Bistro Bookers
You MUST reserve your seat by 3pm on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025 for this event by calling 716-636-3051 and providing your name and phone number. If you call to reserve for more than one person you must provide each person's name and phone number.
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 16 2025 @ 4:00 PM
Venue: Audubon Senior Center
370 John James Audubon Parkway
Amherst NY 14228
Books will be for sale for $20 flat. Cash, Venmo, check or Square (credit card).
* Suggested donation of $2 per person is greatly appreciated. Your donation helps Bistro Bookers to continue to hold these reviews and donate back to our community literacy programs. Your donation allows us to purchase the reviewers book if necessary and give them a gift for their time.*
Book Title: Emerald Thread: The Irish in Buffalo
Author: Tim Bohen
Discussed by: Tim Bohen
Book Summary:
Emerald Thread tells the story of the Irish in Buffalo, beginning with some of the poorest, most wretched immigrants to wash up on American shores. Despite fierce bigotry from Buffalo’s Protestant establishment, they continued emigrating from Ireland to make Western New York their home. Within a few generations, these hardworking, determined immigrants, many of whom settled in the Canal District, First Ward, and South Buffalo, transformed the city and staked their claim to the American Dream.
From Buffalo’s earliest days, Samuel Wilkeson and the Irish Erie Canal diggers shaped the city, and Bishop John Timon and the Sisters of Charity uplifted its residents. Other Buffalo Irish men and women who made an impact on the city and nation include Mayor Jimmy Griffin, Congressman Brian Higgins, and Governor Kathy Hochul; journalists Tim Russert and Margaret Sullivan; controversial industrialist “Fingy” Conners; military heroes General “Wild Bill” Donovan (architect of the CIA) and Rear Admiral C. Wade McCluskey; entertainer Chauncey Olcott (“When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”); and NHL star Patrick Kane. Non-native Buffalonians connected to the Queen City are also profiled, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, architect Louis Sullivan, US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Buffalo Bills legend Jim Kelly.
Upcoming Bistro Bookers events:
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 @ 4 pm- Book Titled "Holotrial" written by Alan Wishnoff and reviewed by Alan Wishnoff
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 @ 4 pm- Book Titled “Paradise Falls: The True Story about an Environmental Disaster (Love Canal)”written by Keith O’Brien reviewed by Luella Kenny
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 @ 4 pm- Book Titled “All The Beauty I. The World: The Metropolitan Art Museum and Me” written by Patrick Brinkley reviewed by Robert Poczik