About Gene
Gene Landriau grew up in New York City and the environs of Elka Park in the Catskill Mountains. In his middle years he worked as an administrator for Columbia University and raised three children in the New York City suburbs while pursuing his passions of stride piano, the outdoors and family life. He retired with his wife, Elaine, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he took up writing and enjoyed an active social life. He continued to spend summers in the Catskills until 2010. In April, 2012, Gene passed away surrounded by family, leaving his stories and family history for the generations to follow. Gene's spirited personality will be missed by many.Subscribe to Stride Writer
Author Archives: Gene Landriau
Arrival
It’s June 26, 1860. The SS New York has just arrived in the Port of New York from Bremen and South Hampton. The ship’s master, H.G. van Santen, signs a “full and perfect list” of passengers on board, which details … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, Historical, NYC
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Climbing Slide Mountain
It was a cold Saturday morning in February, 1950. Elaine and I had a sixth floor apartment in Elmhurst, Queens. Queens County is one of New York City’s five boroughs, but if you were a New Yorker the “city,” with … Continue reading
Posted in Catskills, Creative Nonfiction
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The Swing and Sway Club
We moved from East Orange, New Jersey, to New York City in the spring of 1934—the middle of my fourth grade year—and my mother, in the firm belief her oldest son was particularly genius inclined, requested that I be recognized … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, NYC
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The Fifth Instrument
Ora Watson, the fiddle player, was 81 years old and obviously the senior member of the four-piece string band from the North Carolina Mountains. She sat on the edge of a hard, straight-back chair, facing the audience. Her left-hand fingers … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Nonfiction
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Art
“Hey Art,” said Brad, “what do you call that stuff…you know…that stuff that…the droppings…that deer leave behind them?” Art didn’t rush to answer. They were each standing on extension ladders, painting the second story of a building at Lamont Geological … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, Palisades, NY
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The Rockleigh Woods Coop
It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon in September 1952 when Elaine and I were walking along Avenue A towards our apartment in Shanks Village, Rockland County, New York. Once known as Camp Shanks the army acquired the land to temporarily … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, Palisades, NY
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Cook Brook
One hundred thirty miles north of New York City, in the heart of the Catskill Mountain range, two adjacent peaks, Plateau Mountain and Spruce Top Mountain, point northward in solitary silence. They are joined, however, by a curved ridgeline that … Continue reading
Posted in Catskills, Creative Nonfiction
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