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Lisa Manro Dennis, author of “One Mare that Saved a Life” in
Mares! (ya gotta love em) – Fifty Stories to Aid & Inspire Mare Owners (Xulon Press), an anthology compiled by Betsy Kelleher
Booksigning
Lisa Manro Dennis, graduate of Oswego High School and former long-time resident, will share her story about her family’s personal life-changing experience with one special mare. An avid horsewoman with a passion for training young horses, Lisa now resides in Gates, NC with her husband and four children. Her favorite activities include attending horse shows with her children, trail riding and helping horses in need.
Lisa has served as assistant regional director and volunteer coordinator, and has assisted on cruelty investigations for horse rescue organizations. Organizing and promoting various rescue events, she has been beneficial in the rehabilitation and re-homing of hundreds of neglected and abused horses. For more information about Lisa Manro Dennis, visit her website at www.starlightstablesnc.com.
An evening with Pianist Rob Auler & Recording Engineer Dan Wood
 SUNY Oswego Music Dept. faculty member/pianist Rob Auler will discuss the "Behind the Music" experience of producing a CD. Along with audio technician Dan Wood, he will talk about applying for grants, preparing a budget, preparing song ideas, recording a CD, and evaluating the production. Also this evening Auler will be releasing his newest album, American Century, produced with funds provided by a SUNY Oswego Scholarly and Creative Grant.
CD cover design by Colin Nekritz.
The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Peter Bernhardt, author of Gods & Goddesses in the Garden: Greco-Roman Mythology and the Scientific Names of Plants (Rutgers Univ. Press)
Talk & booksigning in celebration of
150th Anniversary of the publication of Darwin's Origin of the Species
 Peter Bernhardt reveals the rich history and mythology that underlie the origins of many scientific plant names in a series of interlocking stories. The author is a professor of biology at St. Louis University, research associate at both the Missouri Botanical Garden of St. Louis and the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, Australia, and locally, a SUNY Oswego alumnus. Bernhardt is the author of Wily Violets and Underground Orchids: Revelations of a Botanist and Natural Affairs: A Botanist Looks at the Attachments Between Plants and People.
Oswego Public Library Author Night at the Foundry
featuring renowned children's author Bruce Coville
 The Oswego Public Library presents its third Annual Author’s Night. Once again, this popular fundraiser will be held at the American Foundry in Oswego. The guest author this year is the distinguished writer of books for children and young adults, Bruce Coville, who was born and lived most of his life in Central New York. He has authored or co-authored scores of wonderful and much-loved books.
 Come for both dinner & talk or just the talk! In addition to Coville, local performers will bring many of his well-known characters to life during the evening. Tickets available at the river's end or Oswego Public Library - 341-5867.
Jane Austen Society of North America Informational Meeting
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the glorious novels, the movies, the Masterpiece Theater presentations, the updatings (“Clueless”), the spin-offs (“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”) -- have created a tidal wave of interest in Jane Austen.
A. Marie Sprayberry, Regional Coordinator of JASNA (the Jane Austen Society of North America) will hold an informational meeting about our own dear Jane at our own dear bookstore. All are welcome, from the neophyte to the enthusiast to the scholar.
Ms. Sprayberry will be joined by Lisa Brown, JASNA Assistant Coordinator, in presenting a brief description of “A Regency Christmas” as an example of what we talk about when we talk about Jane Austen. Refreshments - including tea, tea sandwiches, and scones, of course - will be served.
Beth Leonard, sailor & author of Blue Horizons, Following Seas & The Voyager's Handbook
Slide presentation of Leonard's circumnavigation followed by an interview with local sailor/author Susan Peterson Gateley.
 When Beth Leonard and her partner, Evans Starzinger, returned from a three-year, 35,000 mile circumnavigation, they thought they were done with offshore voyaging. But neither realized how irrevocably they had been changed by their experience, nor how irresistible the siren song of the sea would prove. In comparison, life ashore seemed dull and monochrome, and within months, Beth knew she had to go back to sea in order to remain true to the person she had become. Blue Horizons is where it all began.
Leonard has sailed more than 85,000 blue water miles over the past thirteen years, ranging from tropical oceans to Tasmania, Cape Horn, and the arctic seas north of Iceland. She contributes regularly to SAIL, Cruising World, Sailing, and Yachting World magazines, and her Voyager’s Handbook is widely accepted as the definitive treatise on blue water cruising. Visit www.bethandevans.com
Another river's end reading
with special guests Martin Walls and Karen Swenson
and. . .
a healthy crop of fresh local talent!
