AUTHORS

listed in alphabetical order

            

ALYSSA AMORI
Scranton: The Electric City

Alyssa Amori first became interested in photography while living in Redondo Beach, CA during the early 1980s, having been inspired in large part by the region's abundant natural beauty. Returning to Scranton, she eventually showed off the best of her California work in a show at the Lackawanna County Courthouse. In late 2006, Amori returned to photography taking over 3,000 photos of the Northeast Pennsylvania area with a Cannon XTI digital camera. Currently, Amori is taking courses through the New York Institute of Photography in addition to her career at Moses Taylor Hospital as a certified pharmacy technician.

Email Alyssa at: alyssa@tribute-books.com
Visit Alyssa's web site at: www.alyssaamoriphotography.com

Star Gallery, Scranton, Pa. February 6, 2009	Borders, Scranton, Pa. November 9, 2007

                

CHRISTY BALDWIN
Nine Things Nathan Noticed at Night and Remembering Wilma

Writing has been a passion of Christy’s since she was very young. As a child, she loved to write stories for her grandfather and poems just for fun. Now that she is a stay at home mom, she has plenty of time to write (ha, ha!). She really enjoys writing stories that she thinks her two children will love, and she sometimes even writes about them. Christy also likes to write poetry, mostly about Christian topics from Scripture passages she discovered during Bible Study or a cool message given on Sunday. Christy has a B.A. in Elementary Education from Cedarville University in Ohio and she is currently pursuing her M.S. in Special Education from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. She has also done college work in Literature. Her students have included fifth-grade inner city kids enrolled in an alternative education program, preschool children and church youth groups. Christy volunteers her time with the local district of the Boy Scouts of America, her church and H.A.N.D.S. of Wyoming County Family Resource Center.

Email Christy at: christy@tribute-books.com

MICHAEL C. BUSSACCO
Heritage Press Sandglass Companion Book 1937-1959
Heritage Press Sandglass Companion Book 1960-1983
Heritage Press Catalog & Checklist: The Ultimate Book Collector's Resource
Heritage Press Annotative Bibliography: Volume 1, Authors A-D, 2nd Edition
Heritage Press Annotative Bibliography: Volume 2, Authors E-K, 2nd Edition
Heritage Press Annotative Bibliography: Volume 3, Authors L-R, 2nd Edition

Michael C. Bussacco has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Elementary Education from Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He is a retired school teacher having taught 34 years in the Scranton School District educating gifted children in grades K-6. This includes teaching one year at the University School at Indiana University of Pennsylvania while pursuing a Doctor of Education degree. Mr. Bussacco has taught classes at Marywood University and the University of Scranton. At Marywood, Mr. Bussacco taught computer programming at "College for Kids" for several summers. He taught boating safety classes at the University of Scranton under the auspices of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and attained the rank of Flotilla Commander of Division 14 Flotilla Number 4. Mr. Bussacco has memberships in Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity and Phi Delta Kappa National Education Fraternity.

Email Michael at: michael@tribute-books.com
Visit Michael's web site at: www.heritagepressbooks.com

            

ELLEN CHAKSIL (pen name for Helen Silvestri)
With God There Is Hope: Hope for Humanity

Ellen Chaksil is a member of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group, which meets every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick's Church, 1403 Jackson St., Scranton. She began receiving messages from God in 1978. She needed to share what she experienced with church officials. Her quest led her from her home in Northeast Pennsylvania to the Vatican. After numerous attempts, she was able to make contact. In 1992, she met Pope John Paul II and in 1996 she received official recognition that he had read her letter detailing the prophecy she received from God. Ellen also contacted Boguslaw Lipinski, Ph.D of Harvard Medical School. He provided hypothetical proof of the concept that when people gather to pray, energy is emitted. Now Ellen's goal is to help unite the world in prayer to generate the power great enough to forestall catastrophe and enable humanity's continued existence. She hopes her book will be an instrument to raise awareness of the power of prayer.

Email Ellen at ellen@tribute-books.com
Visit Ellen's blog at: catholiccharismaticprophecies.blogspot.com

Ellen Chaksil (pen name for Helen Silvestri) with Pope John Paul II	Ellen Chaksil (pen name for Helen Silvestri) with Pope Benedict XVI
Pages & Places Festival, Scranton, Pa. October 3, 2009

                

DIYA DAS
The Evolution of An Identity: Indian American Immigrants from the Early 20th Century to the Present: A Fictional Family History and In Mind: A Collection of Poetry

Diya Das was born in India on 24th September,1991. She is currently a senior at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School at Kingston in northeast Pennsylvania. She lives in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with her parents.

