Mayor: I hit the road, and funnily enough, I probably
emulated my father, because I became a restless, rootless
fella. I was only responsible unto myself, and I headed
west because I was on the East Coast. I had now taken
the course load. I knew some of the background to U.S.
History, but did I know the U.S.? No! So it was time to
explore the U.S. I criss-crossed back and forth.
Sherman: Then, where?
Mayor: New York, for a job at TIME, Incorporated. I
worked for the books division. Did a lot of research; a
lot of photographs. I was a, sort of, historical
researcher putting to use a variety of - what was now
firming up as - character traits, or at least propensities
on my part: Travel, nosiness, photography, digging out
facts…
Sherman: How long were you at TIME in NYC?
Mayor: Oh, as long as I’m anywhere… a year. I was sent
to Texas and poked around. And of course, I’m on the
dole, if you will. The company’s paying for everything,
you know, cars and motels and whatnot. And they’re
picking up everything, so I can cover the entire state. And
I’m doing so again in a historical context, because this is
the book division. And we are writing a book curiously
entitled, “The Texans”. Go figure. This is the Old West
Series, by the way, just for extra clarification. So this
is where, of course, we know Texas the most if we
miniaturize it to caricature. You know, cowboys and
longhorns and John Wayne and the Red River and that
fight with Montgomery Clift, and etc, etc. I wandered
down there, and I had a glorious time - not because I
love Texas, but what I recognized in Texas, or chose to
recognize, was America in microcosm. At that point,
again, in the mid 70s, we had a state that was full of vim
and vigor. Full of itself. Full of pluses and minuses; ups
and downs. It was disorganized and riotous and fractious
… I left there, and I came straight to Vermont. Why I
came to Vermont is anyone’s guess - except that it was
a beautiful state, it was thinly populated, and I knew
nothing about it - which is key in my world … I’d already
written four books that will never see the light-of-pub-
lishing-day … I [thought] to myself, “Well, it’s a rural
state, I can probably live there on very little. And I’ll like
it, and I hope they’ll like me”. And they did. And I did.
And it’s worked out rather well.
Sherman: How did you start writing the Joe Gunther
series?
Mayor: The very first book in the series, Open Season,
was written as three completely separate books.
The foggy clocktower belongs to Bellows Falls, as seen along the axis the canal, with
the railroad bride in the mid-distance. Photo by Archer Mayor
55 VTMAG.com