New Book About Mario Cuomo

  NEW ROCHELLE, NY - 09/20/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

“Where have you gone, Mario Cuomo? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” In the midst of a raucous political year comes an important new book by the author of five highly-acclaimed Fordham Press anthologies on the powerful – and colorful – players in New York State’s civic and political life.

“Governor Mario Cuomo's life and accomplishments are part of the public record, but in Mario Cuomo: Remembrances of a Remarkable Man, William O'Shaughnessy gives readers an exclusive and a deeply personal, behind-the-scenes look at the liberal Democratic icon. This poignant memoir, based on the author's thirty-eight–year friendship with Governor Cuomo, portrays the spiritual journey of a man who played many roles: inspirational political leader, moral compass, spell-binding orator, gifted author, legal scholar, and loving father and grandfather. He was, in O'Shaughnessy's words, one of the most articulate and graceful public men of the twentieth century.   

Their connection was unlikely: O’Shaughnessy, a self-styled “Rockefeller Republican” and one of the best-known broadcasters in the nation, and Cuomo “a failed baseball player with too many vowels in his name” who rose from the back of a grocery store in Queens to become a lawyer and then governor with a devotion to the writings of St. Thomas More, the teachings of Jesuit philosopher-paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin, the vision of Abraham Lincoln and the ancient Hebrew concepts of Tzedakah and Tikkun Olam. Yet over the course of hundreds of radio interviews, letters, late night and early morning phone conversations –the governor and the Westchester broadcaster became fast friends.

Included in this riveting book are previously unpublished nuggets from Governor Cuomo’s soaring speeches, touching personal letters to his children and grandchildren, marvelous humorous asides, even the governor’s favorite romantic ballads and touching vignettes from his days in office. Among these reminiscences are also accounts of the drama leading up to Cuomo's famous Democratic Convention speech and the still controversial Notre Dame talk on abortion and the Church-State dilemma faced by Roman Catholic office holders.  Also why he resisted entreaties to run for president of the United States and declined appointment to the Supreme Court.  Rounding out this beautiful book are candid photos from Cuomo’s official photographer.      

As O'Shaughnessy writes of Mario Cuomo the philosopher-statesman, “The product of his genius and bright, fine mind will resonate long after the dust of centuries has fallen over our cities.” Much more than a simple memoir of a cherished friend, Mario Cuomo: Remembrances of a Remarkable Man  is a loving tribute to a magnificent political figure whose words and example continue to inform the conscience of our nation.”