Forgotten Delights: The Producers

  • Forgotten Delights: The Producers, ISBN 0-9745-8991-8. 180 pages, including 59 B&W photographs and 3 maps. 8.5 x 5.5″ paperback
  • A celebration of nineteen explorers, inventors, engineers, businessmen and workers whose thoughts and efforts reshaped New York, the United States and the world
  • Order from Amazon
  • On this page: About the book; Sculptures included; Reader comments

About the book

Have you ever stood enthralled at the sight of someone – a photographer, a crane operator, a chef, a skier – doing a job superlatively well? The sight of such competence is refreshing, even inspiring.

The figures who appear in Forgotten Delights: The Producers are inspiring in the same way, but on a larger scale. The remarkable efforts of these explorers, businessmen, engineers and workers changed New York, the United States and the world. Today these 19 Manhattan sculptures stand largely forgotten, but once you know their stories, you’ll get an emotional boost every time you pass by.

Forgotten Delights can be read straight through, but section headings allow you to focus on history or on discussion of art (Why should you look closely at details? Why does texture matter? What is the value of portrait sculpture?). Or just browse the sidebars, which include substantial quotes from nineteenth-century sources such as the New York Times, writers as varied as Booker T. Washington, Henry Hazlitt and Ayn Rand, and even a smattering of poetry – all thought-provoking complements to the sculptures. If your interest is piqued, the Bibliography and Further Reading section suggests where to find more information.

For those who live in New York or plan to visit, Forgotten Delights: The Producers includes maps and advice for a walking tour. But you need never set foot in Manhattan to enjoy the book: it’s aimed at anyone who finds inspiration and a moment of rest in the sight of great achievement.

Sculptures included

Columbus Monument * Columbus in Central Park * Giovanni da Verrazzano * The Pilgrim * Humboldt * Cooper * Morse * Sims * Vanderbilt * Dodge * Ericsson * Holley * Marteleur * The Immigrants * Garment Worker * Rea * Double Check * Taxi * Dreaming of Far Away Places

Reader comments

  • “An exhilarating experience … a glorification of the best in man, his productive ability and his triumphs.”
  • “I enjoyed the conversational tone of the writing.”
  • “The book is truly a delight … This is what art is about, what it’s for, with an insight into how it’s done, how much it used to be appreciated as part of the daily existence, a window into how it could be and will be again.”
  • “This book makes one want to slow down and be refueled by the accomplishments of both the subject and sculptor.”
  • “I love the methodology of the format.”

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