A new book will hit bookstores next week that will be of great interest to people across the city of Hartford and the state.   “Ann Uccello, a Connecticut Trailblazer,” is an autobiography of former Hartford Mayor Ann Uccello, who broke barriers when she was elected in 1967 as the first woman elected mayor of a capital city in the United States.

This Sunday on Face the State, author Paul Pirrotta joined us to talk about the life story of a woman whose name is now seen by tends of thousands of drivers every day on highway signs above Interstate 84,  Uccello is a remarkable lady I’ve had the pleasure to get to know and I was honored to be asked to write the foreword to the book.

Watch the interview here: http://www.wfsb.com/clip/11943364/author-speaks-about-upcoming-book-on-ann-uccello

Also Sunday, our Face the State flashback takes us back to 1989, when a landmark was closing its doors forever.    The Statler Hilton, later called the Parkview Hilton,  played host to presidents, candidates, celebrities, prom goers and newlyweds.   It’s demise seems surprising in retrospect, because of its prime location across from the state capitol.

By the late 80s, the facade had been covered in mirrored glass and business was slipping.  The plan was to raze it and erect Connecticut’s own World Trade Center.  How’d that turn out?  The site is still empty, 25 years later.

The story saw on Sunday is from New Year’s Eve, when David Ushery interviewed the employees and patrons inside the hotel on its final day.

Watch the flashback here: http://www.wfsb.com/clip/11943374/statler-hilton-was-torn-down-25-years-ago

We will close out this edition of Face the State by remembering a Connecticut legend who died this week, Simon Konover.  Thanks to Connecticut Public Broadcasting, we’ll hear from Simon Konover, in an interview from 2011.

To learn more about this businessman, philanthropist and Holocaust survivor, read his obituary in the Courant:  http://www.courant.com/real-estate/property-line/hc-simon-konover-real-estate-magnate-dies-20151021-story.html

To watch the complete CPTV interview, click here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pohg8GA7clQ