Michael O’Connor of Cornwall is the author of “The Wild West Meets the Big Apple.”
Pelican Publishing Company just released a book by Michael P. O’Connor. It’s called “The Wild West Meets the Big Apple.”
The news sent us scurrying to the author’s website to see if it could possibly be the Michael O’Connor we knew. The photograph confirmed that it was.
A Cornwall resident, Mr. O’Connor has an extensive resume. He’s an attorney who ran for Town Justice in 2012. He’s the senior Public Defender in Rockland County, and a former Air Force captain.
But there’s more to his background than we realized. Mr. O’Connor is also a member of the Alamo Society, New York Historical Society, and the Wild West History Association. His book is described as “a blend of New York City history and Western lore.”
It offers thumbnail sketches of Western heroes (such as Davy Crockett, Buffalo Bill Cody and Bat Masterson) and tells how they made their mark on a city with a vastly different culture. “It’s an entertaining blend of history and Western lore,” Mr. O’Connor suggests in an email. “It should be perfect for New York City residents, tourists and Western enthusiasts.”
After finishing the book, which includes historic and modern-day photographs of familiar locations in the Big Apple, the author was admitted to the Western Writers of America — an organization that was formed in 1953 to promote the literature of the American West.
He will be visiting the West next weekend for a pair of book signings in San Antonio, Texas. The occasion is the Alamo Symposium, which coincides with the 180th anniversary of the battle.
The East Coast book launching will take place close to home. It’s scheduled for Saturday, March 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Painters’ Restaurant, 266 Hudson Street in Cornwall-on-Hudson.
