My new book is “Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope and Happiness at America’s Most Famous Steps.” This book was a labor of love, and I promise you will enjoy it. Photographer Tom Gralish and I spent a year at the Rocky Steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and this book is a collection of our favorite stories and photos. For 20 years, at virtually every hour of the day, I had seen people from all over the world come and run these steps. What struck me was they were always so happy at the top. I knew in my gut we would find great stories there. So Tom and I set out, and spent a year at the steps. The runners and their stories are remarkable.

“The world, increasingly, is filled with chaos, sadness, madness and hate. The “Rocky Steps” (as they have come to be known) offer an escape from that, if only for a few moments. Even better, they offer a tonic to the world’s problems, a chance to celebrate hope. People come here and affirm their dreams. Rocky may have brought them here, but it is their own lives that they celebrate.” — from my introduction to Rocky Stories.

Sylvester Stallone loved the book and wrote the foreword. This is what he wrote about the Rocky Steps and why people still run them today — 30 years after the original movie was made:

“You can’t borrow Superman’s cape. You can’t use the Jedi laser sword. But the steps are there. The steps are accessible. And standing up there, you kind of have a piece of the Rocky pie.” — from the Foreword by Sylvester Stallone

Learn all about Rocky Stories at http://pauldrybooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PDB&Product_Code=188&Category_Code=PC. You can order it online at that website, or from Amazon.com, or get it at your local bookstore. NPR’s Morning Edition did a great piece on us. Listen to it at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6520665

Here is what other’s have said about Rocky Stories:

“The extent to which the Rocky myth has resonated is documented in this winning book…each story is engaging ” —Sports Illustrated.

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly called Rocky Stories a “knockout,” “The result is a delight, a thrill, a gas: a kind of art experiment completed by ordinary people.”

“The Rocky Steps have become a special place for tourists and Philadelphians alike. Virtually everyone who lives here or comes here wants to say that they ran up the Rocky Steps and saw the incredible view down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.” –Governor Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania

“Two extraordinarily talented journalists, Michael Vitez and Tom Gralish, have captured this uniquely American phenomenon with whimsy, poignancy, and utter charm. Rocky Stories will steal your heart and restore your faith in the power of shared human experience. ” –John Grogan, author of Marley & Me

“It’s a delight.” –Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down and Guests of the Ayatollah

“An absolute joy and an absolute blast and quintessentially American in its hopes and dreams and sweetness.” –Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and A Prayer for the City

“Michael Vitez and Tom Gralish have brought to life the many amazing and beautiful personal stories from Philadelphia’s art museum steps. The Rocky Steps finally have a voice.” –Dawn Staley, Olympic gold-medalist, College Player of the Year, and Temple University women’s basketball coach

And how about this email I received:

“Mr. Vitez: