Beyond Bear Mountain

Beyond Bear Mountain is a story about three siblings who discover their late father’s unpublished manuscript residing on his old computer. As they became intrigued with his story they decide to spend a weekend reading it together and learning more about their family history and late father’s life.

They were surprised to learn he started writing this story as a freshman in high school for a midterm English assignment and completed it seventy years later. As a result they could clearly see not only a transformation in his writing but in his disposition as well. His story begins when he was an immature and somewhat naïve adolescent, and ends with him being a much wiser but a stubbornly independent old man.

He details his parent’s bold adventure that inspired their family during the great depression and as a result it created some lifelong friendships. Unlike many families during the great depression who struggled just to stay alive, their family was very well to do and living comfortably. So by choice his parents decided to learn firsthand just how hard America was struggling, with the hope of imparting a deeper appreciation within their two sons for life’s simple blessings and a need to help others.

He goes on to describe the changes in his life and the transformation of America as he perceived it during his lifetime. He marvels at some surprising acts of kindness and bravery that at times seemed inexplicable.

It remains unclear as to why he never tried to publish his work or even let his family know he was writing this story.