Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. A man visits a town and thereâs something about it he falls in love with. He has an eye for architecture, yes, and an interest in history, but what unfolds is his intense interest in the people of this green valley. He wants to hear and tell their stories. In October, 1996, I was sitting in the little second floor office of the weekly Advocate on Spring Street in Williamstown, Mass. A man came in and said he was working on a project about nearby North Adams, my hometown. I was more than happy to talk to him on tape about growing up there.