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An illuminating treat! Matthew Spady introduces a remarkable old New York enclave that once flourished beyond Manhattanville in Upper Manhattan, personifying a suburban allure that shaped the breadth of the burgeoning city. A work rich in vivid historical detail and anecdotal observation as it retraces the neighborhood's fascinating arc from remote woodland estate to the enduring Beaux Arts streetscape one still visits today.---Eric K. Washington, author of Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem As a historian, Matthew Spady is a superb tour guide--and vice versa. His vivid chronicle of the evolution of Audubon Park is confident and enlightening, a primer on how to excavate and assemble a portrait of a neighborhood. From Manhattan's vest pocket he plucks the tales of two extraordinary families -- the Audubons and Grinnells--and deftly weaves a thousand revealing threads into the grander tapestry that is New York.---John Taliaferro, author of Grinnell: America's Environmental Pioneer and His Restless Drive to Save the West Matthew Spady's deeply researched and well-written history of the origins and growth of what came to be known as Audubon Park sets a very high bar for historians and scholars. While it is a history of the place in northern Manhattan, Spady's work also comprises the first full account of the extended family of John James Audubon, whose lives were largely consumed by the work of their famous patriarch, and the first detailed account of how George Bird Grinnell, life-long friend of Audubon's wife, Lucy, influenced the later development of the property on which Audubon built his first and only family home overlooking the Hudson River in 1842. One of Mr. Spady's accomplishments as a writer is maintaining a neutral tone while developing his story that could easily lead one to quiet lamentation over the environmental costs of the decades of development. One of the great satisfactions readers of this work will enjoy is that the art of drawing insightful, helpful, and fair inferences from information others might overlook is apparent throughout.---Daniel Patterson, Emeritus Professor of English, Central Michigan University To restore the resonant history of a New York City urban legend, Matthew Spady peels back the layers of history in a labyrinthine odyssey: from the Eden-like Minnie's Land property of rock star artist-naturalist John James Audubon (1841) to the Upper West Side urban suburb of the Audubon Park Historic District (2009). Told by its resident keeper of the flame and founding director of the Audubon Park Alliance, this well-documented saga of demographics chronicles a dazzling cast of characters and a plot fraught with idealism, speculation, and expansion, as well as religious, political, and real estate machinations. In its pages the three L's--location, location, and location--are replaced with the three A's-- affordability, access to nature outside the city center, and advantageous transportation.---Roberta J.M. Olson, Ph.D., Curator of Drawings, New-York Historical Society Museum and Library, Professor Emerita of Art History, Wheaton College, Norton, MA

An illuminating treat! Matthew Spady introduces a remarkable old New York enclave that once flourished beyond Manhattanville in Upper Manhattan, personifying a suburban allure that shaped the breadth of the burgeoning city. A work rich in vivid historical detail and anecdotal observation as it retraces the neighborhood's fascinating arc from remote woodland estate to the enduring Beaux Arts streetscape one still visits today.---Eric K. Washington, author of Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem, As a historian, Matthew Spady is a superb tour guide--and vice versa. His vivid chronicle of the evolution of Audubon Park is confident and enlightening, a primer on how to excavate and assemble a portrait of a neighborhood. From Manhattan's vest pocket he plucks the tales of two extraordinary families -- the Audubons and Grinnells--and deftly weaves a thousand revealing threads into the grander tapestry that is New York.---John Taliaferro, author of Grinnell: America's Environmental Pioneer and His Restless Drive to Save the West, Matthew Spady's deeply researched and well-written history of the origins and growth of what came to be known as Audubon Park sets a very high bar for historians and scholars. While it is a history of the place in northern Manhattan, Spady's work also comprises the first full account of the extended family of John James Audubon, whose lives were largely consumed by the work of their famous patriarch, and the first detailed account of how George Bird Grinnell, life-long friend of Audubon's wife, Lucy, influenced the later development of the property on which Audubon built his first and only family home overlooking the Hudson River in 1842. One of Mr. Spady's accomplishments as a writer is maintaining a neutral tone while developing his story that could easily lead one to quiet lamentation over the environmental costs of the decades of development. One of the great satisfactions readers of this work will enjoy is that the art of drawing insightful, helpful, and fair inferences from information others might overlook is apparent throughout.---Daniel Patterson, Emeritus Professor of English, Central Michigan University, To restore the resonant history of a New York City urban legend, Matthew Spady peels back the layers of history in a labyrinthine odyssey: from the Eden-like Minnie's Land property of rock star artist-naturalist John James Audubon (1841) to the Upper West Side urban suburb of the Audubon Park Historic District (2009). Told by its resident keeper of the flame and founding director of the Audubon Park Alliance, this well-documented saga of demographics chronicles a dazzling cast of characters and a plot fraught with idealism, speculation, and expansion, as well as religious, political, and real estate machinations. In its pages the three L's--location, location, and location--are replaced with the three A's-- affordability, access to nature outside the city center, and advantageous transportation.---Roberta J.M. Olson, Ph.D., Curator of Drawings, New-York Historical Society Museum and Library, Professor Emerita of Art History, Wheaton College, Norton, MA,

Author Information

Matthew Spady is the creator of the virtual walking tour AudubonParkNY.com and curator for AudubonParkPerspectives.org, a news site that reflects on the constant intersection of past and present in a vibrant and historic neighborhood. He was a leader in the decade-long community effort that culminated in the Audubon Park Historic District.

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