I was born and raised in the history-rich Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. (Think: Mohawk Trail; Deerfield Massacre; Stockbridge Indians; Fort Massachusetts.) It was there that the works of James Fenimore Cooper, Kenneth Roberts and Walter D. Edmonds stimulated a lifelong interest in American colonial history. Later, while living in New York's Mohawk Valley, I was able to immerse myself in the history of 17th– and 18th-century New York and to explore the interaction of the Dutch, English and French settlers and traders with the Five Iroquois Nations. Now, after a successful and rewarding career in public relations and social marketing with New York State government, I have the opportunity to share what I have learned about this thrilling period of history. I hope that you are as excited to read my stories about the early American frontier as I am to tell them.