story Archives of 'Granite State Stories'

Celia Thaxter’s 1870 book “Among the Isles of Shoals” put the nine rocky islands off the coast of New Hampshire on the national map. At one time the home to thousands, today the Shoals are for the most part uninhabited, but their mystique remains, due in part to the beautiful descriptions by its most famous resident Celia Thaxter. We’ll explore the history, mystery and attraction of our Isles of Shoals on the latest Granite State Stories.

Guests

• Julia Older, Editor of “Celia Thaxter: Selected Writings and Anthology” and author of two novels “The Island Queen: Celia Thaxter and the Isles of Shoals” and “This Desired Place: The Isles of Shoals”
• Laurence Bussey , administrator of Smuttynose Island, founding member and Past President of the Isles of Shoals Historic and Research Association (ISHRA), and owner of Northeast Yachts

Fifty years ago, Peyton Place turned the image of rural New Hampshire on its ear… by suggesting that incest, rape and murder lurked just beneath its pristine chapels and manicured town greens. Metalious's book became one of the first overnight blockbusters and many in 1950's New Hampshire today tell stories of buying and reading it in secret, under the covers. On this Granite State Stories, we’ll explore Peyton Place's impact on small town life, on its time and on our state and get your stories of when you first read the book.

Guests

• Sally Hirsh-Dickinson, NHPR announcer, whose forthcoming dissertation on Peyton Place is entitled "Dirty Whites and Dark Secrets: Deconstructing Sex and Race in Peyton Place"
• David Watters, Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, Director of the Center for New England Studies and Granite State Stories Humanist

Banks' 1981 book explores the lives of the men and women who live in the fictional Granite State Trailerpark. They are widowers, divorcees, a black woman, a drug dealer, a homosexual... all outcasts in Banks' New Hampshire who together form their own community. For our final installment of Granite State Stories we’ll explore who the disenfranchised are today in New Hampshire through the pages of Russell Banks' "Trailerpark". This show will broadcast live at the Political Library Reading Room at the State Library Building in Concord. Admission is free and open to the public. Laura's guests are Russell Banks, author of 17 books including "Trailerpark" and David Watters, Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire and Director of its Center for New England Culture. David was also one of two project humanists for Granite State Stories.

There’s a new development going up in the small town of Hurley, New Hampshire, and the old time Hurley residents are not happy about it, so much so that they’ll engage in guerilla tactics to have it stopped. Joseph Freda’s 1995 book Suburban Guerrillas gives a comical look at our state’s conflicted feelings of growth, about those looking to find a home in small town New Hampshire and the old-timers who want to have the door shut behind them once they move in. We’ll explore the issue of growth with author Joseph Freda and through the pages of his book Suburban Guerillas on the next Granite State Stories. We'll once again broadcast live from the Political Library Reading Room at the State Library building in Concord. The event is free and open to the public. Laura's guests are Joseph Freda, Author of Suburban Guerrillas and Jeff Taylor, Former Director of the New Hampshire Office of State Planning from 1989 to 2003 and current President of Jeff Taylor & Associates, Inc., a community planning and economic development group in Concord, New Hampshire.

We kick off our Granite State Stories series with a discussion of the New Hampshire character with U.S. Poet Laureate, Donald Hall and through the pages of his book of essays, "Here at Eagle Pond. Although Hall was born in Connecticut, he would travel every summer to the Granite State to stay at his grandfather's home in Wilmot's, a place that Hall calls his own. And it's from this home, that Hall writes about New Hampshire, the land, the people, and what it is that makes us who we are. He writes about our strict independent nature, the effect the seasons have on our every move, how seriously we take our politics and how we're not like Vermont or our flatlander neighbors to the south. Today, as we broadcast live from the Political Library Reading Room at the State Library in Concord, we'll explore who we are and what makes us that way with Donald Hall and his book of essays "Here at Eagle Pond". Laura's guest is Donald Hall, US Poet Laureate and author of many books including "Here at Eagle Pond". We'll Also be joined by reading groups from the Richards Free Library in Newport, Laconia Public Library and Peterborough Town Library. The event is open to the public.