Blizzard of '66 book and Bob Sykes biography are now available!
I am pleased to announce the release of my two latest books: Voices in the Storm: Stories From The Blizzard of '66, and In Pursuit of Clouds: The Journey of Oswego's Weatherman Bob Sykes. The books are companion volumes, with Voices in the Storm covering the over 200 interviews I conducted with Central New York residents who remember the half-century-old storm, and the Bob Sykes biography highlighting the SUNY Oswego meteorology professor's many contributions to the study and advancement of the understanding of lake-effect snow. Anyone living in Oswego County during the '66 blizzard will remember that Sykes also played a key role during that weather event, talking us through the 4 1/2 day storm on a local radio station.
Downtown Oswego survives The Blizzard of '66
The books will be presented on Thursday, October 15th at 7 p.m. at the river's end bookstore, 19 W. Bridge Street, Oswego. I'll be sharing some stories from both books, talking about the fascinating process of interviewing local residents as well as some of today's top meteorologists who studied under Sykes, and explaining how I relied on my own memories of the blizzard and of hearing Sykes on the radio to shape the books. Please join me at the river's end for this fun and nostalgic evening! If you are unable to attend but would like to purchase a book, please refer to the "Books" link at the top of this webpage.
Fulton Library Memoir Project Near Completion
For the third year, I've had the pleasure of working with the Fulton Public Library on its Memoir Project, a writing program to help people share their memories of Fulton. Each year, the Library asks people to recall stories on a particular theme; this year the theme was Service Providers: Police Officers, Firefighters, Elected Officials, Community Support Agencies. Over the past five months, I have been working with those who chose to participate to help them write and edit a short ( five to six page) memoir.
On Wednesday, September 23rd at 6:30 p.m. we'll be presenting the Project to the public at the Cayuga Community College, Fulton campus, meeting room (in the old K-Mart plaza). Several of the 40 memoirists will be reading an excerpt from their writing. We'll hear about the origins of our police department, a few of Fulton's infamous fires, the early years of Menter's Ambulance Service, how recreation in Fulton has evolved over the years, what it was like to work summers as a lifeguard at Rowlee Beach and many more stories.
Fulton Chief of Police from 1914-1942, Edward Dyer.
Join us for this exciting event, as we visit Fulton's history, one personal story at a time...