Barbara La RoccoBarbara La Rocco is Founder of Going Coastal, Inc. (EPA Award-winning nonprofit)-she has dedicated over two decades to connecting people with urban waterfront resources, promoting sustainable coastal travel, community engagement, and environmental protection. exciting educational programs. Through this organization and goingcoastal.org, Barbara has used her years of experience as a corporate sponsorship and licensing director to produce guides, maps, educational initiatives, and reprints of rare historical texts that highlight the area's maritime and natural heritage.Under her imprint, Be the Rock Press, La Rocco specializes in original works and bringing forgotten nonfiction books back into print, often adding modern commentary, updates, or context. She is author of The Mafia Cookbook: Killer Recipes from Gangland Kitchens and the Going Coastal guides. Her passion for restoration shines in her efforts to bring out-of-print gems back into circulation including the WPA's A Maritime History of New York, reissued Helen Worden's Round Manhattan's Rim, and recently released a new edition of James Reuel Smith's Springs and Wells of Manhattan and the Bronx, breathing fresh life into these explorations of New York's forgotten shores and natural features.A self-described flâneur, book collector, climate optimist, and advocate for water and coastal tourism, she continues to expand her curatorial vision with a forthcoming series of chapbooks spotlighting artists from Giorgio Vasari's seminal 16th-century Lives of the Artists, showcasing her ongoing commitment to preserving and reinterpreting cultural and historical narratives.When not lost in the archives or reading classic literature, La Rocco can be found traveling through the historic centers of Italy, searching for hidden Renaissance art in neighborhood churches or a quiet performance of classical chamber music. Read More Read Less