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CNY Arts Center is excited to bring back a program feature that has not been revived since the Covid-19 pandemic cancelled all programming.
Author Spotlight features local writers with newly published books in a format free and open to the public. Sunday, November 13 at 3pm Jim Farfaglia will be featured with his new book on major Central New York snowstorms.
Central New York is renowned as one of the snowiest regions in the world. In the past, major snowstorms have crippled cities, towns and farming country for weeks at a time. But once people manage to dig themselves out, they have stories to tell. Fulton writer Jim Farfaglia, author of Voices in the Storm: Stories from the Blizzard of ’66, recently took a long look back at Central New York’s winters to uncover its biggest storms and their impact on residents.
“After I wrote the Blizzard of ’66 book people kept telling me their storm stories,” Farfaglia said. “Some folks insisted that I’d written about the wrong storm; that 1947 or 1958 was worse. That got me wondering how far back I could go to find interesting winter weather stories. I ended up back in the 1700s, before our country was founded. But, of course, there was snow back then—plenty of it.”
Though he researched details such as the amount of snow that fell or how low temperatures plunged during those storms, Farfaglia was most interested in uncovering the stories of survival. “You can only write about snowfall totals so many times,” he explained. “I wanted my book to capture the heartiness of Central New Yorkers.”
The result is Farfaglia’s new book, Historic Snowstorms of Central New York, published by The History Press. Over 100 towns and villages are featured, along with nearly 50 photographs stretching back to the 1880s.
“We are proud to feature Jim’s new book in our return to this popular program at the Arts Center,” said Nancy Fox, Executive Director. “We are blessed with many great local writers and honored to provide this forum for Jim to share his new book with the community.”
The event, which will include a PowerPoint presentation, will be held Sunday, November 13 at 3pm at the Arts Center located at 121 Cayuga St. in downtown Fulton. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. The event is free and refreshments will be served. For more information, visit CNYArtsCenter.com or call 315-598-ARTS (2787).
The book is available at the river’s end bookstore, in Oswego; the Village Shops, in Fulton; and Parthenon Books, in downtown Syracuse. It can be ordered online at www.arcadiapublishing.com.
To learn more about Farfaglia’s presentation based on the book for history-based groups, clubs and other organizations, contact him at sjimf903@gmail.com or www.jimfarfaglia.com.
