“It was a seven-year project, and it began with my love of historic preservation,” said David Byars Vogue’s Deputy Managing Editor, of his new book, Our Time at Foxhollow Farm: A Hudson Valley Family Remembered (SUNY Press). The book, which chronicles how the other half lived at the first part of the 20th century, started with Byars’s fondness for the area. “Once I joined Hudson River Heritage in Rhinebeck, I found out they had these amazing photograph albums from the prominent Dows family that had been bequeathed to the organization in 1994, and had been sitting in storage since,” explained Byars.
And while the rain poured down outside Manhattan’s Players club on Gramercy Park South, a distinguished crowd of revelers toasted Byars and peered at the pages to catch a glimpse of the gilded life. But after seven years of research, what was the most enjoyable part of the experience? “The research!” exclaimed Byars, adding, “It was never-ending [and] I can’t stop.” Does that mean a sequel is in the works? “I think I started something unique here by taking a real family and their albums from a bygone era and turning it into a narrative for a book.” Any subjects that he’d like to explore? “I need to find the next family.”
