Published: October 15, 2009 08:00 pm      

Book takes a look back at stories of Mountain Maryland

CUMBERLAND — When Cumberland Police Officer August Baker was murdered in Shantytown in October 1907, it led to Cumberland’s only lynching. Despite the deadly response to Baker’s murder, his story was soon forgotten until James Rada wrote about it in the Cumberland Times-News in August 2004. Following the publication of the article, a representative from the National Officer Down Memorial contacted Rada to get the information about Baker so the officer’s story could be included on the memorial.

The history of Mountain Maryland are stories of adventure, mystery and of a life nearly forgotten. “Looking Back: True Stories of Mountain Maryland” tells those stories, including Baker’s, once again to remind readers of their heritage.

“I look for stories about Western Maryland that are different,” said Rada, the author of Looking Back. “Some of these stories are well-known like when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig came to town with the Yankees to play the Cumberland Colts. Other ones are simple stories about life years ago like the birth of triplets at Memorial Hospital.”

“Looking Back” is a collection of 40 stories that are illustrated with 37 photographs. The articles come from Rada’s popular column “Looking Back” in the Cumberland Times-News and his articles in Allegany Magazine. Some of the articles have also been updated with new information and material.

“When the articles came out and people would speak to me about them, many times they would have information to add to the story,” Rada said. “With other stories, I came across more information as I did research for related topics. Some of that new material I thought was important enough to include in the original article.”

“Looking Back” is Rada’s first book-length nonfiction work. His previous books about Western Maryland have been historical novels. Rada began writing about Western Maryland’s history with his 2001 novel “Canawlers,” set on the C&O Canal during the Civil War. His most recent novel was “October Mourning,” published in 2005, which looked at how the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 affected the area.

“There’s just so many great stories to tell about this area,” Rada said. “It’s a storyteller’s dream. I love finding out new stories about Western Maryland.”

“Looking Back” is available at local bookstores. Rada will be doing a booksigning at The Book Center in Cumberland on Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information about Rada and his books, visit www.aimpublishinggroup.com.