Fleischmanns Reaches Literary Fame with Joyce Wadler's New Book - Audience Attends Reading At Skene Memorial Library

Joyce Wadler invites historian John Duda to help answer specific questions on Fleischmanns history during her book reading at Skene Memorial Library.

Joyce Wadler hosted a book reading and signing of her new publication, The Satyr in Bungalow D, at the Skene Memorial Library in Fleischmanns on July 26.

By Mary A. Crisafulli

FLEISCHMANNS - Joyce Wadler walked through Fleischmanns' history in preparation for her book The Satyr In Bungalow D. The book is set amongst the village's hillsides, Main Street, and many hotels in 1963. Her main character, a young satyr, half-goat, half-human man, comes of age and promptly roams the streets of Fleischmanns in search of love.

A reading on July 26 at the Skene Memorial Library was well attended. "In a way, this book is as much a memoir, if you can accept me as a 17-year-old boy with horns," Wadler said to attendees, "A lot of what I saw growing up in Fleischmanns came into this book."

Wadler, having been raised in Halcott and Pine Hill, has strong family ties to the region. Her grandmother once operated the Maplewood House, a small hotel in Halcott Center. The property was originally purchased by her grandfather, Jake Wadler, around the start of WWI, when it was a dairy farm. With a birthday in the 1940s, Wadler said most of her memories of the area date back to the 1950s and 1960s.

"Although the characters are fantasy," Wadler said, "The area is as real as I could make it."

The bakery on Fleischmanns Main Street, where readers will see the main character, Danny, visit, was once owned by Wadler's own grandmother. "He is going to buy pastry, and he is going to get them from my grandmother," Wadler noted in the storyline. She added that Nymphs love pastry and shiny things, another mythical creature featured in the book.

Other sights include the St. Regious Hotel in Highmount, of which nothing remains now. Prominent families are also historically accurate, including the Galli-Curci and Dibenedetto families.

Wadler was assisted by local historian John Duda, who helped during the research phase of writing. Several long-time residents of Fleishmanns were present and engaged in historical discussions with Wadler and Duda following the reading. One question line involved the transport of milk during the 60s.

After an engaging Q&A, Wadler signed copies of the book. The book is available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For more information on Wadler and her writings, visit joycewadler.com.