 Martin Walls is a 2005 Witter Bynner Poetry Fellow of the Library of Congress. His latest collection is Commonwealth (March Street Press, 2005). His most recent poetry appears in Commonweal, Modern Haiku, and Salt Hill. Walls is assistant editor of International Musician, Making Music, and Buick Creative Selling magazines. (Photo credit: Fuzzy Gerdes)
 Karen Swenson, poet and journalist, is a world traveler whose journeys into the hidden reaches of Southeast Asia, usually alone and often at great risk, have produced four volumes of poetry: An Attic of Ideals (1974, Doubleday), East-West (1980, Confluence), A Sense of Direction (1989, The Smith), and The Landlady in Bangkok (1994, Copper Canyon) which won a National Poetry Prize. She also has written of her travels for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Leader and several magazines. Swenson has been Poet-in-Residence at Skidmore College, the University of Idaho, Denver University, Clark University and Scripps College. She taught at City College, NY, for fifteen years.
Dave 'Agarn' Crisafulli, author of Good Enough: An Autobiography of a Major Minor Local Athlete
Booksigning
Dave “Agarn” Crisafulli dreamed of playing professional baseball. In his autobiography, Dave takes the reader through life’s lessons and the highs and lows of an athlete trying to make it to the ‘show’ as professional baseball is often referred to. In addition to the baseball memories, Dave shares many of his personal stories that vary from jubilation to sorrow as well as his experiences growing up in Oswego, New York. His autobiography is dedicated to his family and friends that have influenced his life but mostly to his best friend in life that he lost to cancer, his dad.
Dave wrote this autobiography with one thought in mind, “I certainly embrace that all of our lives are wonderful, filled with memories and entertaining. The only difference is that I decided to share mine.”
John Corcoran, author of the teacher who couldn’t read (Kaplan)
Booksigning
One man’s triumph over illiteracy...
 Although he graduated from high school and college and went on to become a secondary school teacher, John Corcoran functioned in life without the basic skills of reading and writing. This is the story of someone who slipped through the cracks. The story of a man who learned to hide his disability and his struggles with his feelings of inadequacy because of it.
Join us at the Bridge to Literacy Dinner, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Literacy Volunteers of Oswego County and featuring John Corcoran as the keynote speaker. The event begins at 5:30 pm at the American Foundry. For ticket reservation, contact 342-8839.
Annual Banned Books Reading - Celebrating the Right to Read
The river’s end is hosting a Banned Books reading to publicly celebrate the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books week. Because students, teachers, and librarians are the people most affected by some misguided souls’ attempts to limit their freedom, this year we’re having teacher-student and librarian-student pairs read excerpts from books that mean a lot to both of them.
Such titles as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn regularly make it onto the list of books that some parents and other community members want removed from the shelves of public and school libraries. This year, Stephenie Meyer’s hugely popular Twilight series appears on the list, as does Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which won the National Book Award and many other honors and awards.
We’re always pleased to see kids standing up for their right to read, and we love bringing other like-minded folks into the store to share their enthusiasm. This event always brings out an ardent group of booklovers and people who care deeply about the freedom to read.
Anthony F. Gero, author of Black Soldiers of New York State: A Proud Legacy (SUNY Press)
Discussion & Booksigning
The heroic saga of New York State’s African American soldiers, largely untold, comes to life in these pages. Drawing on a wealth of sources, some newly discovered, author Anthony F. Gero tells of their two centuries of struggle and triumph, beginning with the French and Indian War and continuing until 1950, when the United States Army and New York’s National Guard became integrated.
Black Soldiers of New York State demonstrates how in spite of many obstacles—including ongoing prejudice within their own country—the African American soldiers from New York State served courageously and valiantly, winning many commendations and earning the respect of friend and foe alike.
A retired high school teacher in Auburn, New York, Anthony F. Gero teaches history at Cayuga Community College and is a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians. He has written numerous articles on military history and is the coauthor (with Roger Sturcke) of New York State National Guard.
Tom Zoellner, author of Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock that Shaped the World (Viking)
Discussion & booksigning
 With the publication of Uranium, Tom has written a gripping, up-to-date biography of this yellow dirt that will shape the future, for better or worse. The stability of our world rests on a substance that is unstable at the core. This is the fundamental paradox of uranium, the strongest element the earth can yield and one whose story is a fascinating window into the valor, greed, genius, and folly of humanity.
