Kevin's informal talk covers
a few of the main topics of his book about New England stone walls, The
Granite Kiss (Country Man Press), touching on history, technique, stylistic
development, and aesthetics. He explains
how and why New England came to acquire its thousands of miles of stone walls,
the ways in which they and other dry stone structures were built, how their
styles emerged and changed over time, and their significance to the famous New
England landscape. Along the way, Kevin
occupies himself building a miniature wall or walls on a tabletop, using tiny
stones from a five-gallon bucket. He
often brings along his collection of books about stonework, and copies of The
Granite Kiss will be available for sale.
Kevin is a writer, teacher, tradesman and lifelong resident of
Hopkinton, NH. For nearly forty years he
has been a stone wall builder in a family business widely know for traditional
New England Stonework, particularly for historic restoration of antique
structures. He has also published
poetry, songs, and essays, including “Radical Resilience: American Families
from 1850-2001” (with Brenda Foley), which appeared in the anthology No
Higher Calling, and “Land of Stone”, an examination of several historic
sites in the Monadnock Region, in the 2006 anthology Where the Mountain
Stands Alone.
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