Joseph Yakel was born and raised in the capital region of New York and calls this place home. His travels have taken him far and wide, but it is the surroundings of his hometown that serve as the backdrop for his writing. He has recently published three books and believes his combination of history and humor sheds light on the local area and its people.

Yakel said, “My roots in the Capital District have been a huge influence on what I’ve chosen to write about. I split my youth growing up in Albany and Loudonville, and summers were spent at our camp in Westerlo. I attended the Albany Academy for Boys and Christian Brothers Academy As an adult, I have traveled quite a bit in America and spent two years in Belgium, Germany, and other European countries with the US Army. city ​​and country exposure, combined with this wider range of trips to take advantage of.”

He continued, “I started writing my first book when I was about seven years old. I loved dinosaurs and wanted to be a paleontologist. Even though I didn’t publish that book, I still have it and I’m proud of what I did.” I created at that early age. Looking back now, I think it marked the starting point where writing would have a lasting place in my life.”

While Yakel’s desire to write has been with him since childhood, he says it has emerged in a more public way over the past decade. “Over the years, I have written a great deal, but it was not until 1998 that I submitted my first article for a general publication. It was a technical article on the operations of the cable television system. Since then, I have written a number of others articles, mainly on military topics, published both in specialized magazines and on the websites of organizations”.

However, it is his latest writing efforts that Yakel says are his greatest achievements. Between December 2004 and March 2005 she completed and published three books. “Writing the material was the easy part,” said Yakel, “but putting it all together was a huge task. I’m very proud of what I’ve created.”

As for the books themselves, Yakel said there is something of value to a lot of people, especially those in the Capital region. Two of his books are genealogical references that also contain quite a bit of local history. ‘The Autograph Memories of Mary Yakel’ is her great aunt’s 19th century memoir. Yakel explained, “Mary was born in the South End in 1879 and passed away in 1940. She had an autograph book, which was filled with entries from family and friends along the Second Avenue corridor. I took her little book, a family heirloom . , and rewrote it. In addition to the entries from the original book, I supplemented it with details and commentary on the people and families mentioned in her little book. I never met Mary Yakel, of course, but working on these memoirs has helped me understand her in ways she couldn’t otherwise.”

‘The JACKEL, JECKEL, JAECKEL, IEKEL, YAKEL family history book’ has a very complicated title, but Yakel says the title is overshadowed by the book’s content. He continued: “This has undoubtedly been my most intensive writing effort. It is a 464-page family chronology, tracing 350 years of my Rhenish ancestry. Our original surname was JACKEL and JECKEL, but it changed more than 50 times after that the family came to America. In Albany, the spelling settled on YAKEL in the 1870s, while in Milwaukee, it settled on JAECKEL, and in Iowa, our last name changed slightly to IEKEL. This book is, first and foremost, a genealogical reference, but it’s also packed with really intriguing local and German history, and that’s why this book and Mary Yakel’s autograph book appeal to a wider audience.”

His third and most recent book is a complete departure from the first two. ‘The Legend of Juggin Joe’ is an over-the-top fictional humor story that takes place in and around the town of Westerlo, New York, and focuses on the life and times of a hillboy nicknamed ‘Juggin Joe’ for his amazing musical. skills with the judge. Said Yakel, “This book is a country boy comedy/melodrama that I’ve written in ‘country parlance,’ which makes the story so much more fun to read. It’s a light-hearted, clean, fun adventure suitable for all ages. public. .”

“The Legend of Juggin Joe”

* ISBN 1-4116-2588-9 * Publication Date: March 2005 * $9.00 Paperback * 123 Pages *

“Mary Yakel’s Autograph Memories”

* ISBN 1-4116-2101-8 * Publication Date: December 2004 * $9.00 Paperback * 75 Pages *

“The JACKEL, JECKEL, JAECKEL, IEKEL, YAKEL Family History Book”

* ISBN 1-4116-2715-6 * Publication date: March 2005 * $26.50 paperback * 464 pages *

Joseph Yakel offers free previews of his book chapters and welcomes reviews and comments. His books are available in paperback or downloadable format. For previews and purchase information, visit Lulu Publishing at: http://www.lulu.com/yakel