Richard Figiel writes about history and preservation and the ways the past weaves around and through the world around us. His latest books—The Great Genesee Road and A Road Through Time—take readers on journeys down the first roads to penetrate into the wilds of New York State, from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and from Manhattan to the Adirondacks, exploring centuries of stories and artifacts along the way. He has walked, biked, and driven the length of State Routes 5 and 9. the Genesee Road and Albany Turnpike, teasing out the original routes followed by Native-American paths, from old maps. Hundreds of photographs, old and new, chronicle the expansion of a young country, from abandoned fieldstone farmhouses to opulent mansions and the iconic skyscrapers of Albany and Manhattan. In his ‘alternate life’ Richard Figiel spent 30 years making wine at his vineyard on Seneca Lake, writing the 300-year history of wine in New York for his book Circle of Vines, and collaborating on The Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America.
