Death in the Winter Solstice: A Narrative of a True Murder Mystery in Homer
After close to forty years in a classroom bringing the past to life for students of United States history, Martin A. Sweeney, now retired, enjoys  serving as the historian for the historic town of Homer, NY, He is interested in researching and writing about the lives and values of past people, especially those at the intersection of local and national history. A life-long admirer of our Civil War president, Sweeney was the Co-chair for "Homer's Celebration of Lincoln in Paint & Print," a week-long event in 2009 endorsed by the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.Sweeney earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in education at the SUNY College of Cortland and an MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is also a Rotarian and a member of the Homer Board of Education. He is married to a retired Homer teacher, and they have two grown children in graduate school.His book, LINCOLN'S GIFT FROM HOMER, NEW YORK, appeals to both the casual reader of historical non-fiction and the academic insisting on sound scholarly research. A second book, DEATH IN THE WINTER SOLSTICE: A NARRATIVE OF A TRUE MURDER MYSTERY IN HOMER, is a compelling tale of a bludgeoning death in 1894 and the ensuing trials. It is a real-life "who done it?"