The Schenectadians

About the Book

A young, idealistic minister, and a stonecutter’s son, two men merged in destiny.

The former - driven by the abuses of a new industrial age at the turn of the century - from the pulpit to founding a crusading newspaper, election as the first Socialist mayor in New York State, then Democrat congressman, lieutenant governor and to the threshold of the presidency.

The latter from the mats of a local college and sawdust of the carnival to two world wrestling championships, a hometown hero and, for a third of a century, an area’s “Mr. Democrat.”

A story of two men - a father and son-in-law - and a city, but more so a story of family, its joys in success, its heartbreaks in loss. A readable episode in a city’s history, but more so an inspiration to sons and daughters everywhere.

George R. Lunn urged more biographies and autobiographies, “. . . for in them we touch life in a peculiar and intimate way . . . We find history, we find philosophy, we find religion . . . We are touching life in its most vital reality, and where can we find greater wisdom than by reading the actual conflicts of men and women in this workaday world?”

About the Author

George Richard Lunn Gardner was born and raised in Schenectady, N.Y., and graduated the University of Rochester in 1961. He was a newspaper reporter and editor for 16 years before settling in Southern Vermont and St. Augustine, Florida as a Realtor. George and his wife, Sally, have three grown children.