2004: Northern Borders

The Story

Northern Borders, our novel for 2004, was written in 1994. Its bygone era evoked memories for many older readers and introduced to younger readers a simpler but more rugged time. The characters made us reminisce, laugh, shake our heads in agreement or exasperation, and caused many enjoyable discussions around our three counties.

About the Author

Described by the Los Angeles Times as “a combination of Ernest Hemingway, Henry David Thoreau, and Jim Harrison,” Howard Frank Mosher is the author of seven novels. Three of his novels have been made into feature films: A Stranger in the Kingdom, which starred Martin Sheen and Ernie Hudson; Disappearances, which starred Kris Kristofferson and Billy Connolly, and Where the Rivers Flow North, which starred Rip Torn and Michael J. Fox. Born in upstate New York, Howard Frank Mosher is a longtime resident of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, where he lives with Phillis, his wife of nearly four decades — the inspiration for Yellow Sage Flower Who Tells Wise Stories in The True Account. They have two children.

Read The Daily News Profile story on Howard Frank Mosher

Awards for Howard Frank Mosher

Guggenheim fellowship
National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
The American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award,
The American Civil Liberties Union Award for Excellence in the Arts
New England Book Award
Vermont Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
In 1995, School Library Journal chose Northern Borders as a best adult book for high school students.

Other Works by this Author

Disappearances- Viking Press (New York) 1977
Where the Rivers Flow North -Viking Press (New York) 1978
Marie Blythe -Viking Press (New York) 1983
A Stranger in the Kingdom – 1989
North Country: A Personal Journey – Houghton Mifflin (Boston) 1997
The Fall of the Year – Houghton Mifflin (Boston) 1999
The True Account: – Houghton Mifflin (Boston) 2003
Waiting for Teddy Williams – 2004
On Kingdom Mountain -Houghton Mifflin ( Boston) 2007
Walking to Gatlinburg – Shaye Areheart Books (New York) March 2010
The Great Northern Express – 2012

2013 Update

Jay Craven’s adaptation of Mosher’s nostalgic novel “Northern Borders” premiered in April 2013. It is the fourth time Craven has taken a Mosher novel from the page to the screen. Mosher was a guest at the Burlington (Vt.) Book Festival in the fall.

2011 Update

Jay Craven, the independent Vermont filmmaker, who has adapted three of Mosher’s novels, recently started production on a fourth. And this one is one particular interest to readers in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties. Craven’s film is adapted from “Northern Borders,” Mosher’s coming-of-age story of young Austen Kittredge who is sent to live on his grandparents farm. Shooting is expected to begin in March. In October, Mosher received a lifetime achievement award from the New England Independent Booksellers Association. In March he has ha memoir coming out. “The Great Northern Express” will recount the author’s epic book tours.

2010 Update

RETURN TO KINGDOM COUNTY: Mosher went back to Kingdom County for his
most recent novel, “On Kingdom Mountain,” which was published in July
2007. It introduces readers to Miss Jane Hubbell Kinneson, the last remaining resident of a wild mountain on the U.S.-Canadian border. She’s trying to stop a proposed highway and finds another adventure when a mysterious aviator crashes on the frozen lake at the foot of her mountain, bringing with him a riddle containing clues to the whereabouts of stolen Civil War-era gold.
RETURN TO GENESEE COUNTY: In October,2008 the author returned to Richmond
Memorial Library, Batavia, to talk about his latest book and introduce the 2008 Tale selection. Earlier in the summer, Mosher was in Buffalo and Brockport as part of a summer book tour that made more than 100 stops in 100 days.
NEW PROJECTS: Mosher is at work on a non-fiction book about last summer’s marathon book tour.The non-fiction travel memoir, “The Great American Book Tour,” chronicles Mosher’s 100-city book tour to promote his latest novel, “On
Kingdom Mountain.” It will also include some Northeast Kingdom memoir material from his life in northern Vermont interspersed throughout the book.
UP NEXT: “Walking to Gatlinburg” focuses on Morgan Kinneson, Miss Jane Kinneson’s father. It is the story of Morgan’s trip from Vermont to the Civil War ravaged South to track down and eliminate six psychopaths who have been killing conductors of the Underground Railroad, including his parents. The novel includes scenes along the Erie Canal from near Albany to Utica and at the Union prison camp in Elmira. Walking to Gatlinburg was released March 2, 2010. It debuted at no. 23 on the Indie list and was a notable pick for March 2010 by the American Booksellers Association. This year also finds Mosher with a new publisher, Random House, that reunites him with Shaye Areheart, editor to A Stranger in the Kingdom.

For the 2004 Tale for Three Counties, Batavia’s The Daily News introduced a review contest with winners enjoying lunch with author Howard Frank Mosher. The six winners were: Bonnie Bowman (Wyoming), Ann Burlingham (Perry), Nancy Elmore (LeRoy), Meghan DeGolyer Hauser (Perry), Gilbert Jordan (Wyoming), and Alice Wilson (Wyoming).