By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Staff
Legendary editor of Yankee magazine, Mel Allen, joined the patrons of Wellesley Free Library to discuss his long history with the magazine, some of the interesting people he met along the way, and what inspired him to look for people to feature in his new book “Here In New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All.”
“I spent my life at Yankee believing in the power of storytelling toward rich our lives. I call this listening to New England; I want you to hear the voices of some of the most memorable New Englanders I have known.” Allen shared. He was the fifth editor in all of Yankee history and was asked many times over why he waited so long to retire.
Throughout his time at Yankee, what stood out to him most was the people he met. If he had retired, he wouldn’t have met interesting and fantastic people like Joel Woods, marine fisherman who’s photography shows the unique chaos that can be seen from fishing boats. He wouldn’t have met Rebecca Tuttle, who’s family had one of the oldest farms in New England but it was only passed down to the men. He could not imagine not being touched by these stories, and the stories the people under him found as well. He said it was a treasure hunt he never tired from, and that inspired him to put stories he felt represented the spirit of New England into his book.
“I simply listen.” He said. “To tell these stories, I have entered the lives of people for hours or days, and when they open their own lives, their hearts, their words, they speak, become like intimate albums that I get to keep. I do not see my work as writing their stories. I am there for their stories to be told.”
“Here In New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All” takes the readers throughout the region, celebrating hidden stories like a woman who’s family tour boat business was supported by friends after the death of her father, or of Grace Corrigan, mother of Christa McAuliffe who passed in the Challenger disaster, or even Helen and Scott Nearing, who became famous for living on their homestead and publishing their own book based on it. Between the happy and the sad stories, Allen’s book makes you proud to be a New Englander and is worth the read for anyone, because it is about everyone.
