A Book Signing Event at the Merriweather Library

Dr. Eva M. Doyle with Benjamin Willis and Dr. Anwar Y. Dunbar, author, who introduced his book entitled “The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story, Part One”.

On Saturday, April 19, 2025, this Columnist attended a very important book signing event held at the Frank. E. Merri weather Library, located at 1324 Jefferson Avenue. Author Dr. Anwar Y. Dunbar introduced his book entitled “The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story, Part One.” The program was host ed by Zawadi Books owned by Sharon and Kenneth Holley. Dr. Dunbar was greeted by a very enthusiastic audience. Educator Benjamin Willis was the moderator for the pro gram. This was significant for me because both Dr. Dunbar and Benjamin Willis are former students of mine from the Campus West school. I taught both of them in my 2nd grade classroom many years ago. It was wonderful to see how successful they have become over the years.

Dr. Dunbar did a review of his book that tells the story about how sports teach com peting, succeeding, and persevering in the world. The les sons outlined in his book are important for our youth and others who want to get ahead in life. The cover of the book highlights the following ideas: Basketball is life, Your attitude determines your altitude, sports are a microcosm of life.

In his book, Dr. Dunbar paid tribute to former coaches and teammates that he met along the way. In the introduction there are stories from contributors who wrote about basketball and its influence on their own lives. The contributors came from various schools in Buffalo including Hutch Tech, Buffalo Traditional high school, Seneca Vocational, City Honors, Bennett high school and others.

In the dedication and remembrance section at the beginning of the book, Dr. Dunbar wrote the following: “I want to thank the Creator first. I want to thank my mother, Wendy C. Anderson, a veteran writer, and the best mother a son could have. I want to thank my father, Rodney J. Dunbar for telling me at an early age that I had a gift for writing, as well as my Late uncle John Harris. It is a very compelling introduction. Dr. Dunbar went on to write. “I want to thank Mother Eva M. Doyle, my very first science teacher in life at the Campus West School at Buffalo State College.”

Dr. Anwar Dunbar PhD. is a scientist, writer, and speaker. He earned a bachelor’s degree in general biology at Johnson C. Smith University and his Doc toral Degree of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan. This Columnist will do a more detailed review of his book at a future date. His book is avail able at Zawadi Books located at 1382 Jefferson Avenue and also at Amazon.com. Congratulations Dr. Anwar Y. Dunbar for writing such an informative and historical book!!