Purchasing Books

Books that I have written are available directly from me. I can sign and personalize your book, if you’d like. Payment is through PayPal : https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jimfarfaglia or by check mailed to Jim Farfaglia, 509 Schuyler Street, Fulton, NY 13069. Remember to include your shipping information with your payment.

My books are also available at the river's end bookstore in Oswego, New York. If you live in Central New York, stop at their location on W. Bridge Street and enjoy the fine service of one of the only independently owned bookstores in the area. The store can also provide you with my books if you live outside Central New York. Log onto their website, http://www.riversendbookstore.com/, and use their search link found at the top right-hand corner of their homepage. Type in the book title(s) you are looking for. Once you select the book(s) you want and prepare to check out, you will notice an "Order Comments" section at the bottom of the page. Here you can request that I sign your book, if you wish, and also request that I write a special message with my signature. The river's end will then ship you your order.

My most recent books are also available online from The History Press/Arcadia publishing company at www.arcadiapublishing.com. Should you need any other assistance with placing books orders, let me know via the "Contact" tab located at the top of my website.

Books that I have edited are available from the organizations I worked with to create them. Information on how to purchase these books are found in the section accompanying the photo of those books.

AS AN AUTHOR

Historic Snowstorms of Central New York

Central New York, renowned for its substantial snowfall, has a long and stormy relationship with winter. Over the years, communities from the Lake Ontario port in Oswego to the busy streets of Syracuse and Utica, from Ithaca’s rocky gorges to the sandy shores of Fair Haven State Park, from the high hills of Oneida County to the lakefront communities of Sandy Pond and Adams, have been buried under snow. Stories of surviving those storms have passed from generation to generation and Historic Snowstorms of Central New York captures them, creating a 200-year narrative of the region’s most memorable snowstorms. 

List price: $23.99

Oswego’s Camp Hollis: Haven by the Lake

On a tree-covered bluff overlooking Lake Ontario, a summer camp has been a haven for children for nearly 100 years. Originally known as the Oswego County Health Camp and then as Camp Hollis, it was made possible by the efforts of two youth advocates: a doctor working to eradicate the deadly disease of tuberculosis in the early 1900s, and then in the 1940s, by a Family Court Judge who believed a child’s life could be improved by attending the camp. This is the story of those two men, as well as the county leaders who have supported their camp since its inception, and the caring counselors who’ve brought joy to thousands of children.

List price: $21.95

 Nestlé in Fulton, New York: How Sweet It Was

In 1898, Switzerland’s Nestlé Company was searching for an ideal location to build their first United States milk processing plant. Upstate New York’s bountiful dairy farms drew Nestlé’s attention, and Fulton, New York, became their top choice. Soon, another Swiss company, Peter’s, requested space at the Fulton factory to produce a confection that had taken Europe by storm: the milk chocolate candy bar. Over the next century, factory technicians invented classic treats including the Crunch Bar, Toll House Morsels and Nestlé Quik. With 1,500 workers churning out 1 million pounds of candy a day, Fulton became known as the city that smelled like chocolate.

List price: $21.95

The Best of Fulton: Poems For My Small-Town Newspaper

For five years I submitted a weekly poem to my local newspaper, The Valley News.  In my attempt to offer readers a bit of reflection in their busy lives, the poems were often about the joys of growing up and living in a small town. Since I have only ever been able to write a poem when an idea comes to me, I had to accept when, about a year ago, those ideas stopped coming. I ended my poetry column in the paper and moved on to other writing challenges. But some of 250 poems I'd contributed over the years seemed too special to just "let go." I decided to put about 60 of them in a collection to honor my hometown of Fulton and the newspaper that gave me my first chance as a writer.

List price: $12.99

 Pioneers: The Story of Oswego County's Search and Rescue Team

Voices in the Storm: Stories from the Blizzard of '66

The ‘60s was such an emotionally-charged time in America, packed with political and cultural events that shook our country’s foundation. In the middle of that decade, a powerful winter storm temporarily silenced the social upheaval, as people along the east coast of the United States struggled to survive blinding snow and gale-force winds. Hit particularly hard was a region near Great Lake Ontario – Central New York – where the Blizzard of ’66 swiftly shut down schools, businesses and life itself. For weeks, it was all people talked about. 50 years later, anyone who lived through it has a story…

List Price:  $17.95

In Pursuit of Clouds: The Journey of Oswego's Weatherman Bob Sykes

“This is Bob Sykes reporting from Southwest Oswego.”

