JoePa, Smokin’ Joe and Titanic Victims and Survivors some of the highlights of Keystone Tombstones 3

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released the third volume of the Keystone Tombstone series by Joe Farrell and Joe Farley. The book relates interesting tales of famous people interred in Pennsylvania including the search to find their graves, most of which involved detours through local pubs and taverns.

The authors will be on hand for the Mechanicsburg Wine Walk at Sunbury Press’s bookstore at 50 W Main St. in Mechanicsburg on Saturday May 10th, 2014 from 2 to 6 PM. They will be signing copies of their books as the company also celebrates the release of volume three of this popular series.

Since the release of Volume One, Farrell and Farley have become mainstays on PCN, where segments based on their series have been aired.  The two have also appeared on numerous other television and radio stations and have been written about in dozens of newspapers.

About the book:
Joe Farrell and Joe Farley explore the cemeteries (and pubs) of Pennsylvania in search of interesting graves and stories about the interred.

Included in this volume:

• Nick ADAMS “Johnny Yuma Was a Rebel”
• Marian ANDERSON “A Voice Heard Once in a Hundred Years”
• “Babes in the Woods”
• John BARRYMORE “The Great Profile”
• Robert CASEY “The Three Time Loss from Holy Cross”
• Jimmy DORSEY “A Fabulous Dorsey”
• FLIGHT 93 Crash Site “40 Heroes”
• “Four Founders”
• “Fox and Cox”
• Joe William FRAZIER “Smokin’ Joe”
• Dave GARROWAY “The Communicator”
• Harry GREB “The Human Windmill”
• John Frederick HARTRANFT “Old Johnny”
• Robert (Bob) HESS “More than Just a Scientist”
• “The Kelayres Massacre”
• John MCDERMOTT “Golf’s Unknown Champion”
• Mary Pinchot MEYER “The Mysterious Case of Mary Pinchot Meyer”
• Joe PATERNO “JoePa”
• Teddy PENDERGRASS “Life Is a Song Worth Singing”
• Molly PITCHER “From Molly Pitcher to Black Hawk Down”
• Art ROONEY “The Chief”
• Lillian RUSSELL “The Great American Beauty”
• Arlen SPECTER “The Single Bullet Theory Senator”
• ”Titanic Victims and Survivors”
• Willie THROWER “Football’s Jackie Robinson”
• “Pirates’ Pride”
• John UPDIKE “One of America’s Best”
• Grover WASHINGTON, Jr. “The Smooth Jazzman”
• Anthony WAYNE “Mad Anthony”
• Unusual Tombstones

Keystone Tombstones Volume Three: Famous Graves Found in Pennsylvania

Authored by Joe Farrell, Authored by Joe Farley

List Price: $19.95
8″ x 10″ (20.32 x 25.4 cm)
Black & White on White paper
190 pages
Sunbury Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1620063613
ISBN-10: 1620063611
BISAC: History / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic

For more information about the book, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Keystone-Tombstones-Volu…

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Dysfunctional Kansas family battles it out in April Knight thriller “Nobody Dies in Kansas”

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Sunbury Press has released April Knight’s psychological thriller Nobody Dies in Kansas.

Excerpt:
“Mother,” Linda asked. “Is something bad going to happen?”

“Something bad always happens,” she answered without turning around. She wiped the kitchen counter with a dirty dishrag and hung it up to dry.

“I mean, is something bad going to happen to us?” Linda asked.

Mother turned around and looked at her daughter with annoyance.

“Have you done something that is going to embarrass and humiliate me? Like the time you picked flowers out of the churchyard?” Mother put her hands on her hips.

“No, I haven’t done anything and I didn’t know I couldn’t pick the flowers. I thought since they were growing in the churchyard they belonged to God and it was OK to pick them because God has lots of flowers,” Linda explained again. She’d been explaining ever since she’d picked the flowers two years ago when she was six.

“Well, to answer your question, yes, I’m sure something bad will happen to us. I’m a very unlucky woman,” Mother said.

