Posted: July 2016
Childhood and teenage reading habits
I was not very much of a reader during my formative years, which were the 1950s into the very early 1960s. In grammar school, I read primarily only teacher assigned summer reading books and with much reluctance. I did, however, enjoy reading sports magazines, comic books, satire like MAD magazine, and flipping through the pages at the intriguing photos of my parents' Life and Look magazines. As I grew a little older, I read biographies about famous and powerful individuals, such as my favorite sports heroes, U.S. presidents, and the early astronauts from the 1960s, who were revered like many of today's superstar athletes.
Throughout my childhood and teens, my favorite reading materials were magazines, which I continue to reach for whenever passing a magazine store. I have a vivid recollection of the time when a magazine vendor came to my grammar school and spoke to the various school grades in the auditorium. I even remember that his name was Mr. Savage. He was a magazine subscription salesman. I was so impressed by his selling pitch interspersed with humor, that I went home and asked my parents if they would buy me a subscription to Dell Sports, which hasn't been published for many years. They said OK and I was thrilled. I remember waiting impatiently for my first issue to arrive. Sport magazines have always been special to me. I think a large reason for this has to do with the actual feel of it when you turn the pages. I love the shiny, captivating colorful front covers and pages. Whenever I go to a magazine store to this very day, I always reach for the second or third magazine in the rack. I want it to be in pristine condition with no bent corners. Along with my old 45 rpm singles and record albums, I am also a pack rat when it comes to holding on to my favorite sports magazines. I have kept many baseball magazines dating back to when I was nine or ten and most are in very good condition. I guess I'm a pack rat. Unfortunately, many of the popular magazines from that era have ceased publication and those remaining have dwindled in circulation along with the total number of pages in each issue. This, of course is due to the shift to online publications. Even major print magazines, like Time Magazine, are now wafer thin, and become mere shells of their former selves.
Television's influence in the formative years and its effect on my reading and writing
Television had a major impact on me. I was a complete TV addict beginning at a very young age. Nowadays I watch little television. I'll explain a bit later. When I was a young boy I watched every children's cartoon imaginable: "Bugs Bunny," "Mighty Mouse," "Popeye," "Yogi Bear," "Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Mr. Magoo," you name it. I watched other little kid shows, like "Ding Dong School" (with Miss Frances), and "Romper Room," and "Captain Kangaroo." I almost never missed "Davy Crockett" and "Zorro." I was devoted to all the family shows and comedies: "The Donna Reed Show," "Leave it to Beaver," "My Three Sons," and of course, "Dennis the Menace," and "Lassie." I watched countless repeats of "Superman," "Car 54, Where Are You?," "Topper," "The Little Rascals," "My Little Margie," "Abbott & Costello," and "The Three Stooges." On Sunday evenings, my family always watched "The Ed Sullivan Show." I have a very clear memory of watching the Beatles perform on the "Sullivan" show to the screams of teenage girls when they first arrived in the United States in 1964.
I loved the cowboy television shows, several of which I watched with my Dad. I was a big fan of "Sky King," "Maverick," "The Texan," "Cheyenne," "Bat Masterson," "The Lone Ranger," "Wanted Dead or Alive," "Wyatt Earp," "The Rifleman,"and "Have Gun - Will Travel," with a list that goes on and on.
I also enjoyed dramatic shows like "Perry Mason," one of my Dad's favorites. I thought every defense lawyer in America must have been as intelligent as Raymond Burr. Although I didn't understand the legalese as a child, I knew justice would prevail within the designated one-hour format, so I sat patiently to see who eventually turned out to be the bad guy or gal in the closing few minutes. There were a couple of science and art shows for children that I thought were terrific, including "Watch Mr. Wizard" (with Don Herbert), where simple experiments taught basic physics, chemistry, and biology; and "Learn to Draw (with Jon Gnagy)."
My all-time favorite television show to this today remains "The Twilight Zone" original series. Many of the episodes scared the hell out of me as a child. "Twilight Zone" is no doubt the reason I later gravitated to reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I was also a big fan of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and some "One Step Beyond" and "Thriller" episodes.
I cannot speak about the television's influence on me without mentioning my favorite sport of baseball. In the early sixties, I began watching a lot of day baseball games on television because night games hadn't yet taken hold in prime time. For a young boy on summer vacation, there was nothing that meant more to me than spending a hot August afternoon inside with the fan on, enjoying a lemon ice and watching a Yankees game. In those days they had a powerful lineup that included Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bill "Moose" Skowron, Bobby Richardson and Whitey Ford pitching. Sadly, all but Richardson and Ford from that illustrious group have passed on. It was a time when the Yankees seemed to win the American League pennant every year. The only question was, who would be their National League opponent in the World Series.
There was no doubt that I probably spent too much time watching TV, but I have little regrets in that regard. I enjoyed those shows and Yankee baseball games immensely, and eventually came to realize that many of the shows dealt with situations in the realm of the popular culture of my generation. Some of the shows actually inspired me to read more and much later appreciate the literary classics and great books in a number of genres. I would compare my evolution into reading and writing in a similar way to the generation of youngsters that preceded the advent of television. Those kids no doubt had their ears pressed up against the radio listening to stories, comedies and music, that were written, narrated and sung by talented dramatists, actors, comedians, singers and musicians. In due time, this propelled many of the writers to expand their own horizons beyond radio and become avid readers, authors, and writers for the new medium of television that was to come. One such individual was Rod Serling, the creator and main writer of "The Twilight Zone." Using TV as a springboard, I came to enjoy reading and writing through the ‘back door’ of television because many of those early programs afforded me a certain degree of insight, which channeled into the books I would read, and eventually helped in the storytelling, plot development, character, and structure techniques of my own writing. All that being said, I watch little television today, aside from news programs, documentaries, music concerts, and certain sports. Most of today's situation comedies and none of the reality programs do not appeal to me, except for an occasional cable series or Netflix movie with a good story line that catches my eye.
Considering the multitude of basic channels and those available on cable and by streaming we have today, I believe most of the programs now offered, including new first-run movies, with obvious exceptions of course, don't really add up to very good television, nor do they speak intelligently to viewers. I believe much better time would be spent reading good books, especially the classics, newspapers and magazines that are readily available and patronizing your local library.
Various interests in the teenage years
When I was twelve or thirteen, I started taking accordion lessons. I wasn't very good and have several unpleasant memories from that period. The first was that my accordion school teacher always seemed to dismiss me about five-ten minutes early from my weekly half-hour Saturday morning lessons to get him a coffee and Danish at the diner next to the school. My playing must have really impressed him!
Another frustrating memory was performing in a beginner's all-accordion band at a large concert hall, the Mosque Theater (now Symphony Hall), in Newark, NJ. We played before a packed audience of parents (including my own), grandparents, relatives, and the family members of other student musicians. On the same playbill were the intermediate and senior level all-accordion band students from my music school. They were great and I was impressed. Then came the last act to perform that afternoon. They were three guys who walked on the stage with only electric guitars. This was the finale and there were no accordions in sight. They started singing and playing rock and roll songs, one of which was "Twist and Shout," and their sound simply knocked me out. All that went through my mind while sitting between my parents was why in the world did I ever choose to take up the accordion. You have to understand that the Beatles had only recently arrived in the United States and were capturing the entire world's attention with their new music and electric guitars. And with that, the once beloved accordion had taken a total tumble in both popularity and sales. Don't get me wrong, the accordion is a terrific instrument, but in my mind, it didn't measure up to the cool sounds of the guitar back in 1964 or anytime since.
