Fritz Whetherbee, the Great New Hampshire Storyteller

Article by Eric H., at VisitingNewEngland.com

Fritz Whetherbee, best-known for his down-to-earth folksy New Hampshire tales on WMUR-Television Channel 9's Chronicle, is one of my favorite regional storytellers. A lifelong New Hampshire resident, Whetherbee tells his stories with that weathered, methodical, cracked and salty voice that could only come from New England. He fondly looks back on a gentler New Hampshire that he once knew, but never seems to trash his more modern state, the earmark of a man with loyalty and love to his region.

Whetherbee's genius resides in his ability to take something seemingly small and make it come to life in a full story. Much in the same vein as Garrison Keillor and Mark Twain, Whetherbee talks about the Granite State's people, places and things with an eye for detail and a impassioned perspective that make New Hampshire come to life -- even for Massachusetts residents like me!

If you're fortunate enough to have Channel 9 Manchester on your cable television, I highly recommend watching Whetherbee's tales on Chronicle, which airs from 7-8 p.m., EST. If not, please check out this funny vignette on New Hampshire's "Frog Rock:"