The River Flows

207 pages. Signed on title page: "I hope you enjoy this 'river'! Ted Cromack. A grandmother's death triggers a reminiscence that spans sixteen generations. As the saga unfolds, it is apparent that every generation of settlers along the river faced struggles with nature and with progress. A rough immigrant arriving in Boston seeks a better life and freedom in the hills. A young man fleeing the tyranny and turmoil of Poland suddenly finds himself in America where he searches for water power to run a mill. A preacher banished from England, a slave escaped from captivity in Virginia, a woodsman from the wilds of Quebec, and others are amoung those who find hardship, love, joy, and difficult decisions to share with the women who are tied to the river. Central to it all is the river, inevitably flowing onward like progress constantly advancing. Sometimes progress means leaving the comfortable and trusted and sometimes progress seems to regress. Like the river, progress is unstoppable. As the reminiscences cease, the lastest generation is faced with a serious struggle between preservation of the environment and permitting progress.…