A.J. Schenkman is the author of several books about local and regional history. He has written for many magazines, blogs, and academic journals including numerous articles on Hudson Valley history in Ulster Magazine, The Times Herald-Record, Chronogram and on his website. He is also a teacher in Ulster County and is the Town of Gardiner Historian.
Culture Reporter Valerie Mansi spoke to him about his latest book “Franklin’s Trees,” which introduces children to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s love of nature, highlighting a lifetime during which he oversaw the planting of over a million trees on his estate. The book describes Roosevelt’s childhood spent hiking trails through his forest and how he later expanded those trails into roads after polio deprived him of the use of his legs, allowing him to get around by car.