A National AP Scholar and a member of Johns Hopkins University's Study of Exceptional Talent program since 2004, Diya attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences in the summer of 2007. She is currently the co-editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, The Opinator, and a member of her school's chorale and orchestra. In her free time, Diya figure skates and plays piano and violin.

Email Diya at diya@tribute-books.com

            

ANNIE EARLEY
What Was I Thinking?! How Not to Date

Annie Earley has a Master’s degree in Education. She taught locally for 29 years and retired in 2003. Shortly after retirement she started a small business in stained glass. After her divorce in 2004, she resumed playing guitar and now performs in a band. The group plays the northeast Pennsylvania bar/restaurant scene and occasionally at summer festivals and get-togethers.

In 2006, she met a man through a fellow musician and they got married six months later. He is also a musician and is currently the bass player in the band. He is the happy ending to her real-life story.

Above: Borders, Scranton, Pa. - February 2, 2008

Email Annie at: annie@tribute-books.com
Visit Annie's blog at: dotingondating.blogspot.com

        

LEAH BETH EVANS
A Different Kind of Hero

Leah Beth Evans was inspired to write her story as a 4th grade student after studying about the rainforest. She continues to enjoy writing stories and poetry. However, her story A Different Kind of Hero has always been one of her favorites.

Email Leah Beth at: leahbeth@tribute-books.com

        

JERRY FAGNANI
A Kinder Bright: Poems of Praise and Remembrance

Jerry Fagnani has lived his entire life in Jessup, Pennsylvania in Lackawanna County. He has been involved in creative writing for over forty five years. This is his first volume of poetry. His wife, Elaine, died in nineteen ninety one. He has a daughter, Kimberly, and her husband, Gary, and two grandchildren, Ryan and Garret.

Email Jerry at: jerry@tribute-books.com

        

SANDRA J. GERENCHER
Second Chance: How Adoption Saved a Boy with Autism and His Shelter Dog

Sandra J. Gerencher is a special education teacher in the Bangor Area public school system. Prior to becoming a teacher, she worked at Lehigh University in a school-based program, as a Program Specialist for adults with disabilities. Over the past 20 years she has worked with children and adults with special needs in such areas as counseling, Behavior Specialist Consultation, behavioral research, crisis intervention and abuse therapy. Sandra graduated from Lehigh University with a M.Ed. in Special Education (2004) and from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia with an M.S. in Counseling Psychology (1999).

Email Sandra at: sandra@tribute-books.com
Visit Chance the Dog's web site at: www.chancetheshelterdog.com

Borders, Scranton, Pa. July 26, 2008

        

JAMES N.J. HENWOOD (pictured left)
Laurel Line: An Anthracite Region Railway

Authors James N.J. Henwood and John G. Muncie have been friends and colleagues for four decades. Both taught in the History Department of East Stroudsburg University and are currently professors emeriti of that institution. They have been active in local organizations such as the Monroe County Historical Society and the Historical Farm Association.

Born in Upper Darby, Henwood's early contact with Philadelphia streetcars became the basis for a lifelong interest in electric railways and transportation. He presently resides in East Stroudsburg.

Email James at: laurelline@tribute-books.com

        

ANDREA HOWELLS
Finding Peace and the True Soul

Andrea Howells is a young lady with a great outlook on life. This 11-year-old from Northeast Pennsylvania has a love for reading, writing and creating new adventures.

Email Andrea at: andrea@tribute-books.com

        

MIKE LAMADE
Breathtaking Bowhunts: A Collection of Bowhunting Adventures

Mike Lamade has been bowhunting for over 40 years. He is a former President and Executive Director of the United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania and is a Senior Member of the Pope and Young Club. A regular masthead Contributor to Bowhunter, he has written for that well-known magazine since 1985. He and his wife, Kathleen, call Pleasant Mt., Pennsylvania home, and spend winters in Ft. Myers, Florida.

Email Mike at: mike@tribute-books.com

        

SONYA TUPONE LLOYD
Call Me Sonya Grey: A Young Girl's Poems about Death, Life and Adolescence

Sonya Tupone Lloyd currently lives in Glen Burnie, Maryland with her husband, Doug, her dog, Bailey, and her cat, Odie. She graduated from Marywood University with a BA in History and from George Washington University with an MA in Museum Studies. This is her first volume of poetry.

