Writers of the Catskills: In Conversation with Rebecca Rego Barry (TMWYR Ep. #60)

My discussion with Rebecca Rego Barry for The Overlook, the online nonprofit news outlet serving the Catskills communities of Hunter, Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, Shandaken, and Woodstock. Rebecca has had an exceptional literary journey as a book historian, a library preservationist and archivist, a magazine editor, bibliophile and publisher, as well as the author of hundreds of articles, essays, book reviews, two books, and a chapter in another. Rebecca, who was introduced to me by my friend Beth Waterman of the Phoenicia Library, lives in Chichester, a hamlet of Shandaken, with her husband Brett Barry, the host of the popular Catskills’ podcast “Kaatscast.” The couple recently became part owners of Catskills book publisher, the Purple Mountain Press. In our discussion, Rebecca observed “I literally think of nothing else but books all the time.” We discussed Rebecca’s books, Rare Books Uncovered, and The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells, Investigations into a Forgotten Mystery Author, Rebecca's writing process (‘bird by bird”) and routine, the challenges of writing and publishing, the books she’s currently reading, including with her local book club, and finally the Purple Mountain Press. A condensed and edited version of our discussion was published in The Overlook.The complete transcript of our discussion can be found on my website, Bookworms In the Wild.(Photo credit: Dion Ogust)