“Do you think something bad is going to happen to me, too?” Linda asked.

“Yes, lots of bad things are going to happen to you,” Mother said. “You are an unlucky girl, you aren’t smart, and you aren’t pretty so you will always have bad luck.”

She knew something bad was going to happen. She thought about what Mother had said: she was going to die, she was going to be kidnapped and cut up and thrown into the river.

She wondered who she’d miss after she was gone and decided there wasn’t anybody. Nobody liked her at school, nobody liked her at home. No, she wouldn’t miss anybody and nobody would miss her, not even Sue. Maybe Mother wouldn’t even notice she was gone. Maybe she’d be gone for a month before Mother missed her.

It would be nice if somebody missed her. It would be nice if somebody cried because she was gone forever. She couldn’t think of anybody who would cry.

Thinking about it made her cry for herself.

About the Book:

Linda Davison is tall, beautiful, powerful, and strong enough to escape from dangerous snares and defeat evil monsters … in her dreams. The eight-year-old Kansan dreams of someday becoming just like her silver screen heroine, Tandaleah, Fire Goddess of the Volcano—a gorgeous conqueror of the jungle and its many pitfalls and villains. In her real life, however, Linda is what her mother tells her she is: skinny, scrawny, scraggly, and scared—not at all like the queen of the jungle.

Lenora Davison is cursed with a pitiful wretch of a daughter and a disgustingly vulgar husband, the two of them good for nothing but maintaining the illusion that she is the ideal wife and mother, deserving of so much more than she’s been so unfairly dealt. If only she could run away from dull Kansas and the monotony of her domestic life … maybe even find a new man, perhaps …

Dave Davison has successfully spent most of his life cruising along, not making waves, flying under the radar. Just the way his family expects. His one mistake—marrying his cold, selfish wife—however, has slowly snowballed over the years, resulting in an unwanted child, a hateful marriage, and a general sense of not having met his full potential.

The Davisons take steps toward their ideal lives and away from each other in this psychologically demented family story. Only one Davison will achieve their goal—who will it be … and will the adage ring true that “Nobody dies in Kansas”?

About the Author:
April Knight decided at the age of nine she would be a writer and live on the crater rim of a volcano and be called Tandaleah, Fire Goddess of the Volcano. At the age of thirteen she sold her first story to anational magazine and her first book became a best seller. She moved to Hawaii and lived near the Kilauea volcano but failed to become Tandaleah the Fire Goddess.

April has been a missionary in New Mexico, a barrel racer in rodeos in Colorado, panned for gold in the Yukon and has ridden camels in the outback in Australia. She is currently living a nice quiet, respectable life in Seattle where she writes about blood awful murder.

Nobody Dies in Kansas

Authored by April Knight

List Price: $16.95
5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White on White paper
288 pages
Sunbury Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1620063996
ISBN-10: 1620063999
BISAC: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense

Also available on Kindle and Nook

For more information, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Nobody-Dies-in-Kansas-97…

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High school senior discovers his mystical powers in Robin Donaruma novel

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released Robin Donaruma’s visionary fiction novel The Undecided.

Excerpt:
“There was a lot that I still wasn’t sure of, but there were three things that I would bet my life on. One, the darkness had finally found me. Two, the war between the dark and the light had begun, and three, the leader of the Dark Army just moved in next door.”

About the Book:
On his 18th birthday, high school senior, Lucas Aarons, is told that he is the leader of the White Army. He thinks it’s a joke until the powers of evil begin to haunt his dreams, forcing him to wake up and fight for those he loves and all that he knows is right. The white birthmark that encircles his wrist begins to glow. It’s getting more and more difficult to fly under the social radar. School becomes a gauntlet of black, white and the coasting “greys” who have yet to choose. Music moves from a passionate hobby to a calling and a mission. A class is no longer just a class. A date is no longer just a date, and the stakes are raised to a whole new level.

