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Photo by Edward Freundl
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It was a homecoming and family reunion Saturday for author and former Manchester resident Harry Macomber as he signed copies of his new book at The Coffee Mill Cafe. From left are Macomber's sister, Barb Harvey; the author, book purchaser Kathy Newman of Chelsea and George Macomber Jr., brother to Harry and Barb.
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It was part literary event, part homecoming and part family reunion.
Dozens of people lined up Saturday morning at The Coffee Mill Cafe to have author and former resident Harry Macomber sign copies of his book, "How The Bee Got Inside My Bib Overalls."
The book is a compilation of short stories culled from his life growing up on the George and Mable Macomber dairy farm, called Whippoorwill Farms, on Sharon Hollow Road.
Macomber, who has lived in Watertown, Tenn., since 1980, was warmly welcomed by local residents who remembered him, as well as several family members still living in the area.
"I've known the family since way back in the '40s when we were in 4-H together," said Dorothy Shear of Ann Arbor as she was having her copy autographed. "The book is terrific."
Macomber said the book evolved from stories that he didn't really intend to commit to paper.
"It started out with me telling my son stories about what life was like growing up on the farm," he said.
"They were just bedtime stories. Then I started writing them down, and it ended up in book form."
The stories cover the period from when he was about 5 years old up to when he worked for an auctioneer at age 20.
Reflecting his agrarian roots, Macomber doesn't intend to use the profits of his penmanship to buy an expensive home or travel the world. Instead, the proceeds will go to the Pittsfield Township Historical Society for restoration and preservation of the Southerland-Wilson Farmstead on Textile Road.
"We saw an ad in the Ann Arbor paper that Harry had placed, looking for somewhere to display his father's old harnesses," said historical society member Betty LeClair.
"We showed him the farm museum and it was ideal for it."
The idea to have the historical society publish the book came from that chance encounter.
"It was (Macomber's) idea to write the book as a fund-raiser and the historical society would get all the proceeds," said Don LeClair, who was busily taking payments from book buyers and displaying photos of the farm museum on a laptop computer.
Kathy Newman of Chelsea bought four copies of the book for herself and three neighbors.
"They're old farmers, and I thought these would make wonderful gifts," Newman said. "They are always telling me stories about the area."
A few of Macomber's siblings came by to wish him well.
"There were six of us, and Harry's the only one that lives out of state," said his sister, Barb Harvey of Ann Arbor.
George Macomber Jr. said that as a family they all got along well, and he was very proud of his brother.
"This is really something," George said. "He's got a lot of talent."
Harry Macomber's daughter, Melanie, lives in Ann Arbor, and his son, Adam, is a college student who lives with him in Tennessee.
Before moving south, he lived in the village in the late 1960s and was active in civil affairs.
"I was on the Village Council and the Planning Commission. I even owned The Enterprise for a couple of years," Macomber said. "I was a volunteer firefighter, and that's probably what I'm proudest of."
Macomber said he will continue writing, with plans in the works for a full-length fiction novel.
He said he was surprised by the response to his book, and by the crowd at the book signing, where he signed about 60 copies within two hours.
"This is way more than I expected," he said.
The remaining, unsigned books will be available at The Coffee Mill for $13.99 each.
Edward Freundl is a reporter for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 428-8173 or efreundl@heritage.com.
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