New Books and News

Unconventionally Successful:

Out of the Box Thoughts and Actions that Led to Extraordinary Outcomes

Unconventionally Successful is the first book released from a broad grassroots project Christopher Albrecht (2018 New York State Teacher of the Year & 2019 Inductee into the National Teachers Hall of Fame) has published, which uncovers what best practices schools, individuals, and communities need to consider to increase their levels of success. People want our world to be full of successful journeys and results. This book sheds light on many unconventional and potentially unconsidered out of the box thoughts and actions that led to extraordinary outcomes. Entertaining and informative, this novel binds three formats: interview, reflection, and narrative. Albrecht spent three years interviewing hundreds people with a diversity of backgrounds and lifestyles asking them to reflect on their recollections, memories and experiences with teachers and their many impacts on their lives. Focused around eight interviews, the author parallels research on similar historical narratives and reflections. The result is a one of a kind read that uncovers unconventional patterns, unique circumstances, and opportunities, which light the road of joy and happiness that root themselves in our schools and colleges. The patterns Albrecht has discovered and shares in this groundbreaking book have the potential for lifelong effects and impacts on the success of individuals, communities, schools, and the world we live in that are not explicitly obvious. This book is a must-read for all people who enjoy discovering non-linear, unique and creative pathes that lead to innovative ways individuals and groups have found happiness, joy and success.

New Documentary About Mark Twain in Buffalo

Produced with Rise Collaborative

Bonus Commentary

Scribblin' For A Livin':

Mark Twain’s Pivotal Period In Buffalo: Expanded Edition 

by Thomas J. Reigstad

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In August 1869, thirty-three-year-old journalist Samuel Clemens—better known as Mark Twain—moved to Buffalo, New York. At the time, he had high hopes of establishing himself as a successful newspaper editor in the thriving metropolis at the western end of the Erie Canal. 

In this engaging portrait of the famous author at a formative and important juncture of his life, Twain scholar Thomas J. Reigstad details the domestic, social, and professional experiences of Mark Twain while he lived in Buffalo. Based on years of researching historical archives, combing through microfilm, and even interviewing descendants of Buffalonians who knew Twain, Reigstad has uncovered a wealth of fascinating information. 
The book draws a vivid portrait of Twain’s work environment at the Buffalo Morning Express. Colorful anecdotes about his colleagues and his quirky work habits, along with original Twain stories and illustrations not previously reprinted, give readers a new understanding of Twain’s commitment to full-time newspaper work.  

Full of fascinating vignettes from the illustrious writer’s life as well as rare photographs, Scribblin’ for a Livin’ is essential reading for Mark Twain enthusiasts, students and scholars of American literature, and anyone with an interest in the history of Western New York.

Wandering Close to Home: A Gay Son and His Feminist Mother’s Journey to Transform Themselves and Their Family

by Christopher & Linda Drajem

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Linda Drajem grew up in the 1950’s in Buffalo, New York, the oldest child in a Catholic working-class family. She married her high school sweetheart, got pregnant, and watched from the sidelines as women burned their bras and demanded equal rights. But the role of a stay-at-home mom wasn’t as fulfilling as he was led to believe it would be.Linda’s second son Christopher was born in 1968, one year before the Stonewall riots kick-started the modern gay rights movement. He attended Catholic schools, served as an altar boy at mass on Sundays, and had a secret that he was sure would send him to hell for all eternity: he was gay.This book charts the path Christopher and Linda traveled as they realized that the life they were born into just didn’t quite fit. It maps the tentative steps taken by both mother and son to move away from societal, religious and family expectations. Along the way there was challenge and heartache, joy and celebration, and the thrill and exhaustion of parenting. At the end of the day, they forged a path that brought personal satisfaction, a uniquely modern family, and all the comfort of home. 

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Drunk on Sunday by Ross Warner

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Twenty five years in the making after almost as much time living it, Drunk On Sunday is a coming of age tale that is both familiar and unique.  It’s a story for anyone who tried to find themselves on the road to responsibility without losing sight of who you are.  From Westchester to Rochester to the Upper East Side to the East Village, Drunk On Sunday chronicles the story of Rob Gross and his battles against adulthood.  It’s that, along with a whole lot of strong drinks, good friends, and great times along the way.  Like so many, Rob discovers that his biggest obstacle isn't finding someone to share his life with, but figuring out how to deal once he does.

