Clam Diggahs--Seaford: Tales of a Town Gone By, A Long Island Memoir
by Frederick Schwicker, Sr.
"Fred is absolutely authentic. I call him the Grandma Moses of memoirs. I love the easy way he writes, but even more important is the Long Island he writes about: a place that has just about vanished and needs to be properly remembered."
--John Cole, founding editior of Maine Times
author of Life List: Remembering the Birds of My Years



PUBLICATION PARTY
AND BOOK SIGNING

  • Friday, July 18, 1 to 4 PM
  • Seaford Public Library

    • 2234 Jackson Avenue, Seaford

  • the public is cordially invited


    • Call (516) 221-1334 for info

    back to Clam Diggahs
    visit Soleil Lifestory Network





    Fred Schwicker grew up in Seaford, New York and lived there until 1966 when he and his family moved to Mattituck.

    Fred worked in heavy construction (roads and bridges) in New York, New Jersey and New England.

    He and his wife Pat and their six children moved to Maine in 1983.

    A nature lover and a hand carver of shore birds since the age of 12, Fred lives and writes in Lisbon Falls, Maine.




    Nelson Verity, well-known gunner & guide





    "Middle Ground"
    copyright © Fred Schwicker, Sr. 2003



    ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY
    $20 | $25 post paid
    (ME residents add $1 sales tax)
    207-353-4711 | 132 SUMMER STREET
    LISBON FALLS, ME 04252




    YMIC Hall, Seaford

    Long Island Memoir: First-time Author Writes about Seaford


    Fred Schwicker grew up in Seaford and he remembers a town--and the characters who peopled it--that doesn't exist anymore. That's why he sub-titled his book, Tales of a Town Gone By. A road construction worker who moved to Maine in 1983, Schwicker took his memories with him. When he retired, he began to write them down. A life-long storyteller like his mother before him, he wrote Clam Diggahs--Seaford: Tales of a Town Gone By, A Long Island Memoir, which features period photographs and stories of life in Seaford before and just after the Second World War.

    The town boundaries have changed, the "new" Grammar School has built sixty-plus years ago, and the pond at Willow Dairy has been the site of Seaford High School for a long time. But Schwicker's stories, told with an unspoiled local accent and a natural gift for the humorous, bring them all to life: Uncle Pomp and Diddy; Old Nelson Verity, the gunner; Bill Schuster and his party boat; Mart Haff the "hoss trader;" Pop Cozine; Miss Chupil; the ORANS, and more.

    On Friday, July 18, from 1 to 4 PM, the public is cordially invited to meet the author and celebrate with him at a reception hosted by the Seaford Public Library, 2234 Jackson Avenue, Seaford. The author will be signing copies and refreshments will be served. Mr. Schwicker will also be attending the Seaford High School Reunion on July 19.

    Clam Diggahs, which is Mr. Schwicker's first book, is a publication of Soleil Press of Lisbon Falls, Maine. Dedicated to helping people to "turn memories into memoirs," Soleil is the publishing arm of Soleil Lifestory Network directed by author Denis Ledoux's Turning Memories Into Memoirs, A Handbook for Writing Lifestories (Soleil Press, 2002) which has helped thousands of people to record their personal and family stories in writing.

    Still, says Ledoux, Fred Schwicker is unique. "Fred came to us with a completed manuscript and asked us to help him transform his work into the 'real' book he'd been dreaming of. Fred's voice is authentic an colorful. He tells some great stories! Like many people who commit themselves to writing about their past, Fred had a strong desire--a compulsion, really--to honor and preserve the lives of people he knew and a way of life that has all but vanished."

    Soleil Press, with a staff of five under Ledoux's direction, provides a full range of book services, including editing, writer coaching, book design, photo preparation and restoration and pre-press production.

    "We're very excited for Fred," says Ledoux. "His achievement proves that you don't have to be a professional writer to write a book your family will be proud of for generations. Clam Diggahs is a collection of stories that will remind readers everywhere of an era and a place that many of us hold in our hearts, no matter where we grew up."

    Copies of Schwicker's book, a 208-page soft cover with 50-plus historic photos, will be available July 18 at the Seaford Public Library as well as at the Reunion on July 19.

    For more information about Soleil editing and book services, please contact Soleil Lifestory Network, 1-888-80-STORY, or visit the web site at turningmemories.com. To order a copy of Clam Diggahs by mail, please call 207-353-4711, or write Clam Diggahs, 132 Summer Street, Lisbon Falls, Maine 04252.


    FOR INFO ABOUT MEMOIR WRITING

    BOOKS -- WORKSHOPS -- EDITING & BOOK PRODUCTION

    please visit
    www.turningmemories.com

    OR CALL 1-888-80-STORY



    Seaford School
    copyright © Fred Schwicker, Sr. 2003



    Miss Chupil