Kathy Leonard Czepiel

My historical novel A Violet Season was published by Simon & Schuster and received a starred review and Best Books of 2012 listing from Kirkus Reviews. The story is based on one of the most fascinating agricultural chapters in the history of the Hudson Valley: a violet-growing industry serving the entire eastern half of the United States, which was booming from the late 1800s until the 1920s and now has been all but forgotten.

I focused on features for New Haven's popular online magazine Daily Nutmeg, for which I've written nearly 600 stories. I've interviewed hundreds of interesting people in greater New Haven, but some of my favorite stories were my first-person accounts of Connecticut hikes, from the Hanging Hills of Meriden to the coastal boardwalk of Silver Sands. I was fascinated by the persistence of conservationists and scientists trying to save the American chestnut. A Yale geologist helped me see the cliffs of New Haven anew. I'm always looking for an opportunity to get out on the water, so I snagged interviews with a kelp farmer, a multigenerational oystering family, and the Long Island Soundkeeper, and several more assignments found me paddling a kayak or a canoe. Here are some of my favorite nature-based feature stories:

Growing Pains: Some projects require a lifetime of patience. Take, for example, the attempt to rescue the American chestnut tree. 

Tracking Quarry: "Welcome home Giant lovers!" the Sleeping Giant Park Association's Facebook page proclaimed on June 14. It's been a long wait...

Long Range and On the Rocks: What New Havener hasn't been stunned on a sunny evening by the view of West Rock's cliffs bathing Westville in their carmine light, or by East Rock's sheer rosy face, frilled with trees, basking in the glow of the sinking sun? 

Water Therapy: The tide chart tells us that around 9:30 a.m., the time will be right for putting our canoe in at Sackett Point...

Sea Fare: You're probably familiar with CSAs bringing fresh vegetables to farm supporters, but how about a CSA for fresh seafood?

photo below by Kathy Leonard Czepiel

As a journalist in the Hudson Valley, I covered environmental issues, including development pressure on local farms, failing sewage systems affecting the Hudson River, and water conservation, as well as countless planning and zoning, town board, and school board meetings. During that time, I wrote a cover story for Dutchess magazine celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the 75th birthday of its founder, folk singer Pete Seeger.

My short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals and has been a finalist for the Iowa Review Award in Fiction and the Indiana Review Fiction Prize. My non-fiction essays have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, The Writer, and Brain, Child magazine.