I took these photos of Mr. Jim Guinan back in Nov. 2007 during a Thanksgiving visit to my sister's place in Rockland County. Jim's pub/general store was the subject of book published in 2006, 320 pages, paperback (categorized as history/memoirs I guess?) "Little Chapel on the River: a Town and the Search for What Matters Most" by Wall Street Journal reporter Gwendolyn Bounds. I just started reading her book when I decided to pay Guinan's a visit the day after Thanksgiving on a joy ride across the Hudson river to Garrison with my sister and her husband. Anyway, there he was. Minding the pub by himself tidying up the bar, straightening chairs, tinkering with the Budweiser shamrock neon sign in the window. A soft-spoken Irishman. Jim had tremendous praise for Gwendolyn's book. "That little book of her's really put this place on the map!" He said. "We're grateful for Gwendolyn. She's a great gal," he added. Sad to say Guinan's closed late January 2008. Jim moved to FL a very short time later and the pub/general store has either been converted into office space or apartments. Not really sure which? More info. on the fate of Guinan's building and tributes to Jim over at Gwendolyn's site LITTLE CHAPEL ON THE RIVER.
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