Best-Selling Author Frank Brady to Appear at Woodhaven Library

Frank Brady at “Endgame” book signing and screening of “Bobby Fischer Against the World” at Museum of the Moving Image. Photo by Sarah Winshall/Museum of the Moving Image.

"Endgame" Discussion and Book Sale Will Benefit Library's Renovations Fund

Queens, NY – Meet New York Times best-selling author Frank Brady, PhD., at a book sale and discussion about his new biography on the sensational -- yet disturbed -- chess player, the late Bobby Fischer.

The Woodhaven Library $50K Committee and the Friends of Queens Library at Woodhaven will host Brady, author of Endgame: Bobby Fischer’s Remarkable Rise and Fall – from America’s Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness, on Monday, October 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Queens Library at Woodhaven is located in 85-41 Forest Parkway, Woodhaven, New York. Admission is free, and proceeds from the book sale will support renovations at the Carnegie building. The library is a short distance from the Forest Parkway station, on the J train, and is accessible via the Q56/Jamaica Avenue bus to Forest Parkway.

A former Woodhaven resident and tenured journalism professor at St. John’s University, Dr. Brady is an avid chess player who played outdoors at the Forest Park chess tables as a teen.

Bobby Fischer, a chess prodigy with a genius IQ of 180 as a child, defeated competitors from all over the world, including Russia, which -- during Fischer's reign -- was considered to be an arch-rival. However, instead of becoming smarter and smarter as he aged, Fischer became mentally unstable.

When asked what he found to be the most thrilling aspect of chess, Fischer was quoted as saying, “To break the other guy’s ego.” It is by this quote that many remember Fischer and his exploits.

Bobby Fischer playing against Russian Boris Spassky during the World Chess Championship in 1972. Photo courtesy of Moxie Fircracker.

Dr. Brady grew up in Woodhaven and spent a much of his childhood reading at its Carnegie building library. He later revealed that the time spent in the library is what led him to become a writer. Brady has written books on a variety of subjects and currently serves as the Chairman of the Department of Mass Communications, Journalism, Television and Film at St. John's University in New York.

Brady has been an Adjunct Professor of Journalism for the past 25 years at Barnard College of Columbia University. He has a B.S., SUNY (communications); MFA, Columbia University (film); and M.A., Ph.D., New York University (writing). As current chair of the Mass Communications department at St. John's, Brady oversees a multi-million dollar budget, a 60-member faculty, and 900 students.

In 1960, Brady was the founding editor of the magazine version of Chess Life. Previously, it had been a newspaper. He would go on to become editor of Chessworld Magazine and serve as an editor for Ralph Ginzburg and Hugh Hefner.

Brady is an International Arbiter -- recognized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation -- and has directed many major chess tournaments. Brady was the tournament arbiter when Fischer completed his historic 11-0 run during the U.S. Championship in 1963—one of the greatest moments in American chess history. Many have described Fischer's feat as "one of the most incredible performances ever seen at the championship level."

Dr. Brady was Secretary of the United States Chess Federation from 2003 to 2005 and served as arbiter of international chess tournaments in 2001 and 2004 in New York. He has been elected to, and serves as an active voting member of, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and PEN, the international writers' organization.

In 2007, Brady was elected President of the Marshall Chess Club, the most prestigious chess club in the country.

Brady also wrote the best-selling book Profile of a Prodigy, a biography of his friend, Bobby Fischer. His new biography of Fischer, Endgame: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer, was published earlier this year.

For more information about the book sale and discussion, contact Maria Concolino, of the Woodhaven Library’s $50K Committee, at 718-849-1582.