New book explores many roles of former N.Y. Gov. Mario Cuomo

Brooklyn BookBeat

April 6, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jacket image by Don Pollard

Share this:

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s life and accomplishments are part of the public record, but in “Mario Cuomo: Remembrances of a Remarkable Man,” published by Whitney Media, William O’Shaughnessy gives readers an exclusive and deeply personal, behind-the-scenes look at the liberal Democratic icon. This poignant memoir, based on the author’s 38-year friendship with Cuomo, portrays the spiritual journey of a man who played many roles: political leader, moral compass, orator, author, legal scholar and loving father and grandfather. He was, in O’Shaughnessy’s words, one of the most articulate and graceful public men of the twentieth century.

Their connection was unlikely: O’Shaughnessy, a self-styled “Rockefeller Republican” and one of the best-known broadcasters in the nation, and Cuomo “a failed baseball player with too many vowels in his name” who rose from the back of a grocery store in Queens to become a lawyer and then governor with a devotion to the writings of St. Thomas More, the teachings of Jesuit philosopher-paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin, the vision of Abraham Lincoln and the ancient Hebrew concepts of Tzedakah and Tikkun Olam. Yet over the course of hundreds of radio interviews, letters, late-night and early-morning phone conversations, the governor and the Westchester broadcaster become fast friends.

Included in the book are previously unpublished excerpts from Cuomo’s speeches, including his 1986 speech at St. James Cathedral in Downtown Brooklyn in which he approached the pulpit, “as an old-fashioned Catholic who sins, regrets, struggles, gets confused and most of the time feels better after Confession.”

Cuomo’s personal letters to his children and grandchildren, humorous asides, even the governor’s favorite romantic ballads and vignettes from his days in office come to light. Among these reminiscences are accounts of the drama leading up to Cuomo’s famous Democratic Convention speech and the still controversial Notre Dame talk on abortion and the Church-State dilemma faced by Roman Catholic office holders. Also, why he resisted entreaties to run for president of the U.S. and declined appointment to the Supreme Court. “Remembrances of a Remarkable Man” additionally features two color inserts of candid photos from Cuomo’s official photographer.

As O’Shaughnessy writes of Cuomo, the philosopher-statesmen, “The product of his genius and bright, fine mind will resonate long after the dust of centuries had fallen over our cities.” Much more than a simple memoir of a cherished friend, “Remembrances of a Remarkable Man” is a loving tribute to a political figure whose words and example continue to inform the conscience of our nation.”

Perhaps Tony Bennett put it best, “I’ve sung for five presidents. But Mario Cuomo is the greatest man I ever met.”