Looking back, those memories from my days taking accordion lessons continue to linger. My parents had bought me a beautiful, expensive accordion. Well, to say that I showed little desire to practice and take lessons only months into receiving this generous gift, would be an understatement. My lack of interest was a mild disappointment to my Mom, but more so to my Dad, who was not earning a large salary. I have always felt guilty about the money they spent on two years of lessons and the cost of this pricey instrument. For this reason, I have continued to hold on to my accordion through this very day. Maybe it’s also because I have occasional moments thinking I will take the old squeezebox out of the case and try playing it again. But such thoughts have never materialized any further. I also wonder if the bellows on the accordion have become dried out, which was a concern of my Dad once I stopped playing. I hope not. We'll see. I never say never.
By age fourteen I was reading a great deal more. I became riveted by the horror and suspense stories of Poe, while continuing to spend most of my allowance money on sports magazines, record albums, and 45 rpms. The real turning point in my desire to read came through newspapers. Each day I couldn't wait to read the sports section of New Jersey's two leading north Jersey newspapers, the Newark Star Ledger, which my parents were subscribers, and the now defunct, Newark Evening News, which my Dad brought home each evening after work. Those two newspapers published several excellent syndicated sports columnists (Jim Ogle, Jerry Izenberg and Hy Goldberg), whose columns I would never grow tired of reading, especially if they were about my beloved New York Yankees and hero, Mickey Mantle.
Most everyone in our New Jersey household was an avid newspaper reader. My parents, brother, and I lived on the second floor in a three-family house, my aunt and uncle and two younger cousins, lived on the third-floor, and my grandparents (my mom's parents) lived on the first floor. My uncle bought the New York Times on Sunday and sometimes the Wall Street Journal. I have fond memories of my grandfather, who came to the United States from southern Italy as a very young teenager. He would spend much of each day carefully reading almost every section of the Star-Ledger, despite his limited grammar school education in Italy. Gramps, as we called him, was a wise and intelligent man who provided sound advice, was never pushy, and always showed an abundance of love and affection to his family, relatives and friends every day of his life. My grandmother, who we called Nannie, was the kindest and sweetest grandmother there was. I was truly blessed to have grown up in a very close family, with wonderful parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who have always been there for each other, through both the good and the difficult times.
High school and college life in the late 1960s and 1970s : the BFL, sports, music, movies, and part-time jobs
Most of my teenage years were spent listening to rock music, playing baseball, wiffle ball, stickball, touch football, lifting weights, going to movies, and working at part-time jobs. I idolized my favorite baseball player, Mickey Mantle, and favorite quarterback, Johnny Unitas, loved the "Hercules" movies starring Steve Reeves, and listened for hours on end to Elvis Presley's records. I would hang out regularly with school buddies in front of a candy store or at one of three parking lots adjacent to an all-girls Catholic high school. I was raised in a Catholic school education system, attending both parochial grammar and high school in New Jersey. Some of my buddies went to the public high school in town, while others like myself, attended one of the three neighboring all-boy Catholic high schools located in the nearby city or town. With only girls on our brains, we made the 'Lot' our central turf beginning around 1968. For whatever reason, our schools let out about a half hour earlier than the girls high school. On most days during junior and senior years, we would pile into someone's car when classes ended and head straight for the Lot to meet up and play touch football, but always with one eye glued on the exit doors, waiting for the girls to leave their building. We were known by many of the neighborhood locals as the BFL (The Boys from the Lot). The Lot was basically our home away from home for more years than you can imagine. And we were definitely a band of brothers: "all for one, one for all."
Since those long ago days, it is sad to say that 11 of our closest friends have passed away since high school. Richie left us at seventeen in the summer of 1969 when he drowned at the New Jersey shore. Our friend, Jack, died last November (2015), and more recently, Joe, and Jerry, aka "Spider," passed away last month (June 2016), only days apart. The majority of the 11 guys never made it to age 60 and not one of them even reached 64. They were all much too young to leave the world. There are now only three or four of us BFL survivors. Unbelievable! It's all quite surreal. They were terrific people, always a lot of fun during the many years we partied, played ball, went to the race track, or simply hung out together, and reminisced about the precious days of our youth. I am flooded with so many special memories and miss them all very much. It remains difficult to comprehend that so many of my good buddies are actually gone.
I had a number of part-time jobs while in high school which included working as a stock boy at the local A & P Supermarket; and as a sales clerk for Robert Hall Clothes, an inexpensive family clothing store. I didn't care for either job very much but the clothing store paid much more and provided additional spending cash beyond allowance money to feed my growing record album and sports magazine collection.
On many a late afternoon after class, and some weekends and evenings during my college years, when not consumed by homework, I continued hanging out with friends at the Lot, read a great deal, and listened to a lot of music. I also worked at two large discount department store chains. The first was at Two Guys, and later, at Great Eastern. Both stores have long since gone out of existence. During third year of college I landed the Great Eastern job, thanks to my best friend, Jim, from high school. I worked in the Music Department, selling albums, 45 rpms, 8-track and cassette tapes. Remember them? It was a gravy job which I loved, and one that almost everyone I knew would certainly have loved to have.
Serious reading; a gifted professor's encouragement; developing writing skills; lecturing; always playing catch-up
I was a binge book reader and did not become a serious reader until the last two years of high school and especially in college freshman year 1970. From that point on, I couldn't get enough of books and news, sports, fitness magazines; newspapers like the (Newark) Star Ledger, the New York Times (required by International Relations class in high school), and tabloids like The New York Daily News and the New York Post. During this period I started reading literary classics. It was cool to set sail for Treasure Island with Jim Hawkins in search of high seas adventure and gold; and go roaming the world to revive chivalry with the knight-errant, Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panzo.
I commuted each day from home to William Paterson College (now William Paterson University), a four-year, liberal arts college. I never had the college experience of going away to school like my children and wife had. I actually had no desire to go to an out-of-state college. I can't honestly say today with any certainty if I am better or worse for it. My wife and kids definitely believe that going away to college was a great experience for them. All I can say is that sharing my college years with basically the same group of friends I had from grammar school and high school was an enjoyable time for me. No regrets in that regard.
* It was during college freshman year that I began writing short stories thanks to the encouragement provided by my terrific English Literature Professor, Elizabeth DeGroot (now Professor, Emerita). I enjoyed reading paperback editions of short story compilations by famous authors. At the same time, I became interested in the writing process and how short stories are constructed. It is amazing how many people have since told me about specific teachers from their high school and college days whom they held in the highest regard for directing them towards satisfying career choices. I understand that Professor, Emerita DeGroot remains an avid reader and enjoys traveling in her retirement years. I tip my hat to this wonderful teacher.