About the Author:

Robin Donaruma was born in Virginia and raised in Texas where she lived life in the 70’s to her fullest.  At the ripe age of nine she relocated to Florida, where she remained for many hot, hair curling years.  She obtained a degree from Florida State University and the University of Central Florida after which she secured a position with the Backlot Production Unit at Universal Studios Florida where she remained until opting out for motherhood.

Robin has written several award winning short films including a musical short, Gotta Get Out recently showcased at the Cannes Short Film Corner and has authored an historical romance novel, Sweetest Confection.  Robin currently resides in South Bend, Indiana with her adoring husband, four children, two cats, and a turtle named George.

The Undecided

Authored by Robin Donaruma

List Price: $16.95
5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White on White paper
284 pages
Sunbury Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1620063965
ISBN-10: 1620063964
BISAC: Fiction / Visionary & Metaphysical

Also available on Kindle and Nook

For more information, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/The-Undecided-9781620063…

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Masonic contributions at Gettysburg recounted by Sheldon Munn

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released Sheldon Munn’s history Freemasons at Gettysburg“

About the Book:
Although it has been traced to the 10th Century, BC, history indicates that the fraternity of Freemasons was introduced into England in 926 AD. As an association that continues to thrive today, the brotherhood was confronted with a difficult conflict when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Freemasons, both northern and southern, were forced to choose a side and go against the very foundation of the society of Freemasonry.

Written as a tribute to the Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial, “Freemasons at Gettysburg” documents the presence of over 50 Masons at the Battle of Gettysburg. Despite all of their differences, Masons continued to practice their principles of brotherly love and good will on the battlefield, thus proving that the men who joined under the order would not, under any circumstances, sever their bonds of Masonic unity.

About the Author:
Sheldon Munn is the owner of a retail jewelry shop in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania. He was born on July 14th, 1939, at Plymouth, New Hampshire, to LaVerne Howard Munn and Dorothy Baird Munn.

He attended Selinsgrove High School and Susquehanna University. His career has led him through nearly twenty-five years in the food service industry. Most recently, he was the co-founder and owner of a chain of family style restaurants in the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area. Following his career in food service, he opened a jewelry store in Lemoyne.

Sheldon is a member of the West Shore Rotary Club and served as its president in 1988-89. He is the past Chairman of the Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC-USA), where he served more than six years.

His interest in history started at an early age. He recalls his family taking him on a tour of the battlefield at Gettysburg when he was eight years old. Later, he studied the Civil War and has been a life-long student of it. He became a National Park Service volunteer and a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg.

He is a twenty-five year member of the Lafayette Masonic Lodge in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg Consistory and Zembo Shrine.

Sheldon is also a member of the Harrisburg Civil War Roundtable and has spoken at many high schools, service clubs, and Masonic Lodges.

He and his wife, Carolee, are the parents of four daughters and a son.

Freemasons at Gettysburg

Authored by Sheldon A. Munn

List Price: $14.95
5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White on White paper
142 pages
Sunbury Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1620064023
ISBN-10: 1620064022
BISAC: History / United States / Civil War Period

For more information, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Freemasons-at-Gettysburg…

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“Call Sign Dracula” flies to the front… Sunbury’s bestellers for March

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Call Sign Dracula: My Tour with the Black Scarves: April 1969 to March 1970, Joe Fair’s Vietnam memoir of his service in the Big Red One, ranked #1 due to author activities in Kentucky. Joe has received a lot of publicity for his book, and is preparing for several large reunions.

About Call Sign Dracula:

Call Sign Dracula provides an outstanding, valuable and worthy in-depth look into the life of a US Army Infantry soldier serving with the famed 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) in Vietnam.  It is a genuine, firsthand account of a one-year tour that shows how a soldier grew and matured from an awkward, bewildered, inexperienced, eighteen year-old country “bumpkin” from Kentucky, to a tough, battle hardened, fighting soldier.