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Even if you didn’t come of age in the ‘80s and ‘90s or have never been consumed with your favorite movie, team, or band you’ll enjoy this look at the rites of passage that so many of us must go through. 

My Other Country: Nineteen Years in Bolivia

by Jim Schultz

Many people dream of living outside their country, to see the world through different eyes. Among those who do, many just move for a short time or transplant themselves to a place not so different than home. Then there is Bolivia. My Other Country is a family memoir, the story of a young couple from San Francisco who moved to a valley in the Andes and stayed for almost two decades. It is a story about a family coming together, about falling into the center of a South American revolution, and about a handcrafted life in a very different place.

Buffalo Sports Headliners and Insights

by Al Bruno

Buffalo’s Sports Headliners and Insights by Al Bruno is a scholastic sports publication, an anthology, presenting 23 of my best sports stories and insights about Buffalo sports headliners. It is a refreshing look at Buffalo sports headliners through a time tunnel, remembering and honoring Buffalo sports heroes and winning coaches from 1965 to the present date.What makes them special, great, and worthy of their accomplishments? They became the Buffalo sports headliners, and they earned it with hard work and determination. In fact, Buffalo sports headliners often achieved the unimaginable, beating the odds against them. They won, fairly and squarely, to the crowd’s delight and enthusiasm: Winning necessarily defines the Buffalo sports headliners, and they stand out, in front of the rest, the best, and are included in the city’s annals; some deservingly arrive for induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.Winning makes them memorable, entertaining, and ultimately Buffalo sports heroes, our Buffalo icons, like Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame Wrestler Ilio DiPaolo did for me as a thrilled youngster in the early 1960s. We cheered on DiPaolo at the top of our lungs, our version of the “Italian Hercules,” while we anxiously awaited his much-anticipated, twirling, signature move, “the airplane spin” on Saturday nights, in front of a packed house at the old Memorial Auditorium in downtown Buffalo.

The Shadow of Forever: A Norse Saga

by Marshall Seddon

When a band of Berserkers enters the sleepy little village of Kinester on the west coast of Skattenoya, a string of events is touched off that disrupts the lives of every person in the village. Soon it becomes apparent that the Berserkers are part of a mysterious campaign led by a Norse lord named Maarku, whose lust for power knows no bounds. Villages up and down the coast are taken over, using an archaic custom called "Holmgang," where the winner of a duel takes the property and family of the loser.
Based on sagas, legends and myths, The Shadow of Forever is the account of the struggles of Eric and Bryn, a brother and sister forced by circumstance to come of age in the violent world Maarku has created.

The Nun and the Priest:

Love, Celibacy & Passion

by Evelyn McLean Brady 

Now, when celibacy for Roman Catholic priests is being questioned as never before,Evelyn McLean Brady shares a memoir of her own lived experience. Based on her journals andFather Hugh Brady’s love letters written from 1965-1970, Evelyn intimately chronicles theinterior conflict between her desire to become a Catholic nun to “live only for God to serveothers” and the unexpected attraction she feels for the handsome, charismatic Father Brady.When this novice and priest finally confess their feelings for each other, the mystery of humanlove unfolds, as do tests and trials they could not have imagined. The tension between Evelynand her mother also adds unexpected turns and detours to the tale. In the tradition of Abelard andHeloise and St. Francis and St. Clare, this is a love story of two celibates who desire to followthe ways of God yet are lured by the pull of the human heart.

       Watch the Documentary about

           Jimmy Slattery

     Produced by Rise Collaborative

A Semester of Death

A Cotton Cunningham Academic Mystery

by Dennis Collins

It was 1967, the year of the summer of love in San Francisco, but in Buffalo, New York, it was a year of rioting, looting, racial tension and later on, at the University of Buffalo, a little bit of murder. It was a year that saw visits by Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, and Mohammed Ali. Great rifts developed between faculty, students, administrators, and former Buffalo police detective and newly hired History professor, Cotton Cunningham was caught right in the middle of it.