Multi-hyphenate Mark Lavorato draws on his skill as a novelist, composer, and photographer in this collection, rewarding readers with poignant, emotionally-genuine vignettes. The author composed much of the collection over the course of a thousand kilometre trek, the experience of which he channels through `on the trail' verse. The exotic locales he has experienced colour some part of the freshness of the imagery throughout, while his interpretations of our history, and our struggles, infuse the diction with clarity and immediacy.

"Believing Cedric is a marvelously strange novel that explores a marvelously normal phenomenon: everyone in our lives has a story. Mark Lavorato writes with great humanity, compassion and curiosity." --Todd Babiak, author of Toby: A Man Cedric Johnson is a middle-aged insurance broker with an unusual problem. He seems to be physically flashing back to pivotal moments from his past. It begins when his third-grade teacher notices a startling awareness in an otherwise unremarkable boy. Next, Cedric inhabits his fourteen-year-old body. He continues to travel through the life he's already lived, issuing warnings and searching for answers. But why should anyone believe him? Cedric's journeys through time bring him face to face with forgotten memories, heartbreaking loss, the possibilities of love, and the agony of a life of regret. Cedric incenses and inspires the people around him, and changes the landscapes of their lives.

Multi-hyphenate Mark Lavorato draws on his skill as a novelist, composer, and photographer in this collection, rewarding readers with poignant, emotionally-genuine vignettes. The author composed much of the collection over the course of a thousand kilometre trek, the experience of which he channels through on the trail' verse. The exotic locales he has experienced colour some part of the freshness of the imagery throughout, while his interpretations of our history, and our struggles, infuse the diction with clarity and immediacy.

From one of Canada’s brightest emerging writers comes an unforgettable tale of love, art, and life. Set in the vividly imagined streets of 1920s Montreal, Serafim and Claire is the beautiful, moving, and compulsively readable story of two dreamers whose worlds become forever connected. Claire Audette is a dancer whose reputation in the vaudeville houses of 1920s Montreal is rapidly on the rise. Serafim Vieria is a photographer and lonely immigrant, wandering the streets of the same city haunted by memories of a lost love in his native Portugal. Around them, the Twenties are roaring, and the metropolis is simmering: corrupt politicians, the burgeoning of jazz, the emerging suffragette movement, trouble in the Red Light, fascism in the Italian community, with the English/French divide cleaving through it all. And as Serafim and Claire’s lives begin to intertwine, a dangerous plot forms that could boost both their fortunes. Can their naïve yet cunning plan succeed? Can they make their own luck? And, if they fail, what will become of their budding love? Serafim and Claire is the unforgettable story of two idealistic yet flawed dreamers being drawn together, and of the vibrant city and times in which they live. In lush and beautiful prose, Mark Lavorato brings an entire world vividly to life.

Volume contains: 235 NY 599 (Kings County Lighting Co. v. Newton)

This book is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe'en, how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days in the year,—such as May Day, Midsummer, and Christmas. The context is illustrated by selections from ancient and modern poetry and prose, related to Hallowe'en ideas. Those who wish suggestions for readings, recitations, plays, and parties, will find the lists in the appendix useful, in addition to the books on entertainments and games to be found in any public library. Special acknowledgment is made to Messrs. E. P. Dutton & Company for permission to use the poem entitled "Hallowe'en" from "The Spires of Oxford and Other Poems," by W. M. Letts; to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Company for the poem "Pomona," by William Morris; and to the Editors of The Independent for the use of five poems.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 swallowed up more than three square miles in two days, leaving thousands homeless and 300 dead. Throughout history, the fire has been attributed to Mrs. O'Leary, an immigrant Irish milkmaid, and her cow. On one level, the tale of Mrs. O'Leary's cow is merely the quintessential urban legend. But the story also represents a means by which the upper classes of Chicago could blame the fire's chaos on a member of the working poor. Although that fire destroyed the official county documents, some land tract records were saved. Using this and other primary source information, Richard F. Bales created a scale drawing that reconstructed the O'Leary neighborhood. Next he turned to the transcripts--more than 1,100 handwritten pages--from an investigation conducted by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners, which interviewed 50 people over the course of 12 days. The board's final report, published in the Chicago newspapers on December 12, 1871, indicates that commissioners were unable to determine the cause of the fire. And yet, by analyzing the 50 witnesses' testimonies, the author concludes that the commissioners could have determined the cause of the fire had they desired to do so. Being more concerned with saving their own reputation from post-fire reports of incompetence, drunkenness and bribery, the commissioners failed to press forward for an answer. The author has uncovered solid evidence as to what really caused the Great Chicago Fire.