IRASBURG — The Irasburg Selectboard and the Trustees of the Leach Public Library have announced an Open House to introduce and honor the Howard Frank Mosher book collection, to be housed at the library.
The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, June 2, at the library, located on the Irasburg Common.
The Open House will immediately precede a 2 p.m. memorial service for the beloved Irasburg author, to be held at the Irasburg United Church.
Howard Frank Mosher died on January 29, 2017, at his Irasburg home.
In December 2016, Mosher sent “A Christmas Letter to Irasburg’s Library Trustees and Select Board,” donating his book collection to the library.
“What an honor it is,” Mosher wrote in his letter, “to present my beloved personal book collection to the Leach Memorial Library in Irasburg, where my still-more-beloved Phillis and I have lived for forty very happy years. Here in this northern Vermont town founded in 1781 by Ethan Allen’s brother Ira, Phillis and I have made our home for most of our adult lives, raised our children, and caught (way too many) trout (brookies, browns, and rainbows, but mainly brookies). Here, too, is where I’ve written most of my fourteen books, including mu 1989 novel A Stranger in the Kingdom, inspired by the so-called “Irasburg Incident” of 1968. To this day, A Stranger in the Kingdom is probably my best known book, though my own favorite is Northern Borders.”
The donated collection includes several matched sets of the classics, including a set of Shakespeare’s works inherited from Mosher’s grandfather and a set of the works of Dickens previously owned by longtime Irasburg librarian Doris Alexander. Also included are books about the Lewis and Clark expedition and books on slavery and the civil war that the author used in research for two of his novels.
“I love to write,” Mosher concluded his December donation letter. “Always have. And Irasburg and the Kingdom have been a treasure trove of stories. But I live to read. I like thinking that, in the future, some aspiring young storywriter may pick up some of these books and, as I have, find them inspiring and helpful.”
Leach Library Director Laurie Holland echoed Mosher’s view.
“We look forward to introducing aspiring young story writers, and everyone else, to Howard’s extraordinary book collection,” she said.
Refreshments will be served at the Open House.
