Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo seems like a regular guy from Upstate New York.

Russo was raised in Gloversville and several of his novels such as “Mohawk” and “Nobody’s Fool” — which became a movie starring Paul Newman -- are set in Upstate places. Gloversville and Venice (as in Italy) are the main locales for his last epic, “Bridge of Sighs,” that came out two years ago. Russo has a new novel out called “That Old Cape Magic” that explores the idea of whether a really good “place” exists.

In the audio podcast attached HERE from my AM 1570 WVTL radio interview with Russo, he talks about how his generation was encouraged by elders to get out of Upstate. With the glove industry moving out, parents did not see much future for their offspring in Gloversville.

One local listener emailed that she also grew up in Gloversville, “I do remember that after I read “Mohawk” I went to dinner at Harold’s restaurant (it was a different name then) on West Fulton Street in Gloversville. Everywhere I looked I saw people who could have been the models for some of the characters in the book. I have never looked at Gloversville the same since.”

Russo is married with two grown daughters; one daughter operates a bookstore in western Massachusetts. His mother lived near him at his home in Camden in coastal Maine until her death a couple years ago. The last time Russo was in Fulton County, he said, was for a memorial service for his mom. He said on book tour he frequently meets Gloversville expatriates.