by Mary E. Cronin | Feb 28, 2026 | FDNY, Poetry
When I speak to elementary audiences as a Visiting Poet, I often explain that in the making of children’s books, the author and the illustrator rarely meet or communicate during the book-making process. I was lucky, however. Last fall, I got to meet Aaron Marin,...
by Mary E. Cronin | Dec 12, 2025 | Cape Cod, Community connections, FDNY, Poetry, Teaching
So much has happened in the last few months, so here’s a recap! In June, I retired from full-time teaching. Yes, I miss my job as a Literacy Coach and my daily contact with students! But I love having more time for writing, and for… leading poetry workshops in local...
by Mary E. Cronin | Apr 13, 2025 | FDNY, Poetry, SCBWI
“There is something about this manuscript that cries out for publication. It may take you a while to ‘get there’ but you must.” Noted poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins saw something in me and in my firehouse poems that was worth nurturing and...
by Mary E. Cronin | Mar 21, 2025 | FDNY, Poetry
Writers often talk about the long road to publication. This is one of those stories, and it isn’t over yet! I started writing poems about firefighting after my father died in 2006. It was a grief project, a way to feel closer to him. And it helped. I was so proud of...
by Mary E. Cronin | Mar 22, 2023 | Community connections, FDNY
What a delight and honor to be invited as a guest on the “Bronx Heroes” podcast! My conversation with hosts Dan Zauderer and Rina Madhani was far-ranging. I got to talk about my deep affection for my home borough, growing up in a firefighting family, and how I try to...
by Mary E. Cronin | Sep 11, 2022 | FDNY
Back when he was a new firefighter in 1962, my father helped pull a fellow firefighter to safety as a porch roof collapsed in a Bronx house fire. The moment was captured by a New York Daily News photographer, and it was splashed on the front page the next day. We...