MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS — Frances Krouse's book "Middletown Springs, Vermont: A Gem in the Hills" is an inspiring history of the community, but no more inspiring than the process by which the book saw print.

It is a tale of family love and admiration. It is only too bad that the author did not live to see it.

Krouse died at 72 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, in June 2002.

She had devoted years to the manuscript before she was stricken.

When her brother, Theron "Bud" Krouse, and his wife, Ann, were moving her personal belongings out of her Middletown Springs home after she died, they were struck by the breadth of the manuscript, the photos and all the other work that had gone into the project.

"She had worked too hard on it to have it sit in a closet. We thought we would give it a try (to get it published)," Ann said. "We decided right then that we would do what we could."

"It would have been a shame to have that stuff in a closet somewhere," Bud said.

"We took it to two or three places and found a publisher in West Rutland. We are very pleased with the way it came out."

"She never had any reassurance that it would be done," Bud said.

Frances was inspired by Barnes Frisbie's 1867 book, "History of Middletown, Vt."

She was committed to writing a town history that began where Frisbie's left off.

"She admired that book," Bud said.

Her love of history and Middletown Springs drove her to complete the work. Bud said growing up in the town compelled her to tell its story.

"It was born out of living in town all that time. Everyone knew everyone else in town. It was very close-knit, more than it is today," Bud said.

Frances never married, but she was married to her town and the quest to chronicle its people and places. She poured her heart into the project.

"Every time somebody said something she thought could go into the book, she wrote it down. She was working on it constantly, researching and typing," Ann said.

The manuscript grew to 700 pages.

"It was too long for a book and she cut some of it out. The part she cut out was about farming," Bud said.

"If she had lived longer, I think she would have done a separate book on farming in Middletown Springs."

But Frances began noticing something was wrong. Ann believes it was in 1992. She went from doctor to doctor and received various diagnoses before she was told it was Lou Gehrig's disease.

"When she got bad, she got bad fast," Ann said.

"She lost her voice and her other skills were limited," Bud said.

But she had completed the project before being unable to work on it.

She had thought about sending the manuscript to the University of Vermont history department, but Bud and Ann were not in favor of that idea. That wanted the book to be available to those who would appreciate it most.

"Really, the only ones would be interested in it would be someone living in Middletown Springs or someone who knew Frances," Ann said.

Even with that limited audience, more than 500 books have been sold, enough to cover the publishing cost.

"Everybody that has read it has enjoyed it. We haven't got a negative return on it," Bud said.

Frances Krouse had a full life. She taught business classes at Proctor, Rutland and Rochester high schools. She taught at Green Mountain College and Community College of Vermont, and was an academic dean at Southern Vermont College and Halliston (Mass.) Junior College.

She was executive director of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences for 20 years.

Yet her heart was never very far from Middletown Springs and she was named Community Citizen of Middletown Springs in 1976, and was the Middletown Springs bicentennial chairperson in 1984.

It would thrill her that her hard work chronicling Middletown's Springs citizens and its landmarks — like the impressive Montvert Hotel — are now bound into a book for all to enjoy.

It is 400 pages wrapped between green and gold covers that include a drawing of a mountain.

There are chapters on town government, the schools, library, churches and numerous town organizations. Well-known personalities are brought to life, including Dr. Arthur Norton, who made his house calls with horse and buggy, and Clyde Parker, who opened a filling station on the corner and stayed in that spot for 50 years.

The book includes a page titled "In Appreciation," where she gives credit to a long list of people she felt indebted to for making the book possible.

She wrote at the end of the page: "What makes me especially sad, as I reread the credits, is that many of these people have left us …"

You can be certain that Middletown Springs feels the same about Frances Krouse. But they are happy for the gift she left behind.

tom.haley@rutlandherald.com