All are equal around the millpond, all share in the rich pageant of Maynard life and all offer their own version of triumph and tragedy. This collection of essays and vignettes illuminates the history of Maynard, Massachusetts?a resilient town with a diverse population and a fascinating past. Beacon-Villager writer Jan Voogd explores some of the obscure but defining episodes of the town, once called Assabet Village. With murders, a bank teller thief, a lost paratrooper, family tragedies and Mulligan letters, Maynard has seen more incredible events and people than towns five times its size. From the labor tensions of the Bolsheviks and Wobblies, to the struggles between the capitalist mill owners and the Finnish and British socialist cooperatives, to forgotten incidents of mystery and intrigue, Jan Voogd uncovers lost stories in this remarkable mill village nestled in by the river.