Picture a storyteller who spun the rugged charm of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom into literary gold—meet Howard Frank Mosher! This American author, with his knack for vivid characters and frontier-style tales, brought the quirky heart of rural New England to life. His novels, set in the fictional Kingdom County, blend humor, heartache, and the timeless tug-of-war between tradition and change, making him a beloved voice in American literature.
Mosher’s stories aren’t just books—they’re a portal to a world of whiskey smugglers, resilient farmers, and small-town dreamers. With a style that echoes Mark Twain’s wit and Faulkner’s depth, he captured the soul of a region often overlooked. Ready to dive into his world? Let’s explore the life, works, and legacy of this Vermont gem.
The Making of Howard Frank Mosher
Born on June 2, 1942, in Kingston, New York, Howard Frank Mosher grew up in the Catskill Mountains, a place that sparked his love for storytelling. His family moved often, but it was in tiny Cato, New York, where he met Phillis Claycomb, his future wife and muse, in high school. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in 1964, the couple moved to Orleans, Vermont, to teach. There, Mosher stumbled upon the Northeast Kingdom—a remote, story-rich region that would define his career. Quitting teaching to work with a former whiskey runner, he soaked up local lore, fueling his debut novel, Disappearances, in 1977.
Howard Frank Mosher’s Unforgettable Stories
Mosher’s fiction, set in mid-20th-century Kingdom County, pulses with quirky characters and rugged landscapes. His first novel, Disappearances, follows Quebec Bill Bonhomme’s wild whiskey-smuggling adventures during Prohibition, blending magical realism with laugh-out-loud moments. A Stranger in the Kingdom (1989) tackles racism in 1950s Vermont, inspired by a real incident, and won the New England Book Award for its gripping narrative. Where the Rivers Flow North (1978), a novella and stories, paints a poignant portrait of the region’s fading traditions, while Northern Borders (1994), Mosher’s personal favorite, traces a boy’s coming-of-age on a Vermont farm.
His style is a heady mix of humor, grit, and heart, often compared to Twain for its mischief and Faulkner for its soul. Mosher’s characters—think moonshiners, dreamers, and stubborn Yankees—grapple with change, prejudice, and family ties against the backdrop of Vermont’s jumbled mountains and deep forests. Five of his novels, including Disappearances and A Stranger in the Kingdom, were adapted into films by Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven, bringing his vivid world to the screen.
Why Howard Frank Mosher Matters
Mosher’s work gave Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom a lasting place in American literature, preserving its culture and quirks for posterity. His ability to weave universal themes—love, loss, and resilience—into regional tales earned him accolades like a Guggenheim Fellowship, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, and the 2011 New England Independent Booksellers Association’s President’s Award. Beyond awards, his generosity to fellow writers and tireless book tours in his trusty “Loser Cruiser” Chevy endeared him to readers and indie bookstores alike.
Even after his death on January 29, 2017, Mosher’s stories endure, offering a window into a vanishing rural America. His final work, Points North (2018), completed just before his passing, ties up the Kinneson family saga with warmth and wit, cementing his legacy as a storyteller who made the ordinary extraordinary.
- Born: June 2, 1942, Kingston, New York
- Key Works: Disappearances, A Stranger in the Kingdom, Where the Rivers Flow North, Northern Borders
- Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship (1979), New England Book Award (1991), Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (2006)
- Died: January 29, 2017, Irasburg, Vermont
Snag Northern Borders or A Stranger in the Kingdom and dive into Howard Frank Mosher’s rollicking, heartwarming world of Vermont storytelling!