Writer’s bio
R od Lee has been practicing journalism for more than fifty years and continues as a media presence in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, Central Massachusetts and the Blackstone Valley. He is the editor and publisher of a monthly literary journal called The Rambler (Worcester and Central Massachusetts) and writes articles for The Yankee Xpress/Blackstone Valley Xpress based in Webster, Massachusetts. He is presently at work on a novel tentatively entitled "Here Comes the Sun", which focuses on efforts by small-town newspaperman “Mick Lawton” to break “the big story” and finally earn the recognition he so desperately seeks. He is also the author of six books, the latest of which, For Pete’s Sake, examines the fateful decision he made to move his family to the Bay State from Binghamton, New York in 1985 and the repercussions that have been felt as a result of that relocation. His fictionalized story of Pete Nash and the Nash family has already been hailed by one reader as “bravely and beautifully told.” Follow Rod’s career on the pages posted at rod-lee.com.
Court St., Binghamton,New York
Latest Projects
Rod Lee at work on his new novel Here Comes The Sun
“‘Mick Lawton was sitting in his usual spot at the bar when Gus with his body turned from him said into the long mirror ‘how’d you miss the murder on Susquehanna St.?’”
So begins the story of the battle for the hearts and minds of newspaper readers in the city of Binghamton, New York in the early 1970s between The Sentinel (a large afternoon broadsheet) and The Sun (a small morning tabloid).
In Here Comes The Sun, Mick Lawton, The Sun’s star reporter, is frustrated by having to play “second fiddle” in a two-newspaper town to Russell O. Webster of The Sentinel. Beaten on story after story by The Sentinel’s own lead investigative journalist, Mick makes a vow to his friend and colleague Addison Thayer:
“Someday, my byline, not Russell O. Webster’s, is going to be on everyone’s lips.
“Just you watch.”
Helena and Chris
The Webster House Cookbook
Shortly before his death, Chris Liazos commissioned the publication of a cookbook, featuring recipes from the Webster House Restaurant, and memories of the popular establishment written by former staff and patrons. Work on “The Webster House Cookbook” began in earnest in early 2020, led by a team that dubbed itself “The Cookbook Crew.” Members include Rod Lee of The Rambler, Webster House employees Deb Alcorn, Ann Robert, Joan St. Denis Clarico, Gloria St. Denis, Cindy Garvin, Ray Young—and other contributors. Rod Lee offered one of the reflections for the “Looking through the Windows” section of the cookbook, about his friendship with Chris Liazos over a period of more than twenty years.
As of September 2020, the cookbook, numbering approximately two hundred fifty pages, was ready for printing by Paradigm Graphics of Burlington. Proceeds from sale of the cookbook, which is dedicated to Chris and Helena Liazos (both now deceased), will benefit the Worcester County Food Bank in Shrewsbury. The Cookbook Crew is also part of an initiative undertaken by Barrows Hardware (a neighbor of The Webster House, and subsequent owner of the property on which the restaurant sat) to place a monument at the corner of Cambridge and Webster streets, in recognition of the restaurant’s existence at the site. Chris and Helena’s sons Andrew and Ted have lent substantial encouragement to creation of the cookbook.
