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Retrospect

Our Annual Look at Local History Books

John Conway
Posted 12/13/24

With another holiday season upon us, it is time for this column’s annual reminder that books about Sullivan County’s rich and colorful history always make great gifts, but especially this …

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Retrospect

Our Annual Look at Local History Books

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With another holiday season upon us, it is time for this column’s annual reminder that books about Sullivan County’s rich and colorful history always make great gifts, but especially this time of year.

And this year there are a few newly released titles that should be on every shopping list, along with a number of older stand-bys that belong on every history buff’s book shelf.

Although it is not, strictly speaking, a book about local history, the top book on our list this year provides such an authentic glimpse into the era of the great hotels of the Borscht Belt that it will please even the most discerning history buff. The book is Lily Barrish Levner’s debut novel, “Banquets & Bootleg Bounty.”

Described as “a Cozy Mystery with a dash of mobster gold,” the book is set at the Concord Hotel, and is loosely based on the lives of Ms. Barrish Levner’s grandparents, Abe and Dotty, which just happen to be the names of the two main characters in the story. Throw in some references to Murder, Inc. and buried treasure, and you have a story about the Mountains in the 1940s that is sure to please.

Author Meredith Schorr said of the book, “Banquets & Bootleg Bounty is a fantastically fun romp through the height of the Catskills with spot-on historical accuracy. Author Lily Barrish Levner gives readers a bird’s eye view of the dining rooms at the Concord, with a pinch of romance and a side of danger. Grab a bowl of matzo ball soup and enjoy the ride!”

Thankfully, “Banquets & Bootleg Bounty” is the first in a series of mysteries known as Catskills Capers, so there will be more to come.

The Borscht Belt remains a very hot topic this year, and in addition to last year’s titles-- Patti Posner’s “My View From the Mountains: A Catskill Memoir,” based on the author’s years growing up at the Brickman Hotel in Fallsburg—and Bart A. Charlow’s “A Catskill Carnival: My Borscht Belt Life Lived, Lost and Loved”-- the story of his family’s Irvington Hotel in South Fallsburg— there are additional titles to consider.

Mr. Charlow has published a second book, “Pickle Barrel Tales: More Borscht Belt BS,” of which he says, “the Catskills are a place on the map that you can visit any time. The Borscht Belt is a place in the heart that you can only visit in the memories of we who lived it. Hijinks, chicanery, and just plain fun were on the menu right beside the kosher pickles.”

And Alan L. Greenberg has authored, “Brooklyn to the Beltway: With a Stop in the Borscht Belt,” which is a sequel to his 2020 book, “Confessions of a Government Man.” The new title is described as “more tales about funny happenings in high places of government, this time with a personal touch. Growing up in Brooklyn, USA, and coming of age slinging dishes in the Catskill Mountains (Borscht Belt) where everything is a hustle was the perfect prep for a career in government.”

There are, of course, other books spawned from the nostalgic glow of the Borscht Belt, including the 2016 “Tales from a Catskill Mountain Plumber” and the 2023 “More Borscht From a Catskill Mountain Plumber,” both by Allen J. Frishman, “Borscht Belt Boy: Recollections of a Hotel Brat” by Mark Kramer, Marisa Scheinfeld’s photographic treasure trove, “The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America’s Jewish Vacationland,” originally published in 2016, and Alvin L. Lesser’s “Memories of the Catskills: The Making of a Hotel,” published in 2013.

But Sullivan County history is much more than just the Borscht Belt, and there are plenty of other local history books to look for, many of which can be obtained at local stores, such as the Kristt Company in Monticello, Canal Towne Emporium in Wurtsboro, Time & the Valleys Museum in Grahamsville, and the Sullivan County Historical Society Gift Shop in Hurleyville.

There are a number of very well done photographic histories published by Arcadia Press about local communities, such as Monika A. Roosa’s “Mamakating” (2007), Rita J. Sheehan’s “Bethel” (2009), Tom Rue’s “Monticello” (2010), and Carol Gridley Smythe’s “Around Neversink” (2014). Each provides a unique historical insight into their particular locale through hundreds of photos.

Also look for titles such as Ross Padluck’s “Catskill Resorts: Lost Architecture of Paradise,” Lynda Lee Macken’s “Catskill Ghosts: History & Hauntings in the Catskill Mountain Region,” David M. Gold’s “Judge Cooke: Sullivan County’s Most Eminent Jurist,” and this columnist’s “In Further Retrospect.” You’ll be glad you did, and those on the receiving end of your gift-giving will be even more so.

Happy Holidays!

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian and a founder and president of The Delaware Company. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com.  

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