Community mourns loss of Writers & Books founder Joe Flaherty 

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Joe Flaherty, founder and former executive director of local literary center Writers & Books, died suddenly early Sunday, Sept. 15 at age 77.

“Writers & Books’ board and staff are deeply saddened by the passing of Joe Flaherty, organizational founding director and visionary arts activist,” Board President Christine Eichelberger said in an emailed statement. “Over the period of nearly four decades, Joe transformed the vistas of literary culture in greater Rochester.”


Flaherty founded Writers & Books in 1981, overseeing the 1985 relocation to its current three-story home at 740 University Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts. He led the organization until his retirement in 2016, bringing to town writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Ann Patchett, and Octavia Butler and launching still-ongoing community programs like SummerWrite reading and writing camps for youth and the annual Rochester Reads.


Flaherty also spearheaded a major accessibility upgrade to the NOTA building and established Gell, a retreat in the Bristol Hills, as a generative space for writing residencies and interdisciplinary activities. Writers & Books is currently led by executive director Alison Meyers, who was appointed in 2019.


Flaherty often spoke about being placed in a Pennsylvania orphanage with his two siblings at age three; he went on to graduate from Penn State in 1969 and move to Rochester to obtain a master's degree in photography from Visual Studies Workshop, where he met his wife, Liz.

The couple's eldest daughter, Alexa Scott-Flaherty, also lives in the area and formerly worked for Writers & Books. She is a respected director, actor, producer and teacher. Their youngest, Caedra Scott-Flaherty, is a former dancer/choreographer who nows works as a writer and editor. She is based in New York City.

“Writers & Books is dedicated to honoring Joe by furthering his legacy of community service to readers and writers of all ages and backgrounds,” wrote Eichelberger.

Visitation details have not been shared yet.

Leah Stacy is the editor of CITY. She can be reached at [email protected].