Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/24/2021
HAMPDEN – Over the course of many years, one local writer wrote 35 holiday columns for the Berkshire Eagle newspaper – usually around St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas. One day he decided to collect them into an anthology, and Kevin O’Hara’s new book, “A Christmas Journey” was born.
O’Hara said the book is divided into three sections – stories from his childhood Christmases, Christmas stories from his time working at a hospital and stories that fall under the heading of, “home for Christmas.” The book is 96 pages with 16 stories and 18 illustrations to accompany them.
“I chose the [stories] people responded to most,” O’Hara said of how he selected which of his columns to place in the book. He said there were eight children in his family, and a few of the stories included are “the boyhood stories growing up here in town,” and ones revolving around working at a hospital, as well as his time as a bell ringer.
He noted he tells stories about first love and about brotherly adventures during the holidays. O’Hara even shared that when he was a kid, his dad would pick up hitchhikers and bring them wherever they were heading, leading into a Christmas Eve hitchhiker story.
O’Hara is not new to writing – his first book, “Last of the Donkey Pilgrims: A Man’s Journey Through Ireland” was released in 2004 about a 1979 trip guiding a donkey 1,720 miles around Ireland. In March of 2022, he will be releasing a book about his time working at a hospital called “The Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward.”
The author talk for “A Christmas Journey” will take place on Dec. 4 at 12 p.m. in the Town House auditorium at the Hampden Public Library, 625 Main St. Light refreshment will be provided by the Friends of the Hampden Public Library.
Ellen Moriarty of the library stated, “Kevin is releasing his new book, ‘A Christmas Journey,’ and we are all looking forward to an event in person.”
Today, O’Hara still writes opinion pieces for the Berkshire Eagle, and has sold more than 200 copies of “A Christmas Journey” so far. He plans to release a softcover edition of the book in the future.
O’Hara will be signing and selling his books at this event. The author talk is free and open to the public, with no registration required. To purchase O’Hara’s books or learn more about the author, visit https://thedonkeyman.com/books.