Unknown Rockwell: A Portrait Of Two American Families

"The Unknown Rockwell - the artist you thought you knew, told by the man who knew him best…"

You've seen his face a million times; now - for the first time - meet the man who inspired Norman Rockwell: Rockwell's most illustrated Boy Scout, next door neighbor, and dear friend. Hear stories about Norman Rockwell, the private man, you’ve never heard before from the one man who knew him in a way no one else could – James A. "Buddy" Edgerton. And, for the first time, see an unknown Rockwell portrait that hung on his family's wall for almost sixty years, a portrait Rockwell gave to the family personally, upon the death of Buddy's young cousin.

Co-Author Nan O’Brien is a well know author of books on several topics, as well as a syndicated columnist for the Tribune Company and host of her own nationally syndicated radio show. The story of how Buddy and Nan met, how this book came to be written, and the impact it has had on her life, is serendipitous. Nan moved to Vermont in 2004 and began working on Bud’s book, digesting his amazing near-encyclopedic recollection and recitation of facts and details that extensive research subsequently proved historically accurate. She also interviewed all of the Rockwell sons, as well as the Edgerton sisters and cousins. As a writer, Nan embraced the challenge of capturing Bud’s cadence and speech so that the reader could enjoy in words what he and she had shared in conversation. The writing of the book was for Nan a journey of discovery that led to an insight and understanding of our country’s history, our core values, and of an artist she had loved since childhood, Norman Rockwell.

At seventy-nine years of age and as one of the last living Vermont Rockwell models, Buddy is keenly aware of the historical significance of writing his complete memoirs. An innately private man, Buddy had always been reluctant to publicly tell his story. However, with the full support of the Rockwell family, Buddy is breaking his self-imposed silence to shed new light and understanding on life in rural America and the artist who captured the hearts – and the identity - of a nation.

In the Spring of 1943, Norman Rockwell, his wife Mary, and their three young sons moved into the farmhouse next door to thirteen-year old Buddy Edgerton in West Arlington, Vermont. Edgerton’s heartwarming memoir chronicles life growing up on a rural Vermont dairy farm and the close, though unlikely, friendship between the Edgerton and Rockwell families that has spanned more than six decades. The book, told in anecdotal narratives, provides a first person account of two families who were unique because of both their disparity and their similarity. While they came from two economic ends of the spectrum – the Edgertons, poor dairy farmers/the Rockwells, successful due to Norman’s talents – they shared a love of family, a commitment to integrity, and a consideration of one another that created a closeness of friendship that mirrored the physical closeness of their two houses.

The book is supplemented by 32 pages of personal photos and photos from Norman’s actual modeling sessions, accompanied by the resulting illustrations.