[* ADDENDUM posted 12-14-2019 - I was saddened to learn the news that my wonderful Professor, Emerita Elizabeth DeGroot passed away on July 1, 2019 at the age of 91. She retired in 1997. Passionate about reading and books, she was a member of several literary societies, including the C.S. Lewis Society and Friends of Dickens, both in New York City. She made a number of trips to England in connection with her teaching. Professor DeGroot held a doctorate from New York University. I think often about this wise, caring and dedicated teacher. She will be greatly missed.]
Last year by invitation of the Dean of the English Department and Dean of the Library, I was the a guest lecturer at my alma mater. The event was billed as the "Living Writers Series" and held in the Library Auditorium. I spoke to the students about the craft of journalism, freelance writing and blogging. It was a very rewarding experience and a nostalgic day for me. I was impressed by the students' knowledge, their probing questions and eagerness to learn. Who said that you can't go home again?
I have always felt the need to play catch-up for those formative years when I was basically a non-reader, a time that could have been better served developing a foundation of early reading skills and gaining an introduction and some knowledge of the world around me. I am constantly reminded of that familiar inscription we often see emblazoned on t-shirts proclaiming, "So many books, so little time." My pile of new and interesting old books always seems to keep growing, while I do my best to keep up.
Books-in-print or eBooks - an easy choice for me
To this very day, I have never owned or used a Kindle or Nook. My wife has offered to buy me one or the other, but I have resisted. I'm one of those people who simply prefers holding an actual book in his hands when reading. I like the feel of physically turning the pages or turning back a few pages to see what I had just read. I don't think there is anything whatsoever wrong with these devices, but for the present time, they're not for me. Curiously, I recently read in the newspaper that sales for eBooks have evened out this past year, and books in-print may now be actually outselling eBooks. But again, I'm not against eBooks. I can see they have their merits. As I mentioned earlier when discussing the prospects of someday playing my old accordion again, I never say never. The same goes about someday using a Kindle or Nook, but that time for me is not right now.
A lengthy insurance career prior to entering the journalism field
I spent the greater part of three decades in the casualty claims insurance industry, having worked for three major insurance carriers, the last for 30 years. My responsibilities included evaluating various types of litigated claims in the products liability, commercial general liability, medical malpractice and personal lines of business. The work centered on negotiating and resolving high level claims or alternatively taking no settlement positions and proceeding to civil trials based on the merits of the case. I began my insurance career in my early twenties as a claims adjuster, advancing to a technical coverage specialist, and later moving into supervision. Claims is a challenging and exacting profession. Claim professionals take on the multiple hats of being policy and contract coverage experts, doctors, lawyers and negotiators all rolled into one.
I learned very quickly that claims handling involves a significant amount of business writing that includes preparing lengthy formal reports and concise letter writing. This requires a combination of speed, accurate fact-finding and detail, while many times adhering to deadlines. For many years it seemed like my portable cassette Dictaphone (dictation machine) was surgically attached to my hip. I composed hundreds upon hundreds of reports and letters, which in retrospect, are quite similar to the approach used when I go about formulating beginning, middle and end pieces for newspaper columns and recorded interviews. Over time, I developed the rhythm and flow necessary to piece together factual and accurate information in a cohesive outline form to effectively construct such reports and tell a story. Business writing was no doubt enjoyable for me because I always liked the entire outline writing process.
Sometime during the second half of my insurance career, I took a greater interest in writing about subjects unrelated to the insurance business. I finally took the plunge and started writing essays, articles, and short fiction, outside my insurance comfort zone. The writing process began as a disciplined hobby, and then as a part-time freelancer for twenty years while continuing to work in the insurance field until retirement. This subsequently led to my current career as a full-time freelance journalist.
During the interim period just prior to retiring and beginning a new career as a freelancer, I took a part-time job in the evenings working at a now defunct Doubleday Book Shop located in a shopping mall near my home. I have two special memories during my time there. One evening in 1987, this terrific looking girl who I really wanted to date, walked in the book shop with her very young niece just to say hello. I had a certain feeling that something good would come of this. Another time that same year, the famous late opera soprano, Beverly Sills, came to the shop to promote her autobiography. I remember our cash registers were humming with sales of her new book all afternoon. When it was time for her to leave, she said a few words of thanks to the manager, left the shop and began walking into the mall. Then she suddenly stopped, did an about-face and returned to the shop, and walked over to the register where I was standing with another co-worker. She shook our hands and thanked us for assisting with the customer book purchases during that very long and heavy traffic afternoon. I was so impressed by the simple token of kindness and appreciation she expressed, that it has remained with me through the years. A little kindness goes a long way.
My wife and best friend - a constant source of inspiration and encouragement, who along with our two children, my parents, and brother are the greatest joys in this life - blessed from top to bottom with a close family
I have fond memories from my insurance days, having made a number of solid and lasting friendships. While I never expected making insurance my career after college graduation, I am forever grateful that I did enter that field. Certain things in life happen for a reason. While working in a local New Jersey claims office back in 1985, I met a wonderful woman, an attractive and very intelligent coworker who had just started with our company. She is that same lady, who two years later would stop in the book store with her niece. A special friendship developed and a short time later this lovely woman became my bride. She is the love of my life for what is now almost thirty years of marriage. My wife is a constant source of inspiration and encouragement in every aspect of my life, including my writing endeavors, and might I add, she is an excellent editor and always able to make perfect sense out of everything I write down. My wife is my best friend and the best mom in the world. Just ask our kids. And also like my own incredible mother was throughout her life for me, my wife is the greatest cook and baker.
We have been blessed with two wonderful, loving children who are the absolute joys of our lives. They are intelligent, college educated young people who have already accomplished a great deal at their young ages. Most importantly, they are caring individuals with wonderful hearts and a strong sense of family.
If I could nominate one person for sainthood, it would be my mother. I loved her dearly. She was the storybook mom. I never met anyone like her. She lived for her entire family, always placing everyone else's needs ahead of her own. We were a family that loved to eat. She did a lot of supermarket shopping. Mom's cooking and baking was par excellence. I don't remember a time when there was not a warm full meal at the dinner table. She enjoyed sewing on her old Singer machine and was only to happy to mend and repair the family's pants, shirts, dresses and jackets. We were a middle class family and mom, like my dad, knew the meaning of the dollar and were never wasteful. As children, my brother and I never wanted for anything. They were wonderful providers. Mom was a worrier, always concerned about our health and safety. This carried over when they became grandparents and our children had colds or the flu. She would regularly call us to make sure everyone was feeling better. Mom was there for us, day or night, to talk and listen to whatever problems we were facing, and always willing to help. In the very same way my kids rightfully regard their own mom, I can say, too that my own mother was also the world's best mom.
I can never say enough great things about my father. He was the best dad that a boy could ever have. I shared so many of my first experiences with him, from playing catch in the backyard, to my first time going to Yankee Stadium, taking me to the movies, and trips to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. He was the most regular person and never put on any airs. My childhood memories are priceless. Both of my parents had a strong belief in God and their Catholic faith. The spirituality they brought to our family was not lost on me.
