Over 76 years of observing the world I have been gestating many observations to share. I consider myself a freethinker, not in any codified way but in playing the needed role of devil’s advocate with much of the mass culture and belief systems that are spread around superficially or handed down as received wisdom. Heresy fascinates me.
I am not a baby-boomer but a war baby: conceived overseas and born here the month World War II officially ended. As a kid I viewed the world as story, trying to frame my personal experience in some way that made sense. I loved horses, spent a lot of time outdoors, yearned to meet my Italian family, and cultivated “a way with animals” because I really didn’t understand people very well.
In the Fifties and Sixties, celebrities were on another planet. The rest of us lived our lives as we could, and kids were left alone a great deal to forge their own identities without undue interference or role-modeling, but of course television changed all that, beginning with “Father Knows Best,” "Leave It to Beaver" and "The Mickey Mouse Club."
My parents were both well traveled newspaper people, veterans of the war, and our dinner conversation, after the day’s check-in, revolved around current events. Because I knew that as a writer I must know about many things, I cultivated an interest in almost anything you could name, and the world at large.
The aftermath of World War II shaped U.S. culture indelibly, and my understanding of that. Then came Sputnik, the nuclear arms race, Cuban Missile Crisis scare, the Civil Rights Movement, the tragedy of the Vietnam conflict, “Women’s Lib” and the drug culture. Bob Dylan did his best to rattle the cage of the complacent and the Beatles injected sophisticated hip culture into pop music. Boys grew their hair long.
As the nation withdraws into spear-throwing and character assassination, I try to look deeper and I usually see another way to frame events. I expect what I write will offend many people, since many people are so very easily “offended” these days. I fear we are losing not only our grip on reality but also that common sense is no longer common, as we retreat behind labels and algorithms and outrage as a way to engage with the world.
You can expect to see my take on events, culture, history, personal growth, literature, movies, writing and lighter fare – in short, anything that catches my eye and prompts me to write.
Publications:
The Sky Is Red, a modern translation from the Italian novel Il Cielo e rosso by Giuseppe Berto. LitPrime Solutions, 2021. A 1948 translation of this novel was in our family bookshelf and I inherited it; my translation began as an exercise to breathe new life into the story, but I realized as I went that it is a classic of Italian literature coming out of World War II, involving the destruction of a small city between Naples and Rome, that has since become a national historical park. The novel describes four adolescents thrust early into adulthood. It is a warning to all of humanity, and also a love story -- of people for each other and for their community and culture.
