Hudson Valley Writers Reflect on Writing

In River of Words: Portraits of Hudson Valley Writers, seventy-six contemporary writers consider the literary life, the craft of writing, and the beauty of New York's Hudson Valley. With text by Nina Shengold and photos by Jennifer May, the book takes us inside the lives of these writers and examines the pull of the Hudson Valley. For centuries, writers have drawn inspiration from the Hudson River and its surroundings. John Burroughs, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Edith Wharton all lived and worked in the region immortalized by the Hudson River School of painters. River of Words offers intimate portraits of the current crop of Hudson Valley writers as they continue the tradition of writers drawing inspiration from this distinctive American landscape.

Jennifer May recently created a website for the book that is chock full of exciting content, including sections focusing on the seventy-six writers, excerpts, and news and current events.

Cooking your way through the Hudson Valley

Food historian and writer Peter G. Rose's new cookbook, Summer Pleasures, Winter Pleasures, offers a variety of recipes that spotlight the historical and culinary heritage of New York's Hudson Valley. Peter was interviewed in today's Albany Times Union. The interview is followed by a series of recipes from the book. We hope you have fun creating these Hudson Valley dishes in your kitchen.

As a teaser, here's one of the recipes from the book:

Pork Chops with Pears and Blue Cheese

Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 thick pork chops
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 large pears, quartered, cored and peeled
1/2 cup white wine or water
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese

In a frying pan, heat oil. Season pork chops with salt and pepper and fry until browned on both sides.

In the meantime, cut each pear quarter lengthwise into 3 slices. Add pears to the browned chops, along with the wine or water. Cover pan, reduce heat, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chops are done.

Uncover pan and sprinkle crumbled blue cheese on top. Turn off heat, replace the cover and allow pan to stand for a few minutes.

Peter will be at "Sip & Sign," a free book signing with 25 authors, from 1 to 4 pm Nov. 14 at Millbrook Vineyards & Winery, 26 Wing Road, Millbrook, NY. Call (845) 677-8383 for details.

SUNY Press partners with the Albany Institute of History & Art

We're happy to share with you that we are now partnering with the Albany Institute of History & Art to offer digital and print editions of previously published works by the Albany Institute, one of the oldest and most prestigious museums in the United States. These works showcase a wide range of topics, including colonial Dutch arts and crafts, contemporary painters of the Hudson River, artists Paul Cushman and Richard Callner, and a celebrated overview of the two-hundred-year history of the Albany Institute. Visit our website for a complete list of these titles.

We're also collaborating with the Institute on new publishing ventures, so stay tuned for more information!

Founded in 1791, the Albany Institute is one of the oldest museums in the United States. Visit their website for more information about the museum and for current exhibitions.

SUNY Press partners with the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art

In our previous post, we mentioned that we've partnered with the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (SDMA). Today we'd like to give you the full scoop on this exciting new venture. We are now distributing print and digital editions of titles published by SDMA. The books and catalogs cover a range of topics, including nineteenth-century American landscape paintings of the Hudson River; the photography of Eva Watson-Schütze; and artists George Bellow, Rimer Cardillo, and Judy Pfaff. We are also collaborating with SDMA on new publishing ventures.

Located at SUNY New Paltz, SDMA's permanent collection spans a period of almost four thousand years. Areas of specialization include twentieth-century prints and paintings, decorative arts, photographs, Asian art, and Pre-Columbian art and artifacts. The Museum has a special commitment to collecting works of art created by artists that have lived and worked in the Hudson Valley and Catskill regions. Please visit our website for a complete listing of SDMA titles offered by SUNY Press.

Author interviewed on the Civil War

D. Reid Ross, author of Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War, was interviewed in the PostStar on Sunday. Here's a snippet about Reid's ancestral connections to Washington County, NY (part of the region the PostStar covers):

When writer D. Reid Ross began researching his Washington County genealogy, he intended to learn more about his ancestral history. The family facts he uncovered, however, reflected a much bigger story.

Ross soon found himself engulfed in a long-forgotten chapter of Civil War history.

"I ran into my grandfather's background. He was the only one I knew from family stories of the Civil War. I knew he had one brother who had been killed, but I didn't know he had three brothers. I also didn't know his regiment," said Ross.

Through his research, Ross learned that his grandfather was a member of the 123rd New York regiment and was an infantryman in Sherman's march on Atlanta. He was captured 30 miles from the city and sent to Andersonville and four other prisons.

"I started digging into the whole record of Veteran Volunteers. Most of them were committed to anti-slavery. They were honest-to-God Lincoln emancipators," Ross said.

Read the entire interview here, and check out one of our recent posts for more info on the book and the incredible amount of research that went into it. Visit our website for more on the book and to order a copy today.

