In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, John T. Ridge has authored a 145-page book chronicling the parade’s immense history. Published by Quinnipiac University Press and edited by Lynn Bushnell, the book is chock full of photographs and highlights of some of the parade’s finest moments.

Ridge, who is retired from the insurance industry, serves as the parade committee’s historian. The son of Irish immigrants, the Brooklyn-born Ridge said he’s been going to the parade since he was a small boy. This is his second book on the parade; in 1988 he wrote a history of the parade that was published by the parade committee.