Regional writers:
Latest from area authors include editor's memoirs, Hudson River tribute.
In my family there is no better gift than receiving a book. After all the excitement of this festive time and when all the relatives and friends have gone home, I love taking out that crisp, new book and settling down in my favorite chair to read. Here are some suggestions of books to read, or gifts to give, written by a few of our local authors.
“Captain Stan’s Hudson River Book” by Stanley Wilcox and H.W. Van Loan (Riverview Publishing) This is a beautiful book
that is a nautical guide about travelling down the Hudson River from the Troy Federal Lock and Dam all the way to Ellis Island, and also a history of all the amazing sights and events that have happened along
this amazing river. Wilcox has been a Coast Guard-licensed river pilot for over 30 years, and this book shows his expertise about the history of the Hudson. It also captures his passion and love for being out on the river. It is filled with over 200 color photos and features over 120 sites that can be seen along the river. You learn about the towns, the famous people and the historical events and buildings that are found along the way.
“Battling Editor: The Albany Years” by Harry Rosenfeld (Excelsior Editions)
In 1978, Washington Post editor Harry Rosenfeld left his coveted job there, where he had overseen Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their reporting of the Watergate scandal. He left that post to take charge of two papers in Albany, the morning Times Union and the afternoon Knickerbocker News. It was a challenging time in the newspaper industry with new technology making it easier to report and put the paper together but also pressure to reduce labor costs. Rosenfeld writes a riveting story about the highs and lows of being a newspaper editor. It is must reading for anyone interested in modern day print journalism.
“Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters” by Jackie Craven (Brick Road Poetry Press)
Jackie Craven, who lives in Schenectady and has taught at the University at Albany and Hudson Valley Community College, has recently published her first full-length collection of poems that are a meditation on childhood, family, aging, and being an artist. As a longtime journalist,
she has a wealth of experience to draw from. Her poems are visually stunning.
“Newton, Maxwell, Einstein: What Were They Thinking?” by Edmond Brown (Outskirts Press)
Edmond Brown was a physics professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for over 40 years, and he has written a book that explores the ideas and thinking that went into the genius of these brilliant abstract thinkers. He has great passion for the material, and he conveys some complex subject matter in a straightforward way. I especially enjoyed the last chapter titled “The Miracle Year” set in 1905 when Einstein came up with the theory of relativity.
“Uncle John’s Diner” by Herbert Hyde (The Troy Book Makers)
This is the concluding memoir by Herbert Hyde, the third book in a trilogy, that takes place during the 1960s when the author was beginning to start a career in his much-beloved city of Cohoes. He does a great job at capturing all the details of his life. He also brings to life a vibrant Cohoes, and my favorite part of the book was his recollection of all the historical events from the time such as the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr.
“Poetry Anthology Volume 3” by Edward J. Bradley (Page Publishing)
Page Publishing has collected the works of five different contemporary poets, including 26 poems by Albany poet Edward Bradley. Bradley’s poems include limericks, haikus and are sometimes filled with rhyme and sometimes not. He has quite a range from nonsense poems to serious poems about family members.
“What They Said: 25 Years of Telling Stories” by Michael Demasi (The Troy Book Makers)
This is a very readable collection of Michael Demasi’s favorite stories written as a reporter at three local newspapers: The Post Star in Glens Falls, The Daily Gazette in Schenectady and the Albany Business Review. He estimates that he has written at least 10,000 stories since he was in high school. Some of the stories in this collection include a man who dressed like a police officer and drove around town serving eviction notices, and a wealthy socialite who dressed like Cinderella on Halloween and handed out candy bars, including a dozen with a $100 bill tucked inside. This is what good journalism does best; it informs and entertains.
“Follansbee Pond Secrets” by Barbara Delaney (The Troy Book Makers)
This was a fun novel to read, filled with some well-known historical characters and set at Follansbee Pond in the Adirondacks, also known as Philosophers’ Camp.
The story begins in August 1858 when Myrna Duffy, a hunting guide and schoolteacher, leads an expedition of famous Boston intellectuals such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Russell Lowell to the pond. The story is filled with adventure during the time when the country was grappling with the tragedy of slavery. Delaney has done an excellent job bringing to life the rugged beauty of the Adirondacks. After reading this book it will make you want to pay your own visit to the pond, which is located in the southwest corner of Harrietstown between Raquette Falls and Tupper Lake.