New York's 400th

Recently, the rebuilt Onrust was joined by a replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon and other vessels in a flotilla on River Day, a quadricentennial celebration along New York's Hudson River. The Onrust was originally built by a stranded Dutch crew in America in 1614. The Half Moon is an 85-foot replica of the ship Henry Hudson sailed while exploring the Hudson River in 1609.

SUNY Presser Greg Smith watched the flotilla arrive in Albany and snapped some beautiful pictures. For more on New York's 400th celebration, check out the official site. We've even put together a collection of SUNY Press titles to celebrate the anniversary as well. Now enjoy some lovely photos from River Day.

Journey back to the Civil War

“A major breakthrough in Civil War history.”
— Edwin C. Bearss, military historian and Civil War scholar


Have you ever wondered about what your ancestors did and why? If so, you will find inspiration in the story of D. Reid Ross and his journey into the past. He didn’t set out to write a book, but what he discovered compelled him to do so. Since childhood, he had heard about his grandfather fighting in the Civil War, being captured and imprisoned in Andersonville. He wanted to know much more.

He discovered that Veteran Volunteers, including his grandfather and two of his brothers, reenlisted, rather than going home, so they could continue to fight. Because of their experience and combat skills, they were exposed to the greatest dangers in battle after battle, and their regiments suffered the highest casualty rates of the entire Union army. Ross was amazed that despite all that had been written about the Civil War, the story of Lincoln’s bravest and most dedicated soldiers has been ignored.

Why did they reenlist, and continue to risk their lives?

Ross read hundreds of soldiers’ letters, diaries, memoirs and government records in search of the answer. The quest took him thirty years, and led him to the common threads among Veteran Volunteers, particularly their anti-slavery convictions and their loyalty to Lincoln. From the beginning when they first enlisted, they fought for the twin goals of saving the Union and ending slavery. Those discoveries left him no option but to tell their story in Lincoln’s Veteran Volunteers Win the War: The Hudson Valley’s Ross Brothers and the Union’s Fight for Emancipation.

The book explores the religious ideals and family traditions, allegiance to Abraham Lincoln, and moral imperative that left Veteran Volunteers no choice but to continue fighting until they won the war. It reveals, too, their profound sacrifices for their beliefs: injuries, debilitating disease, near starvation, imprisonment, even death. In the Ross family alone, one brother was killed, another blinded, another deafened, and the fourth held captive in five Confederate prisons. Their parents were crippled with rheumatism, and without their sons’ help during the war, they lost the family farm to foreclosure. Yet none of them wavered in their commitment to fighting for emancipation and preservation of the Union.

This story is an inspiration to all who believe in the principles on which the United States was founded and a timely reminder that our nation’s ability to overcome profound challenges depends on the dedication and sacrifices of its people.

Ross earned his undergraduate degree from Washington University. After serving as a gunnery officer in the Pacific during World War II, he earned a master’s degree in urban planning at the University of Chicago and did post-graduate work in England. He worked in urban planning in Chicago, Milwaukee; Providence, Rhode Island; Cincinnati; St. Louis; and Madison, Wisconsin. He also taught graduate courses part-time at three universities. After retiring, he earned a master’s degree in American History at the University of Wisconsin and has published numerous articles about the Civil War and his ancestors.

He and his wife, Sari, live in Durango, Colorado.

D. Reid Ross in the Denver Post

Durango, Colorado resident and Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War author D. Reid Ross was interviewed in yesterday's Denver Post. Read the interview here.

Ross will be speaking at a series of upcoming events, all in the greater Boston area.

Saturday, February 14

The Lincoln Group

Bridgewater, MA

Monday, February 16

Cape Cod Civil War Roundtable

Yarmouth, MA

Thursday, February 19

Civil War Roundtable of Greater Boston

Waltham, MA

Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War

With this Thursday, February 12th marking the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, now is an appropriate time to read our new book, Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War. The book chronicles the Civil War experiences of four brothers from New York’s Hudson Valley. Author D. Reid Ross (grandson of one of the brothers) provides vivid descriptions of soldiers’ attitudes toward President Lincoln and emancipation, courage and performance on the battlefield, the hardships of army life, the role of the Veteran Volunteers, and the Grand Review in Washington, D.C. after the end of the war.

Edwin C. Bearss, author of Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, said the book is a “A major breakthrough in Civil War history.”

D. Reid Ross is a retired urban planner and family historian and has published many articles on the American Civil War and his family’s history. The book was a true labor of love, for which Ross spent three decades researching. During that time he visited more than one hundred libraries, pored over hundreds of manuscript collections, and read more than one thousand Civil War and other historical publications, personal memoirs, diaries, and letters. Ross will participate in a number of celebratory events organized by the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

For more on the journey that Ross took to research and write this highly personal book, read this interview with the author.

Explore the website for the Civil War Preservation Trust, where you can find links to a number of Civil War blogs and online communities.

Also check out the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission site for a comprehensive compendium of Lincoln bicentennial information and events.