Tom Zoellner is the author of The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire, named a Notable Book of 2006 by the American Library Association. He is also the co-author, with Paul Rusesabagina, of the New York Times bestselling book An Ordinary Man. Tom has previously worked as a contributing editor for Men's Health magazine and as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle.
So, mark your calendar and join us for Tom's return visit to the river's end. For more on Tom and Uranium, visit www.tomzoellner.com.
Oswego YMCA presents
the 9th Annual Harborfest Kids Fun Run
sponsored by the river's end bookstore
Registration forms available at the bookstore and Oswego YMCA. You must pre-register ($5 fee). The first 100 entrants will receive a T-shirt!
GET FIT AND LITERATE!
Children's Author Day
A real treat for your child! Stop in and enjoy chatting with the authors while you enjoy the refreshments!
Jim Farfaglia, author of Camp Hollis: The Origins of Oswego County's Children's Camp (History Press) - co-authored with Alysa Koloms and Jane Ann Sullivan Spellman
Discussion & booksigning
 On the shores of Lake Ontario, the fires of Camp Hollis have been burning brightly for sixty-two years, ever since Judge Eugene Sullivan opened the camp for the youth of Oswego County. This collection of nostalgic images from summers past takes readers back to the classic days of hiking, swimming and marshmallow roasting. The images are a glowing testimony to the success of Sullivan's vision, the profound impact on the lives of Oswego County youth and the power of role models who want to make a difference.
Jim Farfaglia attended Camp Hollis as a child and worked there as a counselor and site director while in college, where he earned a teaching degree. He is currently employed by Oswego County as Camp Hollis's year-round director.
 Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Wintergirls
Discussion & booksigning
Anderson’s newest novel, Wintergirls searches to find meaning behind the pain women hold inside themselves. The author gives a terrifying glimpse into a young girl’s struggle with an eating disorder that grows into horrible self-mutilation. Anderson’s handling of this alarming topic is both enlightening and inspiring.
 Laurie Halse Anderson is the author of several wonderful picture books and numerous highly acclaimed novels, including Chains, Speak, Prom and Fever 1793. Visit Laurie at www.writerlady.com
 Dennis Connors, author of Historic Photos of Syracuse (Turner Publishing)
Discussion and booksigning
Named for Syracuse in Sicily, Italy, Syracuse, New York enjoys a history that reflects both a united and progressive spirit and a unique culture that are the foundation of the city’s present-day prosperity and overwhelming popularity.
With fact-filled photo captions and chapter introductions by Dennis J. Connors, Historic Photos of Syracuse rediscovers the city’s fascinating past through nearly 200 rare photographs selected from the Onondaga Historical Association, showcased with exceptional clarity and beauty.
Musician Gina Holsopple and bass guitarist Matt Wood return to help us celebrate our 11th anniversary!
 Acoustic Guitar and Great Vocals
Their music CDs are available at the river’s end. For more information on Gina's music, visit www.ginaholsopple.com
Her meandering melodies and winsome voice are sure to make your foot tap, head bob, and lips open wide with a smile. - Brad Crescenzo, MuzikReview.com
 A river's end reading returns!
with special guest poet, Christopher G. Kennedy, director of Syracuse University’s MFA program in Creative Writing
Regional writers, musicians, and artists present new and daring work. Poetry and prose by Chris Leonard, Tim Gallogly, Viktoria Valenzuela-Pennington, Jon Hamm, and Mark Mazzoli. Music by Closer Still. Art by Drew Stellmack and Autumn. Always a special and unique evening!
Dick Case, author of Remembering Syracuse (History Press)
Booksigning
 The character of a place is written in the stories of the people who live there, and no one knows this better than Syracuse Post-Standard columnist Dick Case. For fifty years, his “Neighbors” columns have chronicled the ups and downs of the Syracuse community, bringing into the spotlight the names, traditions and landmarks that might otherwise have slipped through the cracks of history.
Stop in and meet one of Syracuse's finest storytellers!
Derek McKown, author of Arrows in Hand (Greenhouse Review Press)
Reading & booksigning
 Arrows in Hand reveals those moments of clarity and mystery that shape and define our conscious lives. Mastering an impressive range of forms and strategies, McKown consistently identifies those details, dark as well as shining, that hold us forever at the edge of love and lament--a profound love for family, for the world. McKown follows those threads from their first glimmerings in childhood to the difficult turns an adult life will take, yet always with great compassion. And, as the best poetry always does, Arrows in Hand transforms loss to arrive at a willingness to step finally into a light beyond the self"
- Christopher Buckley
McKown taught creative writing for ten years at the University of California, Riverside before moving back to Syracuse where he received an MFA degree in Creative Writing from Syracuse University.