My brother is a very special person. We are four years apart in age. I am the elder. We had different interests growing up as kids and didn't hang out much together, but I knew then and now that he is always there for me. He is a terrific husband, father, grandfather and all-around family man. I want to believe that the two of us took on many of the traits of both our parents.
Not everyone can say this, but I was blessed to have been raised in a family that also included the most wonderful four grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My wife's parents, sisters-in-laws, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews and their own kids are all special and terrific folks. They made me feel welcome from the very start...one great big family.
I am proud to say that all these people are absolutely the best. Life is good!
Nonfiction vs fiction writing
I have written some short fiction pieces but the majority of my work has been as a freelance journalist and generalist practitioner, writing almost exclusively for newspapers and magazines. Writing for this medium, I enjoy researching and gathering facts, (something I undoubtedly learned from years in the insurance trade), formulating subjective opinions on particular topics that have teeth, reporting on them, and receiving honest reader feedback, whether positive or negative.
I also very much enjoy reading novels and short stories. I have the ultimate respect for fiction writers who creatively come up with incredible new plots time after time, and then develop them into great stories. Don't ask me to choose which fictional form (novels or short stories) I enjoy more and which is the most satisfying. It all depends upon the storyline and the characters, not the length. The books on my night table always include a good mix of fiction and nonfiction.
It is my intention to eventually include some short fiction that I have written on my website.
Favorite and most influential journalists, novelists, and essayists
Any such favorite writer’s list for me would be extensive and quite varied, but I will give it a try. They run the complete gamut: news, sports, and music journalists; essayists; historians; newspaper columnists and reporters; novelists; short fiction writers; and those writers I simply enjoy reading for the pleasure of their own individual writing style. I especially enjoy articles by journalists who examine social commentary in urban and suburban life; and humor. Some of my favorite authors have written American and European literature; contemporary fiction; literary criticism; historical fiction; history, especially New York City history; biography; mystery; suspense; and detective fiction. As you can see, I have included just about every type of writer and genre.
It is not uncommon for young writers to be influenced by the style of certain authors and journalists they admire. I was no different in this respect. First and foremost, Pete Hamill, the acclaimed New York journalist, novelist, essayist, and former newspaper columnist and editor for both the New York Post and New York Daily News, was and remains my major influence and inspiration in my decision to pursue a writing career. The name of my website, "Piecework Journals," is borrowed liberally from Mr. Hamill's excellent book titled, "Piecework," a collection of his brilliant essays, which was published in 1996.
Growing up in a working class environment in New Jersey, I identified with the subtle nuances and rich characterizations of Mr. Hamill's prose whenever describing the tempo of the streets, the people, hanging out on the stoop, playing stickball on streets empty of cars, the ball fields, the factories, and the saloons, that once defined life in his old Brooklyn neighborhood. Pete Hamill's depiction of what real nostalgia is all about, while never confusing it with mere syrupy, sentimental drivel, is but one aspect of his fine work that I have always admired.
I have had a strong interest in Edgar Allan Poe since I was a young teenager. My enthusiasm for his numerous accomplishments increased more as I grew older. Like so many youngsters, I was initially captivated by the horror in Poe's writing, especially his application of the surprise ending, that is, the plot twist, a powerful technique that continues to be skillfully used by Poe's many talented heirs in books and film. As I delved even further into Poe, I came to appreciate his enormous body of work and contributions in different fields of literature, and also his own complicated life. He is the father of the Gothic horror story, modern science fiction, fantasy and satire; and the father, although not the inventor, of the detective story. Many of his stories deal with themes that are forerunners to modern forms of parapsychology, schizophrenia, the psychotic personality, and the split personality. Poe is considered by many as the first modern American critic and the first to write seriously about criticism.
In the year before he died, Poe, who was an amateur astronomer, completed Eureka, his cosmological treatise on the creation of the universe, based on mathematical and astronomical observations. It was his attempt to deal with the philosophy of death and the unification of the soul after death. Poe's interpretation of the cosmos origin in espousing the "black hole" theory and explanation for the dark "night sky" conundrum is now almost universally accepted by astrophysicists.
I have yet to mention that Edgar Allan Poe also wrote some of the most well-known and best loved American poems. Unfortunately, he clearly was a misunderstood genius who was maligned during his lifetime and for years after his death by many unscrupulous and jealous peers. Thanks to the enlightening scholarship that emerged during the early part of the twentieth century and continues, I believe it is now quite safe to say that Poe has eventually won out on his critics.
Another writer whom I have great admiration is the late Rod Serling. He was an extraordinary person, and a literary genius who reached the pinnacle of success, as creator and main writer of the classic television series, "The Twilight Zone." In the years since the original broadcasts aired in prime-time, his stature has been elevated to that of a true American icon.
Rod Serling wrote the vast majority of the "Twilight Zone" scripts. He was a visionary whose creative stories spoke of humanity, sympathy for the downtrodden, and the absolute need for tolerance against the social evils of prejudice, racism, and bigotry. He wrote about urban alienation and the atrocities that come with war. His writings also explored such human conditions as depression and mental disorders that can lead people to acts of utter destruction and commit suicide. His intelligent discourse on these very subjects was brilliantly camouflaged through the guise of different genres: fantasy, suspense, horror, science-fiction, superstition, drama, light comedy, and psychological thrillers. This was successfully accomplished to appease the program's sponsors ongoing fears of offending and potentially losing their all-important, dearly coveted product base with the buying public. His masterful application of richly layered dialogue sailed over the heads of most sponsors and avoided a number of potential censorship issues.
Serling's work was especially significant during the middle period of the last century because many of his story lines went far beyond the conventional bounds of popular culture. "The Twilight Zone" was therefore able to prosper during the years that conservative prime-time programming dominated television in the early 1960s, when the series aired.
Many of "The Twilight Zone" episodes also served as morality tales, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. Others contained elements of real nostalgia, where his characters seek to relive the earlier and supposedly happier times and places in their lives. Some of the tales were actually based on Serling's fond recollections from his own childhood and early adult life while living in Binghamton, NY.
The intelligent use of language that permeated all of Rod Serling's fine work served as the essential cornerstone for his magnificent career. This included his early acclaimed writing for 'live' television in the mid-1950s; the subsequent classic "Twilight Zone" years from 1959 to 1964; as a respected Hollywood screenwriter for major motion pictures; and later, the "Night Gallery" television series from 1969 to 1973. All his writing projects have held up immeasurably well in the ensuing years. Serling's incredible body of work is a testament to his outstanding skills as one of the most successfully prolific writers of the twentieth century.
Rod Serling was a remarkable individual, a family man, a workaholic, very much admired by industry peers and his multitude of fans throughout the world. This has perpetuated into an amazing legacy, which continues to grow and flourish. Serling died much too young at the age of 50 in 1975. As is the case with the classic works of so many great writers and artists, "The Twilight Zone" has outlived its creator and continues to inspire us today and will continue to do so for generations to come.