For nearly 25 years, many Central New Yorkers tuned their radio to that greeting each morning, relying on Bob Sykes’ forecasts to cover everything from brutal winter storms like The Blizzard of ’66 to whether it was a good day to hang out their laundry.

Though his broadcasts were popular, few of Sykes’ loyal listeners knew of his other contributions to the study of weather: the groundbreaking research he conducted on lake-effect snowstorms; his 20+ years teaching State University College at Oswego students, many who went on to successful careers in meteorology; and his service during World War II as an Army-trained meteorologist, where his forecasting knowhow helped the United States and its Allies win the war.

Despite these accomplishments, by his own definition Bob Sykes was simply “a weatherman,” and this is his story.  

List Price:  $17.95

Reach Out in the Darkness: How Pop Music Saved My Mortal Soul

My Reach Out in the Darkness book contains poems to honor the singers and songs of my youth: the '60s and early '70s. They say that the latest book a writer is working on is always their favorite, but I’m not sure anything will ever top the experience of writing my new book of poetry, Reach Out in the Darkness: How Pop Music Saved My Mortal Soul. 

My desire to be a writer really started from listening to the hit records of my youth, and though the song had to have a good melody, it was always the lyrics that mattered. I loved the way, with just a few words, my latest favorite song’s writer could move me and help me to understand the crazy things I was feeling. I grew up wanting to do that same thing. 

Writing this book has given me that opportunity, and so it has become the greatest gift to myself. Now that gift continues with my sharing it with you.

  "I felt like I was taking a trip through my own past. Each song that your poems referred to replayed in my head with all the associated memories. Most important though, was the insight it gave into your life and spirit." 
-  Adele DiGiovanni DelSavio

List Price:  $12.00

Of the Earth: Stories From Oswego County's Muck Farms

Of the Earth is a compilation of interviews I conducted with local muck farmers, their families, neighbors and agricultural agency staff. The interviews are woven together to tell the unique story of muck farming in Central New York.

A comment  from a reader:

"As native Oswegonians, my family is always looking for opportunities to reconnect with the "good ole days." For years I listened to my parents recant stories of working on the muck. My maternal grandparents were Sicilian immigrants with 10 children. All were subject to the backbreaking toil of summers on the muck farms in Oswego County. My dad was 2nd generation Irish/German who began working the muck farms at age 12. Your book, Of the Earth, gave my Dad, now 86, immeasurable joy and for that I'm forever grateful. He knew firsthand many of the people mentioned in your compilation and shared many of their experiences. Your passion is a gift; once again, thank you for sharing."  - Donna O’Neil

List Price:  $15.00

People, Places & Things: The Powerful Nouns of My Life

A collection of poems to honor the significant people, places and things that have influenced my life.

List Price:  $10.00

Sample poem from the “Things” chapter of the book:

Poinsettia

Today begins the magic.

Today I become a nature god,
ensuring exact amounts of sunlight and darkness
for this simple potted greenery.

By Christmas Day
it will become a bright and brilliant red!

As I ponder this transformation
I think about my life
and how far from nature’s spectrum I have faded:
overly dependent on overhead lighting,
hunched for hours at my computer.

But what if I balanced my need for light & dark?
What routines, once so important,
would drop like spent leaves?
What richness would rise from my roots
and spread through my veins?

How bright and brilliant would my red be?

Country Boy

A collection of poems that recall my childhood years growing up in a rural area outside Fulton, New York and working on my uncles’ muck farms. 

List Price:  $10.00

Sample poem:

Melon Jolly                       

Just across the road
farm fields spread to the horizon,
making the view from our living room window
grand.
Each August
miles of watermelon vines
became a meandering picture show, 
admired but not to be entered –
such a view the livelihood
of a farmer across the way.

But every once in a while,
the day at its peak,
that farmer’s son would call over, 
inviting us to meet him in those melon fields.
We’d dash cross the road and each choose one
the smaller, rounder variety best
for young hands.

Finding a pointy boulder
we’d crack that sphere open,
red juice baptizing our bare arms and blue jeans.
Then,
sitting cross-legged atop warm soil,
we’d raise those crooked smiles of green
to our own thirsty grins,

tempering the heat of country living,
sharing a delicious pause in the drone of the day,
discovering, 
quite early in life,
how it is we go about
growing our own joy

Camp Hollis: The Origins of Oswego County’s Childrens Camp

Co-authored by Jane Ann Sullivan Spellman and Alysa Koloms.  A pictorial narrative of the beginnings of one of Oswego County’s most beloved children’s camp.

