"When Cathy Stewart asked me to edit her father's memoir, I never expected to fall in love with the story or the story teller. But I fell hard. Hilltop Echoes will take you to the hardscrabble depression-era farm life of Arthur Stewart's youth in rural Massachusetts. Born in 1926, Arthur fought with the Marines in World War II, raised four children, and continues to live a full life. But first he was a farm boy in New England. The sights and smells of Royalston, Massachusetts are on display whether it's the 'smell of wet wool mittens drying on the reflector around the stove' or the pot under every bed that in the winter held a 'yellow hunk of ice, ' every paragraph contains the intimate details of time and place. From his birth on the kitchen table to his boyhood with his brothers and sister, parents and grandparents, the main character in this story is the family farm." -Caroline Donnola

Arthur Stewart is a World War II Marine veteran who served in the Pacific. At 92, he is retired after a career as a building contractor. He was born in rural Royalston, MA and has lived on Cape Cod for over 45 years. An avid sportsman, Arthur is a trapshooter, hunter, fisherman and birdwatcher. He has three sons and a daughter and the stories in this book animated many a conversation.