An Ithaca resident pens a new book reflecting on the events that shaped his youth, an Oswego University faculty member publishes an important book for all radio and podcast fans, and a local landmark shares their wares with the public.

Remembering the Sixties



Marc A. Catone has been living in the Finger Lakes region since 1977, but it is his adolescence and earliest adulthood of the 60's in Danbury, Connecticut that take center stage in his newest book, "Until The Birds Chirp: Reflections On The Sixties".

"Above all else, I am a child of the Sixties. I still believe that the Sixties are a state of mind. I am keenly aware that the progress we made as Americans during the Sixties has been maligned unfairly," Catone says of his desire to write about a popular time in our country's history, but to do so without the retreading the same cultural ground of the famous people popular for sharing their opinions during that time.

Catone recounts his time visiting the renowned Great Danbury State Fair, an attraction that ended in 198. He shares was it was like to have just transitioned into officially being a teenager the year that John F. Kennedy was shot. Catone weaves the narratives of his youth in order to demonstrate how an era so rich with cultural and sociological changes shaped who he would become as a person.

"Until The Birds Chirp: Reflections On The Sixties" is Catone's third book, among many other articles and essays. His previous two books, "As I Write This Letter: An American Generation Remembers The Beatles" and "The Giant's Chair" also focus on the 60's. All of Catone's books are available on Amazon. You can learn more about Catone and his work by visiting his website.

Creating the voice



SUNY Oswego Communication Studies faculty member, David Crider has turned his 2013 doctoral dissertation in media and communication at Temple University into the foundation for his book "Performing Personality: On-Air Radio Identities in a Changing Media Landscape".

Crider, who has a Master's Degree from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications, explores how radio talent have developed their "on-air personalities". Crider draws upon 10 years of experience both in production and on-air positions in conjunction with case studies of popular personalities to create the framework.

The book provides critical information for those in the radio production and mass-media field, while also giving interesting insight to readers outside the field. "I think the book's big takeaway (for the average reader) is this: Your favorite announcer, that person who related best to you, who was the reason you listened to radio, is someone who was following an unspoken blueprint," Crider has shared with Oswego State University in a recent interview.

Readers and writers looking to better understand the dynamics behind successfully hosting a podcast may be especially interested in this book. IN the book's introduction Crider says, "The growing success of podcasts such as 'Serial' and 'WTF with Marc Maron' is built around the ability of relatable announcers to tell compelling stories. As multimedia storytelling takes on greater importance, it will be incumbent upon announcers -- from startup podcasters to broadcast veterans -- to be able to create that meaningful connection with listeners across as many platforms as possible"

The book is available through the publisher, on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.com.

Art Book Sale

Art aficionados and antiquarian book collectors will be excited to learn that The Everson Museum of Art is hosting a book sale featuring rare, vintage and antiquarian art books from the Everson Museum Library.

The Book Sale Preview will be during regular museum hours, 10 am to 5 pm, on Saturday, July 16. The preview sale will include monographs, museum exhibition and collection catalogs, art history and theory books, and as coffee table books all under $3. Access to the sale is included with museum admission.

The remainder of the volumes will be for sale from 5.00 - 8.00pm on July 21. This coincides with the Everson's Free Third Thursday and admission to the museum and the book sale will be free.