{"product_id":"the-first-ward-ii-richard-sullivan-9781478172932","title":"The First Ward II: Fingy Conners \u0026 The New Century","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Ultimate Anti-Hero Was In Fact An Actual Historic Figure: Fingy Conners. But a forgotten and discredited actual hero, James \"Big Ben\" Parker, is deprived his due. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAfrican American James \"Big Ben\" Parker\u003c\/b\u003e stood in line to meet \u003cb\u003ePresident William McKinley\u003c\/b\u003e, unknowingly waiting directly behind McKinley's assassin \u003cb\u003eLeon Czolgosz.\u003c\/b\u003e Parker jumped on\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eCzolgosz, driving him to the ground and helping disarm him before the President's secret service detail could react. Praised initially, within days his story has been re-written to remove him totally from his valorous interception.\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBased on the lives and histories of the actual real-life characters, THE FIRST WARD saga continues in Volume 2 with the turn of the century story of infamous millionaire saloon-boss murderer \u003cb\u003eFingy Conners\u003c\/b\u003e and the \u003cb\u003eSullivan Brothers\u003c\/b\u003e. Their lives being hopelessly intermingled both genetically and socially, family allegiances stand in the way of justice.\u003cp\u003eDeprived of the very enterprise that initiated his vast fortune after his loss to laborers in the infamous \u003cb\u003eScooper's Strike of 1899\u003c\/b\u003e, Fingy Conners sets out on a path of retribution: scorched-earth revenge on the entire city of Buffalo by way of destroying its economy and upending its multi-million dollar investment in the construction of the \u003cb\u003e1901 Pan American Exposition\u003c\/b\u003e. Fingy schemes to control the entirety of the grain shipping and milling trade by moving the entire business out of the country to \u003cb\u003eMontreal\u003c\/b\u003e, where he enjoys dual citizenship. However, Alderman John P. Sullivan has an ace up his sleeve: his wife's powerful \u003cb\u003eCanadian cousin\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on actual events and the real people who drove them, \u003cb\u003e The First Ward II: Fingy Conners and The New Century\u003c\/b\u003e documents the rivalry between dock-walloper-turned-multi-millionaire politician Fingy Conners and two brothers who emerged from the Buffalo Orphan Asylum to claim political power: \u003cb\u003eAlderman John P. Sullivan \u003c\/b\u003eand\u003cb\u003e Buffalo Police Detective-Sergeant James E. Sullivan.\u003c\/b\u003e Their lives intersect with the giants of their day; world champion boxing hero cousin \u003cb\u003eJohn L. Sullivan, \u003c\/b\u003ehumorist\u003cb\u003e Mark Twain, Presidents William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt \u003c\/b\u003eand\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003epublisher\u003cb\u003e William Randolph Hearst. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInterwoven amid the drama are details surrounding the challenging construction, and ultimate triumph, of \u003cb\u003eBuffalo's 1901 Pan American Exposition\u003c\/b\u003e, followed in 1907 by the most successful \u003cb\u003eOld Home Week\u003c\/b\u003e ever held in the US-which doubled the city's population-bringing the past vividly to life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Richard Sullivan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1478172932\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781478172932\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Createspace Independent Publishing Platform\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/26\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d","brand":"Richard Sullivan","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43987748749567,"sku":"9781478172932","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_69fc0adc-0d1a-45ee-9dbc-b3b82cad5b70.jpg?v=1683290757","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-first-ward-ii-richard-sullivan-9781478172932","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}