By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
The Walpole Public Library (WPL) recently welcomed back Ted Reinstein, a renowed journalist, reporter, speaker, and author. Reinstein is most famous for his work as a reporter on “Chronicle,” featured on WCVB-TV/Boston’s which is America’s longest-running locally produced nightly news magazine. According to the WPL website, “five times over the past ten years, thanks to The Friends [of the library] Ted has introduced his newest book to large and receptive audiences at the Walpole Public Library.”
He returned to the WPL to discuss his most recent book, “Travels Through the Heart and Soul of New England.” Reinstein shared with the crowed that: “this book was a particular labor of love for me… this is about just the most memorable people I’ve met in all of my travels to all corners of New England in the last few decades.”
The book features stories of struggle, resilience, and triumph involving local New Englanders, encompassing stories from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
The stories of struggle include struggles to preserve a way of life, such as for a fourth generation fisherman in Gloucester, Massachusetts, physical struggles, such as with a fourth generation dairy farmer in Portsmouth, Rhode Island who also happens to be a quadriplegic, and struggles with getting a story out into the world, such as with a Jamaican immigrant in Milford, New Hampshire who wanted to uncover the Black history and heritage of the town and surrounding areas.
When it comes to stories of resilience, Reinstein shared “there is something about resilience that is in New Englanders DNA,” which was wholeheartedly proved as he shared snapshots of these stories. He shared the resilience of mill towns and their rich history, such as in Biddeford, Maine. Then the crowd journeyed to East Corinth, Vermont to the Northeast Slopes, which has an affordable ski hill so everyone has the opportunity to ski. Reinstein shared that this particular spot “renewed my faith in community because no one was left behind.”
The stories of triumph, which were included at the end of the presentation, uplifted the entire crowed. Attendees learned about the young man who in his sobriety after years of drug addiction, hikes up Mt. Monadock in New Hampshire. This created a love of hiking and in 2021, this young man set a new world record for 17 summits in 24 hours. Only to, a year later, break his own record with 18 summits.
The author also shared the story of Good Night Lights in Providence, Rhode Island. His initial reporting of this phenomena received an Emmy Award in 2018. Every night in Providence, at 8:30pm, the entire city says good night to the children who are fighting leukemia at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, thanks to the valiant efforts of Rhode Island local cartoonist, Steve Brosnihan.
Between each subset of stories, Reinstein included a “diner pit stop,” where he would plug his favorite diners in New England. He felt it was important to share these with all because: “diners are only one of my several constants in my travels… it might be a public trail… it might be a public library. All of those things have the same thing in common… so what is it?… it’s something you cannot buy online… it’s community.” Some of his favorite diners included Windsor Diner in Windsor, Vermont who is owned and run solo by Theresa Rhodes and Brunswick Diner in Brunswick, Maine.
“Travels Through the Heart and Soul of New England,” shares beautiful, heartfelt stories about fellow New Englanders that inspire and awe any reader. It can be purchased wherever books are sold.