So here is my list of writers in no particular order of preference, but only as these gifted individuals came to my mind …
Edgar Allan Poe, Pete Hamill, Rod Serling, W. C. Heinz, Tom Wolfe, Thomas Wolfe, O. Henry, Ed McBain, Richard Ford, Richard Price, Miguel de Cervantes, Sinclair Lewis, Roger Kahn, Kevin Baker, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Irving, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Charles Dickens, Gay Talese, Dick Schaap, Flannery O'Connor, George Carlin, Voltaire, Anna Quindlen, Joseph Mitchell, Harlan Coben, Emile Zola, Don DeLillo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Shirley Jackson, Paul Astor, Thomas L. Friedman, E. L. Doctorow, Henry James, Scott Turow, Charles Baudelaire, Edward Robb Ellis, E. B. White, Dante Alighieri, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Ian McEwan, A. J. Liebling, Stephen King, David McCullough, Upton Sinclair, Raymond Chandler, Jorge Luis Borges, Joyce Carol Oates, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Philip Roth, Stephen Ambrose, Raymond Carver, Nora Ephron, Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Tom Ainslie, Russell Banks, Mary Higgins Clark, Niccolo Machiavelli, Laura Hillenbrand, Honore de Balzac, Michael Lewis, Ralph Ellison, John Grisham, Mario Vargas Llosa, John Updike, Dave Anderson, John Cheever, Denis Hamill, Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury, Henry James, Alexander Dumas, Robert Caro, Phillip Lopate, John Dos Passos, Harper Lee, Calvin Trillin, William Faulkner, J. M. Coetzee, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Richard Yates, Mitch Albom, J. D. Salinger, Nelson DeMille, Richard Matheson, Hervey Allen, George Orwell, Flannery O’Connor …. and on and on. You get the picture.
Favorites works of fiction and nonfiction
I can answer this in the same vein as when reflecting on my favorite writers. The list is extensive and quite varied by subject. Many of my favorite books were enjoyed for their specific subject matter that interested me, some for inspiration they delivered, many for the pure delight and pleasure they gave, and others simply because they brought back a flood of wonderful memories from my childhood years.
I read a number of these wonderful books in my late teens and early twenties. Many years later I read several of them again. It was fascinating because I came away remembering how some of these great books spoke to my senses a certain way as a young person, only for me to gain an entirely different perspective and meaning from them as an adult.
So here is a very, very long list of personal gems that make my list, while I have no doubt forgotten to include many others which probably would stand equally side-by-side with these special books. They came to mind in no particular order of preference, except for the first five listed, which rank as my all-time favorites:
The Bible; Tales of Mystery and the Imagination (E. A. Poe); The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe); Don Quixote (M. de Cervantes); Forever (P. Hamill); The Jungle (U. Sinclair); The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (S. Wilson); Here is New York (E. B. White); The Elements of Style (W. Strunk & E.B. White); The Bell Jar (S. Plath); Brooklyn (C. Toibin); Main Street (S. Lewis); Indignation (P. Roth); Everyman (P. Roth); Fahrenheit 451 (R. Bradbury); Invisible Man (R. Ellison); Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? - Selected Early Stories (J. C. Oates); Candide (Voltaire); Reinventing the Melting Pot (T. Jacoby, Editor); The Poet (M. Connelly); Writing New York (P. Lopate, Editor); A Good Man is Hard To Find (F. O'Connor); The Fifties (D. Halberstam); The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger); Treasure Island (R. L. Stevenson); The Elements of Journalism (B. Kovach & T. Rosenstiel); You Can’t Go Home Again (Thomas Wolfe); Hawthorne - Tales and Sketches (N. Hawthorne); Twice-Told Tales - Nathaniel Hawthorne (N. Hawthorne); The Scarlet Letter (N. Hawthorne); The House of the Seven Gables (N. Hawthorne); Underworld (D. DeLillo); Selected Poems of William Butler Yeats (W.B. Yeats); Long Time Gone (D. Hamill); Empty Stockings (D. Hamill); The Prince (N. Machiavelli); 1776 (D. McCullough); Mickey Mantle - The Indispensable Yankee (D. Schaap); One Hundred Years of Solitude (G. G. Marquez); Crime and Punishment (F. Dostoevsky); The Count of Monte Cristo (A. Dumas); Robinson Crusoe (D. Defoe); Presumed Innocent (S. Turow); The Boys of Summer (R. Kahn); Animal Farm (G. Orwell); Nineteen Eighty-Four (G. Orwell); Up in the Old Hotel (J. Mitchell); Moby-Dick (H. Melville); Israfel – The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe (H. Allen); Edgar Allan Poe - A Critical Biography (A. H. Quinn); Edgar A. Poe - Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance (K. Silverman); Poems of Edgar Allan Poe - Illustrated by Edmund Dulac (E. A. Poe); The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe (R. B. Johnson, Editor); Rod Serling - Stories from The Twilight Zone; Rod Serling - More Stories from the The Twilight Zone; Rod Serling - New Stories from The Twilight Zone; Ball Four (J. Bouton); Atonement (I. McEwan); A Christmas Carol (C. Dickens); A Tale of Two Cities (C. Dickens); Hard Times (C. Dickens); Great Expectations (C. Dickens); Cathedral (R. Carver); The Epic of New York City (E. R. Ellis); Last Night in Twisted River (J. Irving); To Kill a Mockingbird (H. Lee); Undaunted Courage (S. Ambrose); Clockers (R. Price); The Wanderers (R. Price); Willie Mays - The Life, The Legend (J. Hirsch); The Top of His Game - W. C. Heinz (B. Littlefield, Editor); On the Waterfront (M. Johnson); A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (B. Smith); The Portable Faulkner (M. Cowley); Tuesdays with Morrie (M. Albom); The World is Flat (T. L. Friedman); Longitudes and Attitudes (T. L. Friedman); 52-Pickup (E. Leonard); Wonderful Town - New York Stories From The New Yorker (D. Remnick, Editor); The Compleat Horseplayer (T. Ainslie); Disgrace (J. M. Coetzee); Blink (M. Gladwell); Serling - The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man (G. F. Sander); Seabiscuit (L. Hillenbrand); Rabbit, Run (J. Updike); Rabbit Redux (J. Updike); Rabbit is Rich (J. Updike); Rabbit at Rest (J. Updike); Licks of Love (J. Updike); The Best American Short Stories of the Century (J. Updike, Editor; K. Kenison, Co-Editor); Gulliver's Travels (J. Swift); Johnny U - The Life and Times of John Unitas (T. Callahan); The Gold Coast (N. DeMille); Mayday (T. Block / N. DeMille & T. Block); Empire City - (K. Jackson & D. S. Dunbar); Sinatra! The Song Is You (W. Friedwald); The Frank Sinatra Reader (S. Petkov & L. Mustazza, Editors); The Old Man and the Sea (E. Hemingway); The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (E. Hemingway); Tell No One (H. Coben); The Great Bridge (D. McCullough); John Adams (D. McCullough); Barbarians at the Gate (B. Burrough & J. Helyar); Paper Lion (G. Plimpton); The Bronx is Burning (J. Mahler); An American Tragedy (T. Dreiser); A Stranger is Watching (M. H. Clark); The Cradle Will Fall (M. H. Clark); The Firm (J. Grisham); Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America (B. Shapiro, Editor); The Last Dance (E. McBain); The Stories of John Cheever (J. Cheever); Teacher Man (F. McCourt); Tepper Isn’t Going Out (C. Trillin); Piecework (P. Hamill); Downtown, My Manhattan (P. Hamill); News is a Verb (P. Hamill); A Drinking Life (P. Hamill); Snow in August (P. Hamill); Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (P. Guralnick); Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (P. Guralnick); The Sportswriter (R. Ford); Independence Day (R. Ford); The Call of the Wild (J. London); Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria (M. Rotella); My Cousin the Saint (J. Catanoso); The Road (C. McCarthy); Dynasty (P. Golenbock); Unto the Sons (G. Talese); The Last Boy - Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood (J. Leavy); Wait Till Next Year (D.K. Goodwin); Chronicles: Volume One (B. Dylan); On Writing (S. King); Washington Square (H. James); Danse Macabre (S. King); Pet Sematary (S. King); The Shining (S. King); Liar's Poker (M. Lewis); Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (M. Lewis); The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and his Struggle to Save New York (V. Cannato); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 13 More Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on T.V. (A. Hitchcock, Editor); Alfred Hitchcock's A Baker's Dozen of Suspense Stories (A. Hitchcock, Editor); The Girl on the Train (P. Hawkins); The Best Short Stories of O. Henry (O. Henry); Manhattan Transfer (J. Dos Passos); Balzac - Selected Short Stories (H. de Balzac); Tell it to Sweeney (J. Chapman); My Life and Hard Times (J. Thurber); Paradise Alley (K. Baker).
