Before I wrote the first word of my first novel, Virgin Snow, I knew it needed to be a trilogy and what it would be about. The idea was to follow the journey of the main character, Cosi McCarthy, a West Side girl from Buffalo, as well as the trajectory of the city itself, across […]
Every summer, when we packed up the old station wagon and made our annual trek to our summer cottage near Point Breeze, we would pass by a very large property on Route 5 that had a magnificent view of Lake Erie. There are two stone pillars near the entrance of the estate with the words, […]
Sicilians have a saying—La Famiglia e Tutto (Family is Everything)—and they live by what they say.
I have to wonder why the holiday is no longer popular in more Buffalo communities.
I wanted to begin a narrative that would trace the city’s arc from the first warning signs of a collapsing economy to its eventual rebirth and revitalization.
When visiting the city earlier this month, I learned that over the past half-century, Buffalo has become quite the literary town.
Like every would-be author discovers, if writing a book isn’t difficult enough, the ordeal of trying to get it published tests all one’s powers of endurance.
Grandma was happiest surrounded by loved ones on Christmas.
When I was growing up on the West Side, little did I know that my crowded, urban neighborhood would one day host the biggest, most beautiful Garden Walk in America.
When I go home to Buffalo, I never pass up an opportunity to visit my old neighborhood on the Upper West Side. Photo courtesy of Maria Eley.
Friday was one of those beautiful June days, when the sun kisses the skin with just the right amount of warmth and gives the landscape sharp edges. When I was young, it was the kind of day that flung me out of the house and into the street as if I was attached to the […]
Last summer I visited an old friend: the Botanical Gardens in the south of Buffalo. I’d had a tough year, with multiple loved ones suffering a variety of serious illnesses, and I needed a respite from the stress. My son and his girlfriend, knowing I’m a Master Gardener, suggested we visit the Botanical Gardens and […]