You will laugh, cry and stand in awe at the true life experiences shared in this memoir.  The awfulness of battle, fear beyond description, the sorrow and anguish of losing friends, extreme weariness, the dealing with the scalding sun, torrential rain, cold, heat, humidity, insects and the daily effort just to maintain sanity were struggles faced virtually every day.  And yet, there were the good times. There was the coming together to laugh, joke, and share stories from home. There was the warmth and compassion shown by men to each other in such an unreal environment.   You will see where color, race or where you were from had no bearing on the tight-knit group of young men that was formed from the necessity to survive.  What a “bunch” they were!

… then the return to home and all the adjustments and struggles to once again fit into a world that was now strange and uncomfortable.

Call Sign Dracula is an excellent and genuine memoir of an infantry soldier in the Vietnam War.

Sales at Sunbury Press roared back in March, topping all other non-Christmas months in the history of the company. It was by far the best March on record, and helped the company close a solid first quarter, up 8.5% from 2013.

Robert Walton’s novel Fatal Snow debuted at #2, thanks to the First Friday book signing event at the Sunbury Press store and the author’s end cap display of books at his Bob’s Bagels store.

Alan Mindell’s baseball love story, The Closer, held onto #3.

Mike Campbell’s Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last returned to the top 10 at #4 thanks to strong sales across the globe.

Terry Ray’s “The Crossers” series grabbed spots 5 through 8 thanks to author activities. More copies were sold of volume 1 The Man in the Mountain, than the others: volume 2 The Circle, volume 3Crossing the Valley and volume 4 Path to Armageddon. Terry’s science fiction novel about aliens battling over control of Earth, GXM731, finished the top 10.

The Sign of the Eagle by Jess Stephen Hughes, last months #1, slipped to #9.

Following are the top overall print sellers by category:
History / Memoir – Call Sign Dracula by Joe Fair
Fiction  – Fatal Snow by Robert Walton
Horror/Mystery – Fatal Snow by Robert Walton
Children/YA – Dinorific Poetry #1 by Mike & Ethan Sgrignoli
The Arts – Contemporary Photo Impressionists by T K McCoy
Self-Help – What to Do about Mama? by Barbs Matthew & Blank
Metaphysical/Spiritual – Jesus the Phoenician by Karim El Koussa
Reference – Education Behind Bars by Christopher Zoukis

The company released seven new titles during the month of March:
The Machine by Horace Taylor, Return to Red Lodge by R. C. Reynolds, Bravo! by Guy Graybill,  Jesus Runs Away by Joe Farrell, Call Sign Dracula by Joe Fair, The Bear by Wnedy Latty and The Bronze Dagger by Marie Sontag.

For a list of Sunbury’s all-time best-sellers, please see the Sunbury Press web site:

http://www.sunburypressstore.com/BESTSELLERS_c3.htm

For a complete list of recent and upcoming releases, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/COMING-SOON_c47.htm

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Sunbury Press begins its 10th Anniversary celebration

This is the first of a series of articles honoring the 10th anniversary of Sunbury Press, Inc., the trade publisher. This article recounts the year 2004, the year of the founding.

MECHANICSBURG, PA — Ten years ago today, April 1, 2004, Sunbury Press was incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania.  The founder, Lawrence Knorr, initially intended to reprint some family histories he had written, but did not want to pay someone else to do so.  Like many entrepreneurs, he had no idea what all he was getting into, or where his little idea would lead.  Within a few months, the first book, a 1787 page three-volume set, 71 Years of Marriage : The Ancestors, Descendants and Relations of George and Alice Knorr of Reading, PA, was published for the benefit of the extended Knorr family. The first sale was recorded on September 15 to Cathy Krall, of Elizabethtown, PA.  It was one of 24 orders to be placed through the end of the year.  A second book, The Relations of Milton Snavely Hershey, 1st Edition, was published that month.  By the end of the year, the Hershey book sold more copies, outselling the Knorr book 13 to 12.  However, due to the size and price of the 3 volume Knorr set, revenue from it more than doubled the Hershey book.  Regardless, total sales fell just shy of $1000, and the company recorded a $54 loss.

In honor of this first sale in September of 2004, Sunbury Press will be announcing events for the month of September 2014.  Stay tuned.

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