“The Education of a Yankee” by Judson Hale

Born Yankee - a Storeyteller's Story

If you were to write an account of your childhood, how many pages would it take before you’ve bored your readers silly? For me, about 20 pages, if I stretched it. But Judson Hale has no such problem — his childhood was so full of noteworthy experiences, he could fill a book with them. And he has.

Hale’s recently re-released memoir, “The Education of a Yankee” [Bauhan Publishing, $23], is focused heavily on his early years. Leavened with Hales’ charming Yankeeness, the book takes the reader from his birth into a wealthy Boston family and then to the backwoods of Maine with parents newly smitten by the philosophies of Rudolph Steiner. It is all overshadowed by — and in part motivated by —  the tragic situation of Hale’s brother, Drake.

Along the way, there are fires, talk of German spies, eurythmy sessions, a guardian angel, “seven years of trouble” and much more.

Hale’s adult years have been less eccentric — a family man working in the family business, Yankee Publishing (our parent company) — but still engaging for the reader. The success of Yankee Magazine is a story unto itself.

The whole journey is gathered into chapters titled with Yankee traits — Ingenuity, Frugality, Contrariety, Practicality and Common Sense among them.

The best measure of a good book is to get to the last page and wish that it could go on. This is one of those books.