Howard Frank Mosher (June 2, 1942 – January 29, 2017) was an American author of thirteen books: eleven fiction and two non-fiction. Much of his fiction takes place in the mid-20th century and all of it is set in the

Northeast Kingdom The Northeast Kingdom (also, locally, "The Kingdom" and abbreviated NEK) is the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Vermont, approximately comprising Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties and having a population at the 2010 census of 64,764. ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, a region loosely defined by the three counties in the northeastern corner of the state (

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, Orleans, and Caledonia). His characters are often quirky, reflecting the distinctive peculiarities of the region's taciturn residents. The community struggle with changing times is often a theme, with the more traditional ways of rural Yankee life coming in conflict with an expanding, modern society. The last novel published during his lifetime was ''God's Kingdom'' (St. Martin's Press, October 2015).

Personal life

Mosher graduated from Cato-Meridian Central School, in Cato, New York, in 1960 and graduated from Syracuse University in 1964. He taught English at Orleans High and Lake Region Union High School during his early years. Mosher lived with his wife, Phillis, in Irasburg, Vermont. They had a grown son and a daughter. He was a die-hard Red Sox fan, and this was a recurring element in his work. Mosher often developed a fictional character (usually still in boyhood) who would become obsessed with the fate of the

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Death

In December 2016, Mosher was ill with what he believed to be an upper respiratory ailment. He was soon diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, induced from treatment of prostate cancer in 2007. Mosher announced his latest cancer via his Facebook page. He died at home on January 29, 2017, at age 74.

Awards

Mosher was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

in 1979, and is the 1981 recipient of the Literature Award bestowed by the

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headq ...

. ''A Stranger In the Kingdom'' won the New England Book Award for Fiction in 1991, and was later made to a feature film of the same name by director

Jay Craven Jay Craven is a Vermont film director, screenwriter and former professor of film studies at Marlboro College. Craven is known for creating award-winning films on modest budgets, adopting many of the novels of author Howard Frank Mosher to film. ...

. Craven has also adapted ''Disappearances'', ''

Where the Rivers Flow North ''Where the Rivers Flow North'' is a 1993 American drama film directed by Jay Craven and starring Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Treat Williams and Michael J. Fox. It is based on Howard Frank Mosher's novel of the same name. Cast * Rip Torn as Noe ...

'' and ''

Northern Borders ''Northern Borders'' is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Jay Craven, and starring Bruce Dern, Geneviève Bujold and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. It is based on the novel of the same name by Howard Frank Mosher. Plot In 1956, Au ...

'' to film. In 2006, Mosher received the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2011 he was awarded the New England Independent Booksellers Association's President's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.

Bibliography

His books, in order of publication, are: #''Disappearances'' (1977) #''Where the Rivers Flow North'' (1978) #''Marie Blythe'' (1983) #''A Stranger in the Kingdom'' (1989) #''Northern Borders'' (1994) #''North Country'' (nonfiction, 1997) #''The Fall of the Year'' (1999) #''The True Account'' (2003) #''Waiting for Teddy Williams'' (2004) #''On Kingdom Mountain'' (2007) #''Walking to Gatlinburg'' (2010) #''The Great Northern Express'' (nonfiction, 2012) #''God's Kingdom'' (2015) #''Points North: Stories'' (2018)

References

External links

Howard Frank Mosher Official Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosher, Howard Frank 1942 births 2017 deaths Deaths from cancer in Vermont Vermont culture People from Irasburg, Vermont People from Cayuga County, New York Syracuse University alumni Novelists from Vermont American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state)