Author of book about Revolutionary War general to visit Poland

The author is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

staff report

POLAND — The author of a book about one of the Revolutionary War generals in whose honor the community is named will visit the township later this month.

Alex Storozynski will be at the township government center, 3339 Dobbins Road, at 7 p.m. Sept. 28.

Storozynski has written a book, “The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution.” Kosciuszko is one of two Polish generals who served during the Revolutionary War. Gen. Casimir Pulaski was the other general.

Poland was named in their honor. A bronze statue of the two generals by resident Tom Antonishak stands at Peterson Park at U.S. Route 224 and state Routes 616 and 170 in the village.

Storozynski’s book tells of Kosciuszko’s role in the American Revolution and the rebellion he sparked in Europe fighting for the rights of women, Jews, American Indians, slaves and European serfs.

According to the author’s biography, he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a former member of the New York Daily News editorial board, founding editor of amNewYork and former city editor of the New York Sun.

The Polish American Center’s Web site says Kosciuszko was born in Poland on Feb. 4, 1746. An engineer, Kosciuszko came to America in 1776 from Poland to offer his services to the colonies.

That same year the Continental Congress commissioned him as Colonel of Engineers. In that role he fortified many key battle sites, the Web site said.

He counted George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine and John Paul Jones as friends.

Washington appointed Kosciuszko brigadier general in 1783 and awarded him the Cincinnati Order Medal. He returned to Poland in 1784 and helped his own country win independence.

Kosciuszko died in Switzerland at 71.

Limited copies of the book will be available when the author appears at the township government center. Storozynski will sign copies of his book that are purchased before the event.