With a name like Fingy Conners, you’re destined to be remarkable in some manner. The chosen manner for Fingy, one of Buffalo’s most notorious hoodlums, was to live a life of corruption and ‘gangsterdom’ – “Once a dock laborer and now a millionaire boss”. And soon to be on the political trail (and why wouldn’t a gangster become a politician?), crushing anyone that stands in his way. “I am distantly related to Conners, to both of his top henchmen (Dalton and Nugent) and to the Sullivans in my novel The First Ward,” says Richard Sullivan, author and old First Ward aficionado. “Most Buffalonians do not know who Fingy Conners is, which is a testament to how poorly local history is represented in Buffalo and WNY schools. Perhaps Buffalo Rising fans would like to know a bit about him?”
Following is a fun video that Richard Sullivan has put together in order to promote his books – The First Ward and The First Ward II: Fingy Conners and The New Century. Books are available at Dog Ears Books on Abbott Rd., Talking Leaves, The History Museum’s gift shop, and the Waterfront Memories Museum at Mutual Riverfront Park.