Patrick Brennan pens Perry’s official book

An early reader and a writer of short stories from age 9, Patrick E. Brennan graduated from Perry Central High School in 1977. He earned a BA in mass communication from St. Bonaventure University. As a college student, Patrick was a Perry photo journalist for The Buffalo News, covering civil and police matters. He was also a local raceway photographer.

After college, Patrick spent 10 years in newspaper and magazine editorial work before entering the field of corporate communications for 24 years with GE. He and his wife, Diane, have two children and live in Stratford, CT.

The fictional story Henry Loves Hills is loosely based on actual events in Perry during the historic and horrendous Blizzard of ’77 that struck Western New York. Patrick was a Perry vocational school student at the time, studying photo-lithography at BOCES in nearby Mount Morris. The "return to Perry" sequence in the book is based on the actual return trip to Perry the day the storm hit.

The reference in the story to “Driver Ed” is in fond remembrance of the late community-minded role model Edwin A. Wojtowicz, who operated the Henry L. Hill Inc. bus company for 41 years and never missed a day of work. He was known as "Mr. Ed the Busman" to kids for over 40 years. This book is dedicated in his memory.