Chuck Pora resides in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he’s lived his entire life. A baby boomer, he grew up in the chaotic Sixties, where JFK, the Beatles and Vietnam were center stage. His knowledge of the era is extensive, and he enjoys sharing it in his writings.

 

In addition to a 31-year career in telephone traffic at GTE Corporation (now Verizon) prior to retiring in 1999, Pora has doubled as a contributing sports writer for the Erie Times-News since 1974, and has had well over a thousand byline stories published. He has also done creative columns, movie reviews and work for other periodicals and web sites.

 

Writing is Chuck’s true passion, and he always wanted to write a book. In 2009 he wrote Pora Lotta Lore, a book of "fun, nostalgic, dorky and depressing" pieces mostly about growing up in Erie in the Sixties. Encouraged by its success, he followed it up with a second book of short stories, Pora Lot More Lore  (2010), which also achieved significant success, prompting him to continue to share stories from his youth.

 

It was always Chuck's dream to write a novel, however, which he began in 1995, but shelved for a number of years. Finally, in 2012, being driven by the success of his first two books, he achieved that dream with the completion of Peace to You Too, Brother , a gripping story of "dreams, devotion and devastation" that takes place during the Vietnam War era. Based on a true story, Chuck's novel is the culmination of years of hard work, late nights and exhaustive research, and he is thrilled to have finally realized his dream.

 

But Chuck didn't stop there, and in 2014 he released his third book of Sixties-related short stories, My Affliction, then followed it up with a very popular book of "true confessons," Why We Never Had Dates (2015). Like his first two books, they take both a humorous and serious look at what it was like to grow up back then.

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Then, in 2016, Chuck selected his 40 best stories from Pora Lotta Lore, Pora Lot More Lore, My Affliction and Why We Never Had Dates and put them into one great book called Positively State Street. It's a rollicking cruise up and down Erie's coolest street, and through the rest of the world in the crazy decade of the 1960s!

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And on May 26, 2018 Chuck released his seventh book, "Son, son...", a book of 25 short stories detailing the antics of everybody's favorite character, Nosey Nobinski, where "only the Nose knows."

 

Chuck is a graduate of Gannon University, where he played baseball, and in January, 2018 he was recipient of the university's Distinguished Service Award and inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame. He served six years in the U. S. Army National Guard, and he and his wife, Pattie, have three great children, Dan, Kevin and Beth, and five wonderful grandchildren, Madeline, Mackenzie, Daniel, Anna Bryn and Delaney. Although Chuck enjoys writing about the Sixties, he would not want them to have grown up during those times, as it’s much safer listening to his stories than being a part of them.

 

For more of Chuck Pora’s favorite things from the Sixties, or to order his books, visit his website at:  http://cpora4567.wix.com/chuck-pora, or visit his Facebook page, “Chuck Pora the Writer.” Or, for a personalized copy, feel free to place an order directly through Chuck by emailing him at "cpora4567@verizon.net," or pick up any of his books at Werner Books, 3608 Liberty Street, in the Liberty Shopping Center in Erie.