1:30pm | A biography of the life and career of three-term Long Beach mayor Beverly O’Neill, penned by longtime Gazettes newspaper executive editor Harry Saltzgaver, has been completed and will be available for purchase in the next few weeks.
The book is titled, “Passionately Positive: The Beverly O’Neill Story,” and should be released in late June or early July according to a spokesperson.
O’Neill was first elected as Mayor of Long Beach in 1994 and served two terms, before winning an unlikely write-in campaign for a third term in 2002. She is credited with being the only candidate to win such a high office in a large city with a write-in campaign (the practice is unusually frequent here in Long Beach as most cities have rules against it).
She also served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors for a time and continues to be a highly-regarded figure in Long Beach today.
“In 2004, Harry Saltzgaver told me that he thought there was a story in my time as Mayor as well as my early years growing up in Long Beach, and he asked to write the book,” said O’Neill, in a statement. “Three years later my no became a yes. Guess what – as I write this it is being printed!”
Before becoming Mayor, O’Neill worked at Long Beach City College for more than thirty years, beginning as a music instructor and eventually becoming Dean of Student Affairs and then Superintendent-President.
Saltzgaver and O’Neill have a relationship that goes back at least to 2001, when the then-Mayor appointed him to a position as commissioner in the Long Beach Parks & Recreation department.
The book is listed on Amazon for $25.95 and other book sites for $14.95 and includes a listing of fun facts about O’Neill, with emphasis on her father’s alcoholism, her career milestones and triumphs as Mayor.