Fran Capo - New York Myths and Legends: The True Stories behind Historys Mysteries

PETER M. BUDRAITIS

Fran Capo is a comedienne, actress, author of twenty books, adventurer, motivational speaker, consultant, spokesperson, and six-time record holder in the Guinness Book of World Records as the worlds fastest talking woman, clocked at 603.32 words per minutethats eleven words per second! Her other world records include a book signing down by the wreck site of the Titanic, and one on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Fran has appeared on over 450 TV shows and 4,500 radio shows including her most recent appearances on The Morning Show on 7 (Australian TV), Entertainment Tonight, Fox and Friends, The Dr. Oz Show, Good Morning America, and Nickelodeon. Shes done peak performance training for Fortune 500 companies, the military, schools, churches, fundraisers, and private functions on every continent (including Antarctica) teaching people in a down-to-earth, humorous way How to Have a World Record Mindset and live a life full of passion, humor, and creativity. Her book Hopeville: The City of Light hit #11 on Amazon and unlocks the forty-four secrets to happiness. Her one-woman show, Love, Laughter, and Light, is based on these secrets. Fran has appeared on the cover of Influential People Magazine and in Womans Day magazine.

Currently, Fran is the radio host of Frans World on WestchesterTalkRadio, the TV adventure correspondent on Live it Up! with Donna Drake, and blogs for TravelingMom. She produces sold-out comedy events, and has appeared in multiple award-winning films, including Father and Father.

Fran is happily married to Steve, whom she had brought to the altar in handcuffs. She has one son, Spencer, a future daughter-in-law, Heather, and a stepdaughter, Jamie, as well as three cats and a sometimes live-in dog, Ruby.

Fran believes nothing is impossible and lives life to the fullest. Follow Fran on social media, or check out www.francapo.com.

N ew York Myths and Legends is the second edition of my original book, Myths and Mysteries of New York, making this my twentieth book! Yes, Ive been quite a busy writer and loving it. The first edition of Myths and Mysteries of New York was my fifteenth book, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people help along the way. In this second edition Id like to thank R. Marchan from the Lower Hudson Valley Paper for giving me a heads up that the Leathermans gravesite had been moved. Id also like to Craig Morrison of Historical Significant Structures, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that now is in charge of Execution Rock Island. Craig gave me the photo for the chapter, and since it was past the overnight season to stay there, he got me in touch with Linda Dianto, director of the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island. They had one more haunted boat tour going out this season past Execution Rock, but unfortunately I got a stand up gig that night so I was unable to go, but for those who ever are interested you can get some really cool facts from them. (By the way, both places could use donations, so if you like visiting places like these please consider going on tours with them or donating to their cause!) I also like to thank Tom Renner, who arranged for a sailboat for me to go out to Execution Island, in case I wasnt able to get a photo another way!

As for the Stone Chambers chapter (14), Id like to thank my two neighbors Ellen and Artie (who I call Barry) Gershman for introducing me to Polly Midgley, coordinator of NEARA.org (the New England Antiquities Research Association) that finances several scientific studies on the chambers and gave me an great interview and other names of people to contact to verify information.

Thanks also to my wonderful friend and housekeeper, Justina Cuomo, who without her my house would not have been kept clean while I spent endless hours working on this book.

Thanks to Courtney Oppel, my wonderful editor, for reaching out to me and asking if Id be interested in doing a second edition, to which I responded, YES!!!but I need more money! LOL. (Obviously we worked out a deal or you wouldnt be holding this book in your hands!)

As for my first edition published back in 2011, those acknowledgments still stand and they were:

First to Meredith Rufino of Globe Pequotthank you for asking me to work on this fascinating series, for giving your great input, and for editing skills that made me look good once again. Thanks also to my first edition project editor, Meredith Dias, for working on the final manuscript.

Next up, my darling son, Spencer (yes, I said darling), who still lets me read each chapter to him as I finish it, then promptly calls his friends (and now also his fiance, Heather) and says, Hey, we gotta check out this place that my mom just wrote about! Now that is loyalty! Also thanks to him for taking pictures of the alligators, the Dakota, and for exploring the Leather Mans cave with me.

Then there is Steve, who was my boyfriend of eleven years when I wrote the first edition and now is my husband, (We finally figured after sixteen years we knew each other well enough to tie the knot.) Although he still complains that my writing takes me away from our together time, he is always the first to buy my books and give them as gifts to his clientsand he not only gave me the idea to do the chapters on Hell Gate and Typhoid Mary but also took me on his boat to photograph the places. We went through treacherous waters, circled islands, and almost had the Coast Guard chase us away, but all in the name of research! This time around with my second edition, he came with me to photograph the Leathermans new gravesite, despite a torrential downpour in the cemetery. (I think it was the Leatherman saying, Will people ever leave me alone!)

A very special thanks to my dear friend and then-assistant, Dale Kilian, who was my right-hand man on the field runs, taking photos and flips, setting up interviews with the experts, protecting me from ghosts, and doing the maps. I also appreciate that he always cheered me on as I approached a deadline. Youre one of a kind! (And still a cheerleader in my life!)

Thanks to all the librarians, historical societies, and docents who helped, especially docent Joanne Kessler from Skene Manor, who let me use my flip camera (those were big back then) to record the entire story of the ghost hostess. Thanks also to Donald Fiorino, Dottie Hart, and Kay Styles. Special thanks to Travis Greenlee, Ellen Easton, Richie Magic (RIP) Gemini, George Bettinger (RIP) Al Cole, Art Noble, Donna Drake from Live it Up! TV, Kim Orlando, and Nancy Lombardo for enthusiastically promoting my work.

Thanks to comic Max Dolcelli for telling me about McGurks Suicide Hall.

And to my now step-daughter, Jamie Davis, who at midnight in a kitchen said, You have to include a chapter about Buckout Road!

Finally, thanks to you, the readers. Its your enthusiasm and quest for information that keeps me writing and employed, not to mention buying my books that caused it to go into a second edition!) As always, if you like the book, please buy more, spread the word on ALL forms of social media, create a viral meme, hold a banner, give them as gifts, tell your friends, your family, your Facebook buddies, the FedEx manjust let them know its out there, or send them to my website, www.francapo.com. Id truly appreciate it and so would my publisher.

Alligator Found in Uptown Sewer. New York Times