Childhood and teenage reading habits
I was not very much of a reader during my formative years, which were the 1950s into the very early 1960s. In grammar school, I read primarily only teacher assigned summer reading books and with much reluctance. I did, however, enjoy reading sports magazines, comic books, satire like MAD magazine, and flipping through the pages at the intriguing photos of my parents' Life and Look magazines. As I grew a little older, I read biographies about famous and powerful individuals, such as my favorite sports heroes, U.S. presidents, and the early astronauts from the 1960s, who were revered like many of today's superstar athletes.
Throughout my childhood and teens, my favorite reading materials were magazines, which I continue to reach for whenever passing a magazine store. I have a vivid recollection of the time when a magazine vendor came to my grammar school and spoke to the various school grades in the auditorium. I even remember that his name was Mr. Savage. He was a magazine subscription salesman. I was so impressed by his selling pitch interspersed with humor, that I went home and asked my parents if they would buy me a subscription to Dell Sports, which hasn't been published for many years. They said OK and I was thrilled. I remember waiting impatiently for my first issue to arrive. Sport magazines have always been special to me. I think a large reason for this has to do with the actual feel of it when you turn the pages. I love the shiny, captivating colorful front covers and pages. Whenever I go to a magazine store to this very day, I always reach for the second or third magazine in the rack. I want it to be in pristine condition with no bent corners. Along with my old 45 rpm singles and record albums, I am also a pack rat when it comes to holding on to my favorite sports magazines. I have kept many baseball magazines dating back to when I was nine or ten and most are in very good condition. I guess I'm a pack rat. Unfortunately, many of the popular magazines from that era have ceased publication and those remaining have dwindled in circulation along with the total number of pages in each issue. This, of course is due to the shift to online publications. Even major print magazines, like Time Magazine, are now wafer thin, and become mere shells of their former selves.
Television's influence in the formative years and its effect on my reading and writing
Television had a major impact on me. I was a complete TV addict beginning at a very young age. Nowadays I watch little television. I'll explain a bit later. When I was a young boy I watched every children's cartoon imaginable: "Bugs Bunny," "Mighty Mouse," "Popeye," "Yogi Bear," "Rocky and Bullwinkle," "Mr. Magoo," you name it. I watched other little kid shows, like "Ding Dong School" (with Miss Frances), and "Romper Room," and "Captain Kangaroo." I almost never missed "Davy Crockett" and "Zorro." I was devoted to all the family shows and comedies: "The Donna Reed Show," "Leave it to Beaver," "My Three Sons," and of course, "Dennis the Menace," and "Lassie." I watched countless repeats of "Superman," "Car 54, Where Are You?," "Topper," "The Little Rascals," "My Little Margie," "Abbott & Costello," and "The Three Stooges." On Sunday evenings, my family always watched "The Ed Sullivan Show." I have a very clear memory of watching the Beatles perform on the "Sullivan" show to the screams of teenage girls when they first arrived in the United States in 1964.
I loved the cowboy television shows, several of which I watched with my Dad. I was a big fan of "Sky King," "Maverick," "The Texan," "Cheyenne," "Bat Masterson," "The Lone Ranger," "Wanted Dead or Alive," "Wyatt Earp," "The Rifleman,"and "Have Gun - Will Travel," with a list that goes on and on.
I also enjoyed dramatic shows like "Perry Mason," one of my Dad's favorites. I thought every defense lawyer in America must have been as intelligent as Raymond Burr. Although I didn't understand the legalese as a child, I knew justice would prevail within the designated one-hour format, so I sat patiently to see who eventually turned out to be the bad guy or gal in the closing few minutes. There were a couple of science and art shows for children that I thought were terrific, including "Watch Mr. Wizard" (with Don Herbert), where simple experiments taught basic physics, chemistry, and biology; and "Learn to Draw (with Jon Gnagy)."
My all-time favorite television show to this today remains "The Twilight Zone" original series. Many of the episodes scared the hell out of me as a child. "Twilight Zone" is no doubt the reason I later gravitated to reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I was also a big fan of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and some "One Step Beyond" and "Thriller" episodes.
I cannot speak about the television's influence on me without mentioning my favorite sport of baseball. In the early sixties, I began watching a lot of day baseball games on television because night games hadn't yet taken hold in prime time. For a young boy on summer vacation, there was nothing that meant more to me than spending a hot August afternoon inside with the fan on, enjoying a lemon ice and watching a Yankees game. In those days they had a powerful lineup that included Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bill "Moose" Skowron, Bobby Richardson and Whitey Ford pitching. Sadly, all but Richardson and Ford from that illustrious group have passed on. It was a time when the Yankees seemed to win the American League pennant every year. The only question was, who would be their National League opponent in the World Series.