Email Sonya at: sonya@tribute-books.com

Borders, Scranton, Pa. March 10, 2007	Tudor Bookshop, Kingston, Pa. April 21, 2007
Baltimore Book Festival, Baltimore, Md. September 28, 2007

            

JAY LUKE
When Coal Was Queen: The History of the Queen City - Olyphant, Pennsylvania

Jay Luke is a musician and artist from Throop, Pa. A graduate from Marywood University, Jay is very active in all things art, whether it be through painting, performing with his band, or through his day job as a graphic designer. As a project engineer of the Olyphant Coal Miner Memorial Association, he has delved deeply into the origins of the area and the forgotten histories of the towns around him.

Passionate about not letting future generations forget their local origins, he took on this project to reconnect readers to the past. As writer and poet Wendell Berry once said, “The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.”

Email Jay at: jayluke@tribute-books.com

Valley Community Library, Peckville, Pa. August 31, 2009	Barnes & Noble, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. September 19, 2009
Lackawanna Historical Society, Scranton, Pa. September 20, 2009	Steamtown NHS, Scranton, Pa. October 10, 2009
Carbondale Public Library, Carbondale, Pa. October 17, 2009

        

JOHN G. MUNCIE (pictured right)
Laurel Line: An Anthracite Region Railway

Authors James N.J. Henwood and John G. Muncie have been friends and colleagues for four decades. Both taught in the History Department of East Stroudsburg University and are currently professors emeriti of that institution. They have been active in local organizations such as the Monroe County Historical Society and the Historical Farm Association.

Muncie spent his first 18 years in Taylor. As a youth, he occasionally rode the Laurel Line to outings at Rocky Glen Park. Muncie lives in Stroudsburg.

Email John at: laurelline@tribute-books.com

        

ANDREA NEPA
Red in the Flower Bed: An Illustrated Children's Story about Interracial Adoption

Andrea Nepa is the mother of an adopted Vietnamese daughter named Leah. In 2001, Adoptions from the Heart assisted with the international adoption. Andrea dedicated her book to her daughter: "For my dear Leah, whose journey in her young life has already taken her to far away and unexpected places." In 2006, Leah was diagnosed with cancer. She is currently in remission. Andrea lives with Leah and her husband, David, in Haddonfield, New Jersey. She is a registered dietitian for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Email Andrea at: andreanepa@tribute-books.com
Visit Andrea's web site at: www.redintheflowerbed.com

Collingswood Book Festival, Collingswood, NJ October 3, 2009

            

JOHN R. NORDELL, JR.
Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957

John R. Nordell, Jr. received a Ph.D. in History from Pennsylvania State University. His first book was The Undetected Enemy: French and American Miscalculations at Dien Bien Phu, 1953 (www.indochinawar.com). He is a member of the Organization of American Historians and lives in Old Forge, Pennsylvania with his wife Marianne.

Email John at: john@tribute-books.com
Visit John's web site at: www.brooklyndodgersbaseball.com

        

JIM RISING
But Then Again I Could Be Wrong: The Book of Rants

Jim Rising is the former Program Director of 102.3 The Mountain WDMT and hosted a weekday show called Rising at Ten. He played what he wanted and ranted a bit. Jim lives with his "long suffering wife" Nancy in Dallas, Pennsylvania along with his lawn tractor and annoying neighbor. He is a contributing writer for the Weekender.

Email Jim at: jim@tribute-books.com
Visit Jim's blog at: risingsrant.blogspot.com

            

MOLLY ROE (pen name for Mary Garrity Slaby)
Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires

Molly Roe is the pen name of Mary Garrity Slaby, a veteran language arts & reading teacher at Lake-Lehman Junior Senior High School. Mary holds a Ph.D. in education from Temple University, and Pennsylvania teaching certification in six areas. She has pursued the hobby of genealogy for the past decade. Mary was born in Philadelphia, raised in Schuylkill County, and currently lives in Dallas, Pennsylvania with her husband, John. They are parents of two grown children, Melissa and John Garrett, cover illustrator of Call Me Kate. Digging into the past has given Mary newfound respect for her ancestors and a better understanding of history. Call Me Kate is the first in the author’s trilogy of historical novels loosely based on the lives of the strong women who preceded her.

