Myth or Mayor

The Ryan family tree was fractured in the early 1970s. The patriarch of the family became Mike Ryan who expressed little interest in discussing family history, passing on only a short story about his father being Mayor of Massillon, Ohio, to his son, Scott. The story of Mayor Ryan was eventually passed on to Mike’s grandson,  Alexander J. Ryan, the author of Myth or Mayor: The Search For My Family’s Legacy. With no family members to inquire about Mayor Ryan and no references of him on Google, the efficacy of Mayor Ryan remained ambiguous but unquestioned until the Summer of 2021.

Myth or Mayor takes readers on the journey of discovery into the life of Raymond F. Ryan and his relationship with the small Rust-belt city of Massillon, Ohio. Alexander Ryan researched newspapers, city records, and even reconnected with Ryan family members who had been estranged for a generation to uncover the story of Raymond Ryan. Learn the true story of the Ryan family history with more twists and turns than a Massillon/McKinley High School football game.

Author Scott Ryan (Moonlighting: An Oral History, The Last Days of Letterman) completes the family story with an emotional Afterword that connects his family ties with the city of Massillon.  The father and son writing team will send readers away with a rounded view of small-town living, the importance of history and family, and a look at an America gone away.

50% of all profits will be donated to the Late Night Scholarship fund, a Massillon-based nonprofit organization managed by author Alexander J. Ryan.

You can click here to order the Ebook.