There was no doubt that I probably spent too much time watching TV, but I have little regrets in that regard. I enjoyed those shows and Yankee baseball games immensely, and eventually came to realize that many of the shows dealt with situations in the realm of the popular culture of my generation. Some of the shows actually inspired me to read more and much later appreciate the literary classics and great books in a number of genres. I would compare my evolution into reading and writing in a similar way to the generation of youngsters that preceded the advent of television. Those kids no doubt had their ears pressed up against the radio listening to stories, comedies and music, that were written, narrated and sung by talented dramatists, actors, comedians, singers and musicians. In due time, this propelled many of the writers to expand their own horizons beyond radio and become avid readers, authors, and writers for the new medium of television that was to come. One such individual was Rod Serling, the creator and main writer of "The Twilight Zone." Using TV as a springboard, I came to enjoy reading and writing through the ‘back door’ of television because many of those early programs afforded me a certain degree of insight, which channeled into the books I would read, and eventually helped in the storytelling, plot development, character, and structure techniques of my own writing. All that being said, I watch little television today, aside from news programs, documentaries, music concerts, and certain sports. Most of today's situation comedies and none of the reality programs do not appeal to me, except for an occasional cable series or Netflix movie with a good story line that catches my eye.
Considering the multitude of basic channels and those available on cable and by streaming we have today, I believe most of the programs now offered, including new first-run movies, with obvious exceptions of course, don't really add up to very good television, nor do they speak intelligently to viewers. I believe much better time would be spent reading good books, especially the classics, newspapers and magazines that are readily available and patronizing your local library.
Various interests in the teenage years
When I was twelve or thirteen, I started taking accordion lessons. I wasn't very good and have several unpleasant memories from that period. The first was that my accordion school teacher always seemed to dismiss me about five-ten minutes early from my weekly half-hour Saturday morning lessons to get him a coffee and Danish at the diner next to the school. My playing must have really impressed him!
Another frustrating memory was performing in a beginner's all-accordion band at a large concert hall, the Mosque Theater (now Symphony Hall), in Newark, NJ. We played before a packed audience of parents (including my own), grandparents, relatives, and the family members of other student musicians. On the same playbill were the intermediate and senior level all-accordion band students from my music school. They were great and I was impressed. Then came the last act to perform that afternoon. They were three guys who walked on the stage with only electric guitars. This was the finale and there were no accordions in sight. They started singing and playing rock and roll songs, one of which was "Twist and Shout," and their sound simply knocked me out. All that went through my mind while sitting between my parents was why in the world did I ever choose to take up the accordion. You have to understand that the Beatles had only recently arrived in the United States and were capturing the entire world's attention with their new music and electric guitars. And with that, the once beloved accordion had taken a total tumble in both popularity and sales. Don't get me wrong, the accordion is a terrific instrument, but in my mind, it didn't measure up to the cool sounds of the guitar back in 1964 or anytime since.
Looking back, those memories from my days taking accordion lessons continue to linger. My parents had bought me a beautiful, expensive accordion. Well, to say that I showed little desire to practice and take lessons only months into receiving this generous gift, would be an understatement. My lack of interest was a mild disappointment to my Mom, but more so to my Dad, who was not earning a large salary. I have always felt guilty about the money they spent on two years of lessons and the cost of this pricey instrument. For this reason, I have continued to hold on to my accordion through this very day. Maybe it’s also because I have occasional moments thinking I will take the old squeezebox out of the case and try playing it again. But such thoughts have never materialized any further. I also wonder if the bellows on the accordion have become dried out, which was a concern of my Dad once I stopped playing. I hope not. We'll see. I never say never.
By age fourteen I was reading a great deal more. I became riveted by the horror and suspense stories of Poe, while continuing to spend most of my allowance money on sports magazines, record albums, and 45 rpms. The real turning point in my desire to read came through newspapers. Each day I couldn't wait to read the sports section of New Jersey's two leading north Jersey newspapers, the Newark Star Ledger, which my parents were subscribers, and the now defunct, Newark Evening News, which my Dad brought home each evening after work. Those two newspapers published several excellent syndicated sports columnists (Jim Ogle, Jerry Izenberg and Hy Goldberg), whose columns I would never grow tired of reading, especially if they were about my beloved New York Yankees and hero, Mickey Mantle.
Most everyone in our New Jersey household was an avid newspaper reader. My parents, brother, and I lived on the second floor in a three-family house, my aunt and uncle and two younger cousins, lived on the third-floor, and my grandparents (my mom's parents) lived on the first floor. My uncle bought the New York Times on Sunday and sometimes the Wall Street Journal. I have fond memories of my grandfather, who came to the United States from southern Italy as a very young teenager. He would spend much of each day carefully reading almost every section of the Star-Ledger, despite his limited grammar school education in Italy. Gramps, as we called him, was a wise and intelligent man who provided sound advice, was never pushy, and always showed an abundance of love and affection to his family, relatives and friends every day of his life. My grandmother, who we called Nannie, was the kindest and sweetest grandmother there was. I was truly blessed to have grown up in a very close family, with wonderful parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who have always been there for each other, through both the good and the difficult times.
High school and college life in the late 1960s and 1970s : the BFL, sports, music, movies, and part-time jobs
Most of my teenage years were spent listening to rock music, playing baseball, wiffle ball, stickball, touch football, lifting weights, going to movies, and working at part-time jobs. I idolized my favorite baseball player, Mickey Mantle, and favorite quarterback, Johnny Unitas, loved the "Hercules" movies starring Steve Reeves, and listened for hours on end to Elvis Presley's records. I would hang out regularly with school buddies in front of a candy store or at one of three parking lots adjacent to an all-girls Catholic high school. I was raised in a Catholic school education system, attending both parochial grammar and high school in New Jersey. Some of my buddies went to the public high school in town, while others like myself, attended one of the three neighboring all-boy Catholic high schools located in the nearby city or town. With only girls on our brains, we made the 'Lot' our central turf beginning around 1968. For whatever reason, our schools let out about a half hour earlier than the girls high school. On most days during junior and senior years, we would pile into someone's car when classes ended and head straight for the Lot to meet up and play touch football, but always with one eye glued on the exit doors, waiting for the girls to leave their building. We were known by many of the neighborhood locals as the BFL (The Boys from the Lot). The Lot was basically our home away from home for more years than you can imagine. And we were definitely a band of brothers: "all for one, one for all."
Since those long ago days, it is sad to say that 11 of our closest friends have passed away since high school. Richie left us at seventeen in the summer of 1969 when he drowned at the New Jersey shore. Our friend, Jack, died last November (2015), and more recently, Joe, and Jerry, aka "Spider," passed away last month (June 2016), only days apart. The majority of the 11 guys never made it to age 60 and not one of them even reached 64. They were all much too young to leave the world. There are now only three or four of us BFL survivors. Unbelievable! It's all quite surreal. They were terrific people, always a lot of fun during the many years we partied, played ball, went to the race track, or simply hung out together, and reminisced about the precious days of our youth. I am flooded with so many special memories and miss them all very much. It remains difficult to comprehend that so many of my good buddies are actually gone.
I had a number of part-time jobs while in high school which included working as a stock boy at the local A & P Supermarket; and as a sales clerk for Robert Hall Clothes, an inexpensive family clothing store. I didn't care for either job very much but the clothing store paid much more and provided additional spending cash beyond allowance money to feed my growing record album and sports magazine collection.
