Sunday Profile /Dan Murphy
Writer highlights city’s past
Published: June 07, 2009, 12:30 am
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istory comes alive for Dan Murphy, who is fascinated by how this area was shaped by events of the past.
The Canisius College honors graduate has researched and compiled a book that chronicles scores of great moments in the area’s history – “Western New York 101: The 101 Greatest Moments in Buffalo History.”
“The idea for the ‘101 Greatest Moments in Buffalo History’ came about when I was absent-mindedly watching one of the countdown shows on television, top music videos of the 1980s on VH-1, or something like that,” said Murphy. “I wondered if I could come up with a Top 20 ‘great moments’ in Buffalo’s history, and started writing down ideas off the top of my head. The ideas started flowing.”
When “you look at the history of this region, you can see how great Buffalo once was, and how great it can become again, if we rediscover the vision, innovation and leadership of our past,” said Murphy of the Town of Tonawanda, who makes a living as a software account executive.
To assemble the book, Murphy distributed surveys to teachers, historians, colleagues and friends— asking them for their “top 10 greatest moments list.”
“My goal with ‘Western New York 101’ was to make an effort to portray Buffalo in a positive light,” said Murphy, a 1996 All-College Honors graduate of Canisius and Cardinal O’- Hara High School graduate. “Too frequently, Buffalonians are guilty of selling themselves—and this region —short. By focusing on the positives, I didn’t ignore the negatives, but also didn’t allow the book to be overshadowed by a spirit of negativity.
He dedicates “Western New York 101,” in part to his wife, Erin, who kept him focused.
One galvanizing event in “Western New York 101” is July 4, 2004, when the Goo Goo Dolls performed to widespread acclaim during a spectacular rainstorm in Niagara Square.
Why so important?
“The Goo Goo Dolls helped show the world that Buffalo had more to offer than decaying grain elevators, empty factories and snow,” he said.
“The Goos decided to celebrate the Fourth of July with a free outdoor concert in Buffalo that would be filmed for a DVD release and air on national television,” he noted. “More than 60,000 fans turned up for the concert of the year. Only Mother Nature wasn’t feeling very cooperative. The skies opened with a torrential downpour that threatened to cancel the concert.
“But instead of running for shelter, the fans stayed, dancing in the rain. Even a massive rainstorm couldn’t dampen the mood—the Goos were back, and people were ready for a Fourth of July party, Buffalo style.
This isn’t Murphy’s first historical venture. His other works include “The Erie Canal: The Ditch That Opened a Nation,” and “Body slams in Buffalo: The Complete History of Pro Wrestling in Western New York,” which benefits the Ilio DiPaolo Scholarship Fund.
Have an idea about a local person whose life would make a good profile or a neighborhood issue worth exploring?
e-mail: lcontinelli@buffnews.com
or write to: Louise Continelli, Sunday Profile, The Buffalo News, P. O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14240
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