Email Molly at: molly@tribute-books.com
Visit Molly's blog at: conversationsfromthesideporch.blogspot.com

Anthology, Scranton, Pa. March 7, 2009	Pages & Places Festival, Scranton, Pa. October 3, 2009

                

ALAN & JUDY SWEENEY
Journey Along the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad: A Pictorial History of Pocono Mountain Boarding Homes, Hotels, Inns & Resorts from the Delaware Water Gap to Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania and Gateway to the Clouds: The Story of a Short Line Railroad: The Scranton, Dunmore, Moosic Lake Railroad: 1902-1926

Alan Sweeney, a businessman with a love of history, was president of the Lackawanna Historical Society and chairman of the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority. In 2005, he co-authored Gateway to the Clouds, The Story of A Short Line Railroad, The Scranton, Dunmore, Moosic Lake Railroad, 1902-1926 with his wife, Judy. That same year, he also co-authored The History of Scranton for Arcadia Press. His one man play Witness at Appomattox debuted in 2006. Alan was a collector of toy soldiers and Africana books. He passed away on December 5, 2008.

Judy Sweeney grew up at Moosic Lake. A retired elementary school teacher for the Scranton School District, she now enjoys working for Keystone College in the Education Department. Author of a six-book series on Blending Language Skills, published by Essential Learning Products, two curriculum guides for historic venues in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and a book on Behavioral Management published by International Correspondence Schools, Judy enjoys writing and gardening.

Judy Sweeney resides in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, Pennsylvania and is the mother of two daughters, Rachel and Kara.

Email Judy at: alan@tribute-books.com
Visit the Lackawanna Historical Society's site at: www.lackawannahistory.org

            

PATRICK WALKER
Pegasus at the Plow: A Poetry Collection

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 9, 1958, Patrick Joseph Walker has always been a seeker of truth in all things. His earliest perceptions of life were colored by familial devotion to Irish clan and the Catholic Church. An early scholar, he attended Scranton Preparatory School and was later accepted into the Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Program at the University of Scranton. During a hiatus from formal education, he worked as a staff writer for the Legislature in Saipan. When he returned to the United States, he was awarded a Philosophy Fellowship at Fordham University. Today, he "works" as an editor and proofreader of educational materials for a local correspondence college. His "real" work, however, involves studying the works of Blaise Pascal and Friedrich Hayek. He lives in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, with his artist POSSLQ, Ginger Cody, her daughter Anna, and the family's two dogs, Lilly and Rosie.

Email Patrick at: patrick@tribute-books.com
Visit Patrick's blog at: pegasusattheplow.blogspot.com

        

DAVID J. WENZEL
Scranton's Mayors

David Wenzel served as the 27th mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1986-1990. Notable events during his administration included: In conjunction with the Steamtown National Historic Site, he committed the city to the concept of a Lackawanna Valley Historical Park a concept that continues to strive to preserve and promote the history of the area. In the aftermath of Hurricane Gloria, his administration started the lengthy process of getting flood control projects for the Albright Avenue area and Plot section of Scranton. The Schultzville Airport, formerly the Scranton Municipal Airport, was sold by the city for $401,000. The curb cut program was completed in downtown Scranton and expanded into the neighborhoods. The Mayor's 504 Task Force dealing with disabilities was revitalized, the fine for handicapped parking violations was raised to $50, and the Albright Memorial Library was made wheelchair accessible. Scranton received the designation Tree City for its committment to spending thousands of dollars to plant trees in the urban environment. Money magazine ranked Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the 9th best place to live in the U.S. based on good schools, low taxes, and low crime rates. Mayor Wenzel was profiled on the CBS Sunday Morning News, which presented a positive image of Scranton. The theme was: A man who is the rehabilitator of his body wants to be the rehabilitator of his city. Of the 75,000 Vietnam veterans who were permanately disabled, only 52, including Wenzel, lost more than two limbs in the conflict. In 2000, he spoke on behalf of the nation's disabled community as a delegate at the Republican National Convention. He also received an appointment to the National Council of Disability by President George W. Bush. He held the position from December 2002-August 2006. Currently, Wenzel teaches part-time at the University of Scranton. Together with Major Frank Paris (USA-Ret) he teaches a course entitled The Vietnam Experience.

Email David at: david@tribute-books.com

Pages & Places Festival, Scranton, Pa. October 3, 2009