Buffalo Literature: Buffalo native embraces Mount Washington

By P.A. Kane
(Author Dan Szczesny and his daughter, Uma, in a vintage photo)

Buffalo native Dan Szczesny is a long-time journalist, author and librarian living in New Hampshire.

He’s written several books of travel memoir (The Adventures of Buffalo and Tough Cookie, Mosquito Rain), fiction (Sing and Other Stories) and poetry (Invincible One, Poems) and an essay collection on fatherhood (You & Me: Reflections on Becoming Your Dad.)

His book The Nepal Chronicles, about a month long trek to Everest Base Camp and marriage in Kathmandu, won the 2016 New Hampshire state library award for Outstanding Work of Non-Fiction.

Dan is also the editor of Murder Ink, a series of New England-based Pulp Fiction anthologies set in or around the newsroom.

His short story “White Like Marble” was a finalist in the 2017 Ernest Hemingway Foundation Short Shorts Contest, out of the Hemingway birthplace in Oak Park, Ill.

We talked to Dan about his book, The White Mountain: Rediscovering Mount Washington’s Hidden Culture—a year-long exploration of the Northeast’s tallest peak, where we witness some of the world’s worst weather, meet a 97-year-old man running a road race, and celebrity cats.

Dan also writes a daily Substack called Day by Day, and does a newsletter with his daughter Uma. You can find out more about Dan at his website and pick up all his books at his online store

PAK—The White Mountain is a book that sometimes feels like journalism, sometimes like a history book, and sometimes it feels like a spiritual guide that might help someone find a greater sense of themselves. You put it all together so seamlessly. What in your training as a writer helped spur all this cross-pollination?

DS—New Jersey! Back when I was an up-and-coming reporter, I worked a police and fire beat in Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey, for a twice-a-week local newspaper called the Princeton Packet. I also wrote features there that dealt mostly with Princeton University. So, between cozying up to the cops and fire fighters to get scoops and interviewing huge names like Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates and James McPherson, I had to develop a whole bunch of skills all at once, from writing on insane deadlines to getting to know my subjects. (The local fire chief isn’t going to take you seriously if you don’t know SOMETHING about what he does. Same for the historian at the university.)

As for a spiritual guide, thank you! That’s just me trying to put my own awe and excitement into words!

PAK—Was there perhaps one or two experiences on Mount Washington that prompted you to say to yourself—I have to write this book?

DS—I wanted to write a book on the mountain, literally, from the first time I climbed it, maybe six months after I moved to New Hampshire. I had moved up to New Hampshire to cover a political beat (which I hated), so any chance to write features I took, even if that meant writing a story on an Everest climber named Jim Gagne. He basically hiked Mount Washington as a training mountain and he invited me to come along with him. I knew nothing, was out of shape, had no clue what I was getting into. But Jim pushed and pulled and cajoled me up that mountain. We summited at dusk, so on my first summit of Mount Washington I got to experience a sunset from the summit. I never looked back after that.

PAK—For a year, you immersed yourself in the culture, events and history of Mount Washington. You profile the (Mount Washington Observatory) founders, Alex McKenzie and Joe Dodge. You tell stories about colorful characters like Alton Weagle and a 97-year-old man named George Etzweiler who participates in and completes a run up the mountain as part of the Mount Washington Road Race. You tell the story of Sylvester Marsh and his railway to the moon, which inspired the annual Railway To The Moon Steampunk Festival. You cover a lot of ground, but is there another story you left out, or perhaps one that has revealed itself since the book was published in 2018?

DS—Yes, I’m so glad you asked. Cats! More specifically, a history of the feline mascots of the Mount Washington Observatory. In one of the first photos ever taken of the observatory founders – Joe Dodge is in it – there’s a cat named Tikky. Every since then, there’s been a series of cat mascots who live at the summit. When I was up there, the mascot was Marty. Currently it’s Nimbus. Originally, the cats kept mice away from the observer’s food storage bins, but these days they are just local celebrities for visitors. I wrote a story about it after the first book came out. In retrospect, that probably should have been included. But if anybody wants to read, just let me know!

PAK—For writers who might be interested in a similar project, tell us about the financing. You note sponsors at the back of the book, which leads me to believe this wasn’t the typical model where you write a proposal and a publishing house provides resources. Is this how non-fiction is being underwritten in this new age of the indie author?

DS—We did a little of both, actually. My long-time publisher at the time was Hobblebush Books, a wonderful small press that I loved working with. (Sadly, they’ve since ceased publishing.) But at the time, in order to pull off such a project, I needed more than the publisher underwriting the printing costs. We had to get permissions from a whole series of organizations like the observatory, cog railway, auto road and a bunch of others. Just the prep work to begin the research was timely and costly. So, we launched a patron campaign with potential readers – kind of like a Kickstarter. That helped us get both a little extra funding to help me with travel and research, and also helped fund PR and marketing. It worked out really well!

PAK— You write with such reverence and seem to have a great personal connection to Mount Washington. How does a kid from Buffalo whose father worked at Bethlehem Steel develop such a spiritual connection to a mountain in New England?

DS—Honestly, my dad played a pretty big role in this whole project, even though he passed away in 2017 while I was in the middle of researching and writing the book. As you know, my chapter on the famous runner George Etzweiler is actually about my dad. (Don’t tell anyone!)

Even though all my life before New Hampshire took place on flat ground – Western New York, New Jersey – my dad is the one who introduced me to the outdoors. We’d go hiking, or on fishing trips to Canada. I had all that in me by the time I set foot in New England. And by then, I was just aching to find a sacred outdoor space to call my own. I just didn’t know it would be Mount Washington until I climbed it!

