John Ferris
John Ferris wrote The Winds of Barclay Street on behalf of the men and women who worked on the New York World-Telegram and Sun. After the prestigious newspaper’s demise, in 1967, he often reminisced with his former colleagues, fondly remembering the antics and tomfoolery of fellow journalists as well as their reportage of serious news. Their past seemed a wondrous experience that must be preserved before it faded completely, consigning their significant if often foolish history to oblivion. The Winds of Barclay Street recalls comical episodes of the reporters on daily assignment for news, as well as the highly-gifted staff writers and editors who enlivened their working hours by writing fictitious, amusing articles not found in straight news. The book covers the heady days of the newspaper’s prime through its sad but inevitable decline and eventual demise due to economic and social conditions in New York City of the 1960s. Today the old Barclay Street is unrecognizable, as giant behemoths of architectural stone and granite cover the former location of a once-great newspaper and the small businesses of lower Manhattan. The Winds of Barclay Street recalls a lost era and the individual men and women who wrote a newspaper read by thousands of commuters on subway, bus, train, or ferry, and by subscribers at home.