Georgia Popoff, author of Doom Weaver (Main Street Rag Pub.)
Reading & booksigning
 Georgia Popoff is is a community poet, performer, educator, spoken word producer, and senior editor of The Comstock Review (www.comstockreview.org). A teaching poet in schools and community settings, she is the Writer in Residence for the Middletown, NY school district and provides professional development to many districts and conferences throughout NYS and the United States. She has appeared in numerous journals, anthologies, and web publications.
Steve Abbott & John Fountain, authors of O.R.
Discussion & booksigning
 A newspaper article from 1964 appears mysteriously one day in an Oswego, New York hospital operating room. It's an obituary describing the bizarre suicide of a young nurse, found dead in a hospital lounge, hooked up to an anesthesia machine. Retired police detective A.C. LaFleur is asked to find out why the article has appeared again, after all these years--and what really happened that day?
Steve is a Colorado native, and lives with his wife and cat in Boulder. He graduated from the University of Colorado, where he and John were roommates for several years. He is currently working part-time as a support engineer for a large software company. A few years ago he returned to school to obtain a Master's degree in English Literature, which turned out to be more fun than software engineering. This is his first novel.
Dr. John Fountain has been providing first-rate anesthesiology services to Oswego Hospital for nearly twenty-five years. Always adventurous, after graduating from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, John traveled overseas to do his residency - he first spent two years in New Zealand, then two years in Perth, Scotland (where he met his wife, Sandy), before returning to the U.S. to do a third residency in anesthesiology in Lexington, Kentucky. John is an avid tennis player, skier, and as anyone who knows him can tell you, a fine storyteller.
 Philip Memmer, author of Lucifer: A Hagiography (Lost Horse Press)
Reading & booksigning
Philip Memmer is the author of three books of poems, most recently Lucifer: A Hagiography, which was awarded the Idaho Prize from Lost Horse Press. His poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Southern Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Epoch, Tar River Poetry, and many others. His work has also appeared in several anthologies, including 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, edited by Billy Collins.
 Memmer is the director of the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse, where he founded the Downtown Writer's Center in 2001. He is the editor of Two Rivers Review, associate editor for Tiger Bark Press, and the current poetry editor of the journal Stone Canoe. For additional information, visit www.philipmemmer.com.
Rachel Guido deVries, author of The Brother Inside Me (Guernica Ed.)
Reading & booksigning
 Death and its many mysteries are explored in these autobiographical poems about the passing of Rachel's beloved brother, the dementia that claimed her father, and the inevitable bodily changes that come with age. Experimenting with traditional forms such as elegies and dirges, the poems keep coming back to the paradoxes of love and loss. Finally, though, solace comes in shimmering poems that connect with deVries’s two earlier collections and celebrate the beauty of rural upstate New York.
Rachel, a much-published poet, children’s book author, and novelist grew up near Paterson, NJ, and has lived in central New York since 1970. She taught creative writing through Syracuse University's Humanistic Studies Program for twelve years, and she currently offers workshops and readings at colleges, universities, libraries and community centers. Rachel frequently visits the Oswego City Schools, instructing students in the power of poetry.
 An Evening for (Book) Lovers
Our annual Valentine's Day celebration has attracted a wide variety of readers over the years.
Readers have been selected from our community to read prose and poetry of their own choosing, occasionally of their own composition, all of it on the theme of love in its many and varied forms. As in the past, some bookstore staff members will be part of this evening’s reading. Please join us for what's bound to be a fascinating collage.
Refreshments will be served!
Tom Adessa, author of Butternuts for Rexford
Reading & Booksigning
Tom Adessa, a lifelong resident of central New York is a lover of nature and the Adirondacks. At the age of 12 he found a squirrel that had fallen out of its nest and hand raised it. That childhood experience and time spent in the Adirondacks have been woven into this story for children. A truly heartwarming and fun tale, Butternuts for Rexford will help children learn about the power of friendships, nature and how to deal with personal challenges.
This event is part of Warm Up Oswego Festival, a collaborative effort by Oswego businesses and not-for-profit organizations to celebrate Oswego in the middle of winter. Beginning at noon, listen to indoor entertainment, participate in outdoor events, visit the bookstore at 2:00pm and stick around for the fireworks at 6:00pm!
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