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This month’s Local Author Spotlight features life in an old-Italian family, a book of poems, and a look at several local mining disasters.
“Garden of Hope”
Author: Jo Piazza O’Mara
Current location: West Pittston
Pages: 280
Publisher: Redemption Press
Local connection: O’Mara lived in West Pittston for about 30 years. She is the wife of a local pastor and has ministered with her husband throughout North-central and Northeastern Pennsylvania. O’Mara received a degree in Information Systems Technology from Luzerne County Community College and a BS in Health Care Management from King’s College. She is retired and spends time reading, gardening and cooking for her four children and 17 grandchildren.
About the book: “Garden of Hope” follows the Agosti family who shares everything from laughter to love to loyalty to food. The family is torn apart by an illness and discovery of an old secret. Trina, the oldest sister, tells her family’s story, celebrating life in a small town and the love of a Christian family. O’Mara is from a large Italian family and wove her upbringing into the book. While she grew up in Lawrence, Mass., NEPA influenced her work. O’Mara is working on a sequel, which “retains the unique relationship of the three original siblings,” but allows the granddaughter to become central to the story. O’Mara received requests from readers to include recipes in her second book after weaving so many Italian dishes into the first. She will include some family-favorites in the sequel.
O’Mara says: “NEPA has been my home for many years; its strong ethnic influences and tight family ties are very similar to my hometown, so I have been inspired by the people in this area in a way that helped me to develop and fine tune my distinctive characters.”
Buy it: www.jopiazzaomara.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.Redemption-Press.com.
“Sheppton: The Myth, Miracle and Music”
Author: Maxim W. Furek
Hometown: Berwick
Current location: Mocanaqua
Pages: 218
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Local connection: Furek was 16 at the time of Sheppton mine disaster and said he was always intrigued by the grotesque allegations of cannibalism.
About the book: In 1963, three miners were entombed more than 300 feet below ground near Sheppton. Two were rescued but the other disappeared. The miners were somehow able to see bizarre humanoid creatures and stairs leading to a Golden City. They believed they were in the presence of his Holiness Pope John XXIII.
Furek says: “Sheppton’s theme of cannibalism pre-dated George Romero’s cult film “Night of the Living Dead” and was our equivalent to today’s “Zombie Nation,” “World War Z” and “The Walking Dead.” It seems as though every generation has a need to explore these terrifying and morbid themes. The 1971 song “Timothy” by The Buoys was not about Sheppton, yet countless people needed to believe they were connected. Man strives to find meaning. I tried to explain that fascination as a separate, tangible reality that I called “The Sheppton Mythology.” Sheppton is the coal region’s last remaining secret and our greatest urban legend. As a baby boomer I felt an obligation to document this weirdness, perhaps for a younger generation. I wanted to celebrate the macabre and supernatural legacy of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”
Buy it: shepptonmyth.com, www.amazon.com
“Mining Disasters of the Wyoming Valley”
Author: Bryan Glahn
Hometown: Kingston
Current location: Dallas
Pages: 128
Publisher: Arcadia
Local connection: Glahn graduated from Valley West and has taught history in the area for 15 years. He enjoys kayaking, mountain biking and exploring the area’s history with his oldest son.
About the book: On Sept. 6, 1869, 109 miners died in a fire at the Avondale Mine. The flames trapped the men and boys working, blocking the only exit and killing them all. Many mining disasters occurred from cave-ins to explosions. Many of the accidents were driven by lack of safety measures; profits became more important than people.
Glahn says: “Every time we study local history, my students eat it up. It’s one of the few topics that doesn’t bore them and they never tire of. I couldn’t find a book with the big four disasters (Avondale, Twin Shaft, Baltimore Tunnel, and Knox) in it, so I jokingly said I should write one, the students kept insisting I should too. I sent out query letters on a whim. Arcadia said yes and the next thing I knew I was digging around in historical societies and interviewing local people.”
Buy it: www.arcadiapublishing.com, www.amazon.com.
“Governor of Do Son”
Author: Jerome Skrocki
Hometown: Wyoming
Current location: Mountain Top
Pages: 198
Publisher: Xlibris
Local connection: Skrocki, a Vietnam veteran, was born and raised in Wyoming. He left home at 17 and served for six years in the U.S. Navy. After returning to America, he spent 40 years in nuclear engineering and is now retired.
About the book: Skrocki spent nine months in the Haiphong Harbor blockade in North Vietnam while enlisted. His book was inspired by more than 800 helicopter operations in which he took part. “Governor of Do Son” is a novella that focuses on the friendship of a sailor and a marine during the Vietnam War. They meet in North Vietnam, in enemy territory, but continue their friendship after they returned home to a barrage of disrespect from civilians. Their experiences in war and at home bond them together for life.
Buy it: [email protected] and www.amazon.com.
“A Minor Poet in a Minor Key”
Author: Michael Incitti
Hometowns: Mountain Top
Pages: 274
Publisher: Three Black Cats
Local connection: Incitti lived in Mountain Top with his family from 1989-2014. He worked at local colleges and is now in finance. “My time in the Wyoming Valley was defined by my professional duties as well as volunteering to coach sports in the community – baseball and basketball – while my kids were growing up. I then turned that love of sports into officiating. When we left the valley I had been a basketball referee, a baseball umpire, and a soccer official for 10 years.”
About the book: Incitti spent years writing songs and poems. Most of the content was written while Incitti lived in Mountain Top. “I didn’t set out to write a book. I set out to write a song. But I kept writing songs and poems as the creative spark would come to me. I kept working to refine the craft,” he said.
Incitti says: “NEPA served as inspirations for several poems. One in particular, ‘Day In The Sun,’ was about a former major league baseball player. It is one of my favorite works and it would not have occurred had I not refereed a basketball game in which the subject’s kids were playing. I struck up a conversation with him afterward, largely because of my love of baseball. The story for the poem came to me the next day while I was in my office. So while the locale was not really pivotal in the creative process in terms of inspiration, some of its people were.”
Buy it: Available at Otto Bookstore in Williamsport, amazon.com or by order at Wilkes-Barre’s Barnes and Noble.
