Maria M. Love was among many prominent Buffalonians women into the plot of City of Light, the best-selling novel by Lauren Belfer. As part of her story line, Miss Love was credited for her pioneering work at the Fitch Creche, the first day nursery for children of poor working women, and for devoting her life to doing good. But her character was portrayed as egotistical, conniving, and critical in her interactions with these same people...

Yet, the historical records paint a different picture...

So, who was the real Maria M. Love?

To read more of Karen Berner Little's story, see page 4 of the Summer 2004 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!

Life for Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and his new bride in their house at 472 Delaware Street traced an arc rising in romantic bliss, then plummeting into chaotic despair. The thirteen months from February 1870 to March of 1871 that Sam and Olivia spent there seemed evenly split into six months of happiness and six months of misery. Much like a character in a novel by Charles Dickens - a favorite author of Clemens as a teen - the domestic scene at 472 Delaware for the Clemens family represented the "best of time and the worst of times."

To read more of Tom Reigstad's story, see page 18 of the Summer 2004 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!