PAK—Most days, at the crack of dawn, I take my 10-year-old dog Kaya on a 2- to 3-mile off-leash walk. Over the years, as environments have changed, we are now contending with more coyotes, foxes and skunks. I’ve changed venues to reduce the likelihood of engagement, but I still feel like this is a task and I’m not personally getting much out of these walks. What can I, and other people, do to get more out of their precious outdoor time? 

DS—Stop looking for it. Just be in the moment. That’s it. It’s really easy, and that’s what makes it so hard! The most intimate and overlooked chapter in the book is the one where I spend a few days at the summit weeding dandelions. They are an invasive species up there and every year a group goes to the summit to weed. I loved doing that so, so much. I was outside. My hands were dirty. The task was huge yet simple.

There was a famous monk named Thich Nhat Hanh, I mention him in the book. His whole philosophy was about being fully present in the mundane. Too often when we think of the outdoors, we’re flooded with images of grand landscapes and awesome caverns. But life isn’t the Grand Canyon. Mostly it’s just your backyard, where you walk your dog! But there are still dandelions there. All you have to do is slow down and be aware of them!

PAK—The engineer and businessman, Sylvester Marsh, on the advice of his doctor to get some exercise, attempted to climb Mount Washington, which nearly killed him. But this near-death experience prompted him to develop the Cog Railway that ascends Mount Washington. Prior to the Cog’s birth in 1868, he also innovated the Marsh’s Caloric Grain Dryer, which played a huge role in Buffalo’s industrial development. Tell us a little about the grain dryer.

DS—What a crazy, and mostly lost to history, story that is! Until I started researching the book, I had no idea that the cog railway – one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world – was connected to my hometown of Buffalo! I was thrilled to discover that and spent a few days back home researching it.

Before the cog, Sylvester was an eccentric inventor with grain holdings in Chicago. When the Erie Canal opened, he discovered that his grain shipments were rotting as they sat in silos in Buffalo waiting to get moved from the big barges to the canal boats. So, Sylvester moved to Buffalo and invented the Caloric Grain Dryer, essentially enormous steel, perforated cooling grates. If you dried the grain, it lasted longer. If it lasted longer, more of it would get to New York and Boston and guys like Sylvester would make more money.

The invention made him wealthy enough to retire early, move east and have enough free time to nearly kill himself hiking up Mount Washington!

PAK—In The White Mountain, one finds journalism, history, travel, memoir, and more. You have a wealth of other published material—a daily Substack, Day by Day, books of poetry, essays, short stories, books about rocks, fire towers and more. What are some of the challenges of having such a large palette? 

DS—Not sleeping? On Nov. 1, 2026, we’ll officially have been writing a daily post on our main Substack, Day By Day, for four years! And if I’m to be honest about it, having my daughter there writing with me makes the lack of sleep worth it. I’ve always been an obsessive writer; I’ve stopped trying to figure out why a long time ago.

I think the fact that I tend to write about a lot of different subjects comes directly from my work as a features writer and reporter and also from a mentor English professor I had at Buffalo State College when I was a silly freshman looking to write the great American novel. His name was Zan Robinson. He was always teasing and testing me. One of the writing life habits I picked up from him was to diversify. Write a lot about a lot of things and you’ll never get bored, he’d say.

PAK—Your daughter Uma, who has co-authored several books with you, and has a Substack where she interviews bands she likes. On her first trip up Mount Washington as a toddler, you note she picks up some pebbles and puts them in her pocket. Is she still picking up pebbles? And as she has gotten older, is she still fascinated by the natural world?

DS—Yes and no. Her pockets are still filled these days, but now with guitar picks and craft supplies. I’m constantly finding glue sticks or felt in her pockets. She does maintain a large rock and fossil collection in her room, however, which she still updates! She’s also just started field hockey and skateboards, so that’s outdoor activities, right?!

PAK—Most important question of all—you are a Buffalo expatriate living in New England—Bills or Patriots; Sabres or Bruins? There’s only one answer, and I hope you get it right.

DS—Whoa boy, gotta be careful what one says to questions like this! Let’s just say I was a huge Bills fan until, well, “Wide to the right,” if you catch the reference. In my early years of New England, when the Patriots were in their dynasty era, I’d sometimes tease my Buffalo friends. The Bills can never catch a break can they?

And some of the best memories of my childhood have to do with the Sabres. My cousin was a huge fan and he’d take me to games at the Aud. I saw the French Connection live in person! Yeah, I know, I’m dating myself. My dad would also walk down to the B-Quick at the end of our street and buy me hockey cards. I still own and cherish my 1973-74 Topps Roger Crozier card!

PAK—I know there’s probably not just one, so what are some of the projects you’re working on now, and when can we expect to see them?

DS—Phew, how much space do I have?

My daughter and I are currently working for two music magazines, The Concert Chronicles and Paperjam Magazine, writing music and concert reviews and interviews. So, that’s ongoing!

I’ve been gathering together a collection of my parenting columns, called Transcendental Dad, that I’ve written for various journals and newspapers the past few years.

Uma and I are still talking about Volume 3 of our Rocks Guide series. This one would be subtitled, Rock Oddities and consist of strange rocks and items one can find in museums or off the beaten path.

Finally, our big project that my whole family has been working on is called A to Z Eating. We’re picking a type of food from each letter of the alphabet, from around the country, and going there to try the food. For example, P will be Polish and the restaurant is Potts Deli and Grille at the Broadway Market! My aunt took me there as a child, and boy do I have stories! You’ll have to read the book though.