Paulette Myers-Rich has collaborated with dozens of artists and writers during a long career in fine art printing. In this interview we talk about many of them - including a series of books featuring Irish poets produced in collaboration with the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas.

Paulette came to Beacon late in life, settling here in her fifties in part because it visually echoed her industrial river city home of St. Paul, Minnesota. Once here, she continued to produce letterpress printed works under her imprint, Traffic Street Press, and opened the No. 3 Reading Room exhibition space. In our interview, Paulette talks about her creative partnerships with artists and writers, the setbacks of Covid, and the importance of fine art books today.

Kim Pennock is an educator and the poultry lead at the Stony Kill educational farm and 4H club. Stony Kill has chickens, cows, sheep, rabbits and bees, with a focus on heritage breeds. Each August, its 4H youth are represented at the Dutchess County Fair, and some go on to participate in the youth livestock sale. They come away with useful skills, friendships and a commitment to raising animals ethically and humanely.

In this interview, Kim discusses how 4H teaches young people about agriculture, animal husbandry, gardening, art and more. And she provides an overview of her work at Stony Kill, what children and adults experience through the educational programs there and more.

Pat Halvey is well acquainted with death and grieving. He was 13 years old when his father first initiated him into the family funeral business, and he’s worked with the deceased and the bereft ever since. That business, Riverview Funeral Services, recently merged with Beacon’s other multi-generational death and funeral services provider, Libby.

In our interview, Pat talks about many facets of death, grieving and funeral rites. He gamely answers dozens of literally morbid questions on cremation, green burials, Irish wakes, Covid, the falloff in religious services, the disturbing uptick in people not holding any death ritual at all, weird funeral requests and more.

Pat grew up in Beacon and he also shares memories of Beacon in his heyday (the '90s).

Photo credit: Michael Isabell