PRESS RELEASE

June 18, 2010

James Mauro to Read & Sign Books in Southold

SOUTHOLD, NY.  James Mauro, author of the new work, TWILIGHT AT THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World’s Fair on the Brink of War, will give a reading of his new book as well as sign copies, on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010.  This event will take place at 7pm at the Southold Presbyterian Church, located on Main Road in Southold, NY.  Reservations are strongly suggested and can be made by calling the Southold Historical Society at (631) 765-5500.

The Author, James Mauro, is a former editor of Spy magazine and executive editor of Cosmopolitan.  Most recently he was editorial director for Moffly Media, publishers of the Connecticut periodicals Greenwich, Stamford, Westport, New Canaan Darien, and AtHome.  His writing has been featured in Radar, Details, Spy, Psychology Today, and a host of other publications.  He lives in Connecticut, where he is at work on his next book.

The summer of 1939 was an epic turning point for America.  It marked a brief window between the Great Depression and World War II, a final season of unbridled hope for peace and prosperity before the Nazis invaded Poland.  And nothing would come to symbolize the dramatic transition from acute optimism to fear and dread more than the 1939 New York World’s Fair—vividly captured by James Mauro in his richly researched and eminently readable TWILIGHT AT THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World’s Fair on the Brink of War (Ballantine Hardcover; June 22, 2010).    A glorious vision of the future, the “World of Tomorrow,” as it was called, was literally a dream city built upon a garbage dump in Flushing Meadows—the infamous ash heaps memorialized in The Great Gatsby.  With 62 nations participating, the Fair featured astonishing and wondrous exhibits and architecture—from the unforgettable symbols of the Trylon and Perisphere to GM’s wildly popular Futurama (an aerial vision of what the 1960s would look like that gave visitors the experience of flying).

As it turned out, the Fair’s lofty dreams would come crashing down to earth in just two brief years.  From its initial opening on a stormy spring day, everything that could go wrong did: power failures, bomb threats, freakish weather that kept attendance unusually low.  During the second summer, in a chilling preview of things to come, terrorism would arrive in New York—and at the grounds of the World’s Fair.  Yet behind this tragic tableau is a story as incredible as it is inspiring.

With a colorful cast of supporting characters, including Albert Einstein, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Robert Moses, and FDR, TWILIGHT AT THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is nonfiction at its finest—a gripping, true-life drama that not only illuminates a forgotten episode of the nation’s past but also shines a probing light upon its present and future.

Praise for TWILIGHT AT THE WORLD OF TOMORROW:

“Delightful … Recounting the exposition’s wonders and woes, former Cosmopolitan executive editor Mauro spices his story with tales of visiting presidents, kings, queens, politicians, sports heroes and movie stars.  He wonderfully elaborates on the fair’s movers and shakers … demonstrating how real-world events intruded upon the fair’s assertions of sweetness and light.”

—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

 “Mauro, a former editor of Spy magazine, artfully explains how a mountain of garbage in a desolate area of New York City was transformed into the site of the 1939 World's Fair in spite of the plagues of extreme weather, cost overruns, missed deadlines, labor union problems, and even sabotage, not to mention the looming threat of war. … Enriched by many firsthand reminiscences, this rousingly good story about the origins and aftermath of the 1939 World’s Fair will delight students of American cultural history.  Highly recommended.”

—Library Journal

“James Mauro has given us a fascinating snapshot of a poignant time, a world on the brink, filled with both hope and sorrow.”

—Kevin Baker, author of Striver’s Row

“James Mauro tells fascinating stories in his incredible account of how a World War eclipsed a World’s Fair. It's got a colorful cast of thousands, including Einstein, FDR, La Guardia, Mussolini and Elsie the Cow, but the guy who steals the show is the fair's president, Grover Whalen, a great and unforgettable American hustler.”

—Peter Carlson, author of K Blows Top

For further infromation please contact the Society at (631) 765-5500