Haversham House

About the Book

Haversham House: a biography of a young man coming of age, and his observations of the members of that family. It is a snapshot of his last years in school and his service as a signal decoder in the Army Air Force during World War II. The author describes “Stoneley”, the fictitious name of a suburb near Boston where his family lives, and then takes us to England, to the air base where he is stationed for most of the war. He describes the English countryside small cities, and has various encounters with English people, especially the young women.

About the Author

Norman S. Reed was born on July 18, 1923 in Newton Upper Falls, MA. The family, two boys and two girls, lived in Woburn and West Medford for a short time before moving to Stoneham, he considered his home town. He volunteered for the United States Army Air Force June 25, 1942, served 16 months overseas in Great Britain and received his discharge September 28, 1945, returning home. After a few odd jobs, he moved to California, then Flint, Michigan, where he worked for General Motors, Buick Division for three years, then suddenly left and returned to Boston, MA, signing up through the VA to attend Boston University for four years under P.L. 16, graduating in 1956 with a degree in Geography. He went to work for the U.S. Geological Survey for seventeen years, then retired and moved to N. Carolina where he bought a house, then sold it some years later and moved to the Island of Martha’s Vineyard, where he resides in the house he bought for his parents about 1953. Mr. Reed has traveled the world over, using up 3-1/2 passports, but now relaxes on the Vineyard where he spends his time reading non-fiction, metal detecting and pursuing his favorite hobby: water coloring.