It is the author's opinion that it is not an exaggeration to say that if anyone wishes to experience one of those rare moments of true happiness that occurs in a lifetime, they should go to the maintains and search for a teller of the old tales. When sitting amidst the scenery that is woven into the heart and soul of the stories themselves, cares of this present hectic age seem to melt away, and the listener is indeed transported to another level - a finer "phase" of existence that everyone should be able to experience whenever they so desire. It has been this writer's privilege to feel a renewed optimism each time I've gone back to the hills, and that's the same "high" that I hope the reader gets when he peruses the stories preserved in my Pennsylvania Fireside Tales series. In the meantime I continue to explore Pennsylvania's mountains. It seems that they still call to me, and when they do, I must go. And that's because it's from those mountaintops that I sometimes feel that I can almost touch the "roof" of Pennsylvania, which in turn inspires me to collect still more of those old-time tales that calm the spirit but also which fire the imagination to the point where fact and romance seem one and the same.