Excerpt from book:

“The dream that Judge Sullivan, Camp Hollis founder, had over sixty years ago has as much reason to be believed in today as it did then. No matter how sophisticated our culture becomes, the same activities that thrilled children in 1946 continue to do so in 2008. The skits at the campfire bring ripples of laughter that mix with the waves on Lake Ontario. Themed dances continue to muster the best gossip throughout the camp community, with campers wondering who will dance with whom. Campers still stand at the dining hall windows to smell the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen, dreaming of supper…”

To Order:

If you would like to order a copy of this book and support the Friends of Camp Hollis’ commitment to Camp Hollis, please send an email to foch@friendsofcamphollis.org

List price: $15.00

All proceeds benefit the Friends of Camp Hollis to provide scholarships for children from needy families to attend the camp.

As an Editor:

…take a walk around The Dizzy Block

Long before we travelled to shopping malls and started making purchases online, the city of Fulton had a place where you could find almost anything you wanted. There were stores for clothing, shoes, hats, stationery, candy and treats, tools and hardware, magazines and newspapers, gifts and jewelry. Lunch counters provided tasty meals. You could take your special someone to the movies, attend concerts with friends or join a dance class. Storeowners knew your name and helped you make selections. And every Christmas, window displays inspired children’s dreams. Join us as we travel back in time to this special place Fultonians called “The Dizzy Block.”

List price: $15.00

To order a copy please stop in or contact the Fulton Public Library at: (315) 592-5159.

The Heart of Fulton at Home and Abroad:  World War II and The Korean War

In the 1940s and ‘50s, cities both big and small across the United States felt the impact of war. Fulton was one of those small towns that experiences its families being broken apart, some temporarily and some forever. As one lifelong Fultonian aptly stated, “It affected everyone because we all knew someone going off to war.” Every soldier has a story; each family at home has theirs. For the first time in Fulton’s history, a sampling of those stories has been bound together in honor of those who served.

To Order:

List price: $13.00 To order a copy please stop in or contact the Fulton Public Library at: (315) 592-5159.

The Community Services That Built Our City

Service to Community.  That’s the theme for this year’s Fulton Memoir Project, a history-based writing initiative designed to encourage local residents to share their memories. Sponsored by the Fulton Public Library since 2013, the project adds another forty stories with this 2015 edition. Writers have told about infamous Fulton fires, groundbreaking police investigative work, every-changing and ever-challenging shifts in city government and a myriad of community services for young and old alike. It’s Fulton’s history at its best, told by one person at a time.

To Order:

List price: $6.00 To order a copy please stop in or contact the Fulton Public Library at: (315) 592-5159.

The Businesses and Schools That Built Our Community

Forty-one stories that take us inside Fulton’s factories, family-owned businesses and neighborhood schools, as told by the people who made them a success!

To Order:

List price: $6.00 To order a copy please stop in or contact the Fulton Public Library at: (315) 592-5159.

The Stories From Our Past That Inspire Our Future

Lake Neatahwanta is a natural treasure of Fulton and just one of the many places Fultonians reflect on whenever they remember their city. Fulton: The Stories Form Our Past That Inspire Our Future is a collection of 41 memoirs written by those who have come to love Fulton and now share that love through their rich recollections.

To Order:

List price: $6.00 To order a copy please stop in or contact the Fulton Public Library at: (315) 592-5159.

Harvest

Poetry and artwork that was created during a one-day workshop I led at the Fairgrieve Elementary School in Fulton. Poems and art reflect an autumn harvest theme.

Sample text:

Fall

Instead of leaves, I see happy faces
falling around me.

Instead of grass, I see life
happy lives all around.

Instead of birds, I see people
flying above having pride.

Pride and happiness.
The world I live in.             

by Christopher Schreck  5th grade

To Order:

List price: $10.00 All proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the Fairgrieve School PTA. To order a copy please contact the Fairgrieve school office at: (315) 593-5550.

I Live As A Cloud

Poetry, short stories and artwork by children in the Central New York area, collected through various workshops I did for the CNY Arts Center.

Excerpt from a short story:  

Seven year old Timmy is on a camping trip. One day he discovers a race of supernatural creatures: green-skinned sprites and half horses-half men called centaurs, all having a giant war in a big tree.

“Mom!  There are bugs in this tree!”

Timmy’s mom, Jen, came over and looked in the tree.

“I don’t see anything, Timmy.  Those bugs must have been a figment of your imagination.”

But Timmy knew they were there…

- from Timmy In A Tree by Emily Markowsky, age 11

To Order:

List price: $10.00 All proceeds from the sale of this book benefit CNY Arts Center. 

To order a copy please contact the Center at (315) 592-3373 or:
www.cnyartscenter.com