Local Authors
 
The Local Authors Collection is a part of the library's Local History and Genealogy Collection.  It consists of  materials by Leominster natives and by others with strong connections to the city and region. Included are materials by persons residing in Leominster at the time of publication.

Well-known authors include novelist Robert Cormier, harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, Dime-Novel author “Buckskin Sam” (Major Samuel Stone Hall), photojournalist James Nachtwey, and fantasy/science-fiction author R.A. Salvatore.

A “Local Author” is a writer with strong connections to the city or area. These may include birth, or substantial residence in Leominster or nearby Worcester County. The collection also includes books by authors who were residents of Leominster at the time of publication, but not books they may have published later. The collection is still developing.

Biographical information
Collecting and maintaining biographical information on local authors, as defined elsewhere, is a priority. The most extensive materials are on long-time, well-known author Robert Cormier, but information is sought and collected on other Leominster authors.
 

Robert Cormier Novelist Fitchburg State University Archives & Special Collections Guide to Robert Cormier Collection

James Nachtwey Photojournalist   James Nachtwey's Website

“Buckskin Sam” Maj. Samuel Stone Hall, 19th-century Dime Novelist

R.A. Salvatore Fantasy Author www.rasalvatore.com Fitchburg State collection http://www.rasalvatore.com/collection/pg1.html

Ralph Kirkpatrick, harpsichordist: No biographical sites, but many reviews and references available on the Internet via search engines. His books and CDs of his work are still available (2002).   Written by him: http://www.hubharp.com/fh_biography/fh_tchm.htm About Him http://www.macomb.com/~ilmcdono/Obituaries/McDonough_obits3.html http://www.npj.com/homepage/teritowe/hrp.html

Publications in Special Collections
The collection includes copies of all of Robert Cormier’s books, including many foreign-language editions of his works. The works of R.A. Salvatore, James Nachtwey and Ralph Kirkpatrick are also well represented. Few of “Buckskin Sam” Hall’s dime novels are available, but the special collections area has a monograph about, and indexing, the Dime Novel Roundup, a magazine dedicated to the genre. The annotated index (1931-1981) was compiled by Michael L. Cook and published by Bowling Green University Popular Press of Ohio in 1983.