I joined Joe Conzo on host Gary Axelbank’s show Bronx Buzz on Bronxnet TV to announce the publication of our forthcoming book, 111 Places in the Bronx That You Must Not Miss (Emons). The book publication date was moved up to mid-May and we made our first TV appearance to talk about the book. It is part of the international hit series 111 Places. I’ve been talking a little about it on our podcast, Joanna Continue Reading →
My friends of the Guides Association of New York City, of which I’m a proud member, tipped me off to the news today that the Grand Hyatt Hotel is going to be razed. This is sad because 2019 is the centennial of the hotel’s opening. I was immediately reminded of the hotel because it’s an entry in my 2005 book A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York (Roaring Forties Press). I wrote a chapter about Continue Reading →
Last night I got the opportunity to do something I’ve not done in a couple of years. I didn’t know how much I missed it until I actually was doing it. This was a quick book talk about Under the Table: A Dorothy Parker Cocktail Guide, which was my third book and was published five years ago. Our financial planner, Steve Gross of Ameriprise, hosted a really nice cocktail party on the rooftop lounge of Continue Reading →
The first episode went so well, we now have a new one for Joanna and Kevin’s Big Show. In this second episode, Jo Holliday starts to get into “poker shape” and prepare for the World Series of Poker. She’s not drinking while working in a dive bar; and reveals the mental aspect in poker. Kevin Fitzpatrick talks about his World War I book and promoting the book during the year. He’s also interested in veterans Continue Reading →
It is a huge honor for me to announce that I was awarded my first-ever literary honor on Monday. My book World War One New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War (Globe Pequot Press) took home the Apple Award given by the Guides Association for New York City. The awards category my book was nominated in and won is Outstanding Achievement in Non-Fiction New York City Book Writing (Published Continue Reading →
My book World War New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War has been nominated for an Apple Award by the Guides Association of New York City (GANYC). This is a big honor for me, since I wrote a guide book, and this is the only organization for licensed New York City sightseeing guides. My book is the sole guide book nominated, so guides can use it to lead their Continue Reading →
On November 5 I am going to have a double-feature day: At 10:00 AM take a cemetery walking tour in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Followed by a 2:00 p.m. book talk about World War I New York: A Guide the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War, which will be held at the Queens Historical Society in Flushing. To begin the day, I will lead a free tour of the only national cemetery in NYC in Continue Reading →
On Independence Day I’ll be climbing the 215 steps up to the pedestal of the Statue of the Liberty. I’m making five trips in five consecutive days, down from four trips last week. As a licensed tour guide, I’m among the lucky few who get to visit the most famous landmark in the country for my “job” so often. Taking visitors to Liberty Island and Ellis Island is an incredible privilege. When I began leading Continue Reading →
One hundred years ago on Sunday, General John J. Pershing woke up in Times Square. He was in bed in the Astor Hotel, which once was on the corner of Broadway and W. 44th Street. I do not know how he got from Forty-second Street to the Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street, but I like to think that instead of a car he and his group took the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) Continue Reading →
The last week has been a whirlwind ever since my new book World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War was published by Globe Pequot. I was on the edge for weeks because the book was delayed, and I was worried it would miss the centennial on April 6. To say it was close was an understatement. April 4 I finally got a chance to see the Continue Reading →