On many a late afternoon after class, and some weekends and evenings during my college years, when not consumed by homework, I continued hanging out with friends at the Lot, read a great deal, and listened to a lot of music. I also worked at two large discount department store chains. The first was at Two Guys, and later, at Great Eastern. Both stores have long since gone out of existence. During third year of college I landed the Great Eastern job, thanks to my best friend, Jim, from high school. I worked in the Music Department, selling albums, 45 rpms, 8-track and cassette tapes. Remember them? It was a gravy job which I loved, and one that almost everyone I knew would certainly have loved to have.
Serious reading; a gifted professor's encouragement; developing writing skills; lecturing; always playing catch-up
I was a binge book reader and did not become a serious reader until the last two years of high school and especially in college freshman year 1970. From that point on, I couldn't get enough of books and news, sports, fitness magazines; newspapers like the (Newark) Star Ledger, the New York Times (required by International Relations class in high school), and tabloids like The New York Daily News and the New York Post. During this period I started reading literary classics. It was cool to set sail for Treasure Island with Jim Hawkins in search of high seas adventure and gold; and go roaming the world to revive chivalry with the knight-errant, Don Quixote and his faithful squire, Sancho Panzo.
I commuted each day from home to William Paterson College (now William Paterson University), a four-year, liberal arts college. I never had the college experience of going away to school like my children and wife had. I actually had no desire to go to an out-of-state college. I can't honestly say today with any certainty if I am better or worse for it. My wife and kids definitely believe that going away to college was a great experience for them. All I can say is that sharing my college years with basically the same group of friends I had from grammar school and high school was an enjoyable time for me. No regrets in that regard.
* It was during college freshman year that I began writing short stories thanks to the encouragement provided by my terrific English Literature Professor, Elizabeth DeGroot (now Professor, Emerita). I enjoyed reading paperback editions of short story compilations by famous authors. At the same time, I became interested in the writing process and how short stories are constructed. It is amazing how many people have since told me about specific teachers from their high school and college days whom they held in the highest regard for directing them towards satisfying career choices. I understand that Professor, Emerita DeGroot remains an avid reader and enjoys traveling in her retirement years. I tip my hat to this wonderful teacher.
[* ADDENDUM posted 12-14-2019 - I was saddened to learn the news that my wonderful Professor, Emerita Elizabeth DeGroot passed away on July 1, 2019 at the age of 91. She retired in 1997. Passionate about reading and books, she was a member of several literary societies, including the C.S. Lewis Society and Friends of Dickens, both in New York City. She made a number of trips to England in connection with her teaching. Professor DeGroot held a doctorate from New York University. I think often about this wise, caring and dedicated teacher. She will be greatly missed.]
Last year by invitation of the Dean of the English Department and Dean of the Library, I was the a guest lecturer at my alma mater. The event was billed as the "Living Writers Series" and held in the Library Auditorium. I spoke to the students about the craft of journalism, freelance writing and blogging. It was a very rewarding experience and a nostalgic day for me. I was impressed by the students' knowledge, their probing questions and eagerness to learn. Who said that you can't go home again?
I have always felt the need to play catch-up for those formative years when I was basically a non-reader, a time that could have been better served developing a foundation of early reading skills and gaining an introduction and some knowledge of the world around me. I am constantly reminded of that familiar inscription we often see emblazoned on t-shirts proclaiming, "So many books, so little time." My pile of new and interesting old books always seems to keep growing, while I do my best to keep up.
Books-in-print or eBooks - an easy choice for me
To this very day, I have never owned or used a Kindle or Nook. My wife has offered to buy me one or the other, but I have resisted. I'm one of those people who simply prefers holding an actual book in his hands when reading. I like the feel of physically turning the pages or turning back a few pages to see what I had just read. I don't think there is anything whatsoever wrong with these devices, but for the present time, they're not for me. Curiously, I recently read in the newspaper that sales for eBooks have evened out this past year, and books in-print may now be actually outselling eBooks. But again, I'm not against eBooks. I can see they have their merits. As I mentioned earlier when discussing the prospects of someday playing my old accordion again, I never say never. The same goes about someday using a Kindle or Nook, but that time for me is not right now.
A lengthy insurance career prior to entering the journalism field
I spent the greater part of three decades in the casualty claims insurance industry, having worked for three major insurance carriers, the last for 30 years. My responsibilities included evaluating various types of litigated claims in the products liability, commercial general liability, medical malpractice and personal lines of business. The work centered on negotiating and resolving high level claims or alternatively taking no settlement positions and proceeding to civil trials based on the merits of the case. I began my insurance career in my early twenties as a claims adjuster, advancing to a technical coverage specialist, and later moving into supervision. Claims is a challenging and exacting profession. Claim professionals take on the multiple hats of being policy and contract coverage experts, doctors, lawyers and negotiators all rolled into one.
I learned very quickly that claims handling involves a significant amount of business writing that includes preparing lengthy formal reports and concise letter writing. This requires a combination of speed, accurate fact-finding and detail, while many times adhering to deadlines. For many years it seemed like my portable cassette Dictaphone (dictation machine) was surgically attached to my hip. I composed hundreds upon hundreds of reports and letters, which in retrospect, are quite similar to the approach used when I go about formulating beginning, middle and end pieces for newspaper columns and recorded interviews. Over time, I developed the rhythm and flow necessary to piece together factual and accurate information in a cohesive outline form to effectively construct such reports and tell a story. Business writing was no doubt enjoyable for me because I always liked the entire outline writing process.
Sometime during the second half of my insurance career, I took a greater interest in writing about subjects unrelated to the insurance business. I finally took the plunge and started writing essays, articles, and short fiction, outside my insurance comfort zone. The writing process began as a disciplined hobby, and then as a part-time freelancer for twenty years while continuing to work in the insurance field until retirement. This subsequently led to my current career as a full-time freelance journalist.
During the interim period just prior to retiring and beginning a new career as a freelancer, I took a part-time job in the evenings working at a now defunct Doubleday Book Shop located in a shopping mall near my home. I have two special memories during my time there. One evening in 1987, this terrific looking girl who I really wanted to date, walked in the book shop with her very young niece just to say hello. I had a certain feeling that something good would come of this. Another time that same year, the famous late opera soprano, Beverly Sills, came to the shop to promote her autobiography. I remember our cash registers were humming with sales of her new book all afternoon. When it was time for her to leave, she said a few words of thanks to the manager, left the shop and began walking into the mall. Then she suddenly stopped, did an about-face and returned to the shop, and walked over to the register where I was standing with another co-worker. She shook our hands and thanked us for assisting with the customer book purchases during that very long and heavy traffic afternoon. I was so impressed by the simple token of kindness and appreciation she expressed, that it has remained with me through the years. A little kindness goes a long way.
My wife and best friend - a constant source of inspiration and encouragement, who along with our two children, my parents, and brother are the greatest joys in this life - blessed from top to bottom with a close family
I have fond memories from my insurance days, having made a number of solid and lasting friendships. While I never expected making insurance my career after college graduation, I am forever grateful that I did enter that field. Certain things in life happen for a reason. While working in a local New Jersey claims office back in 1985, I met a wonderful woman, an attractive and very intelligent coworker who had just started with our company. She is that same lady, who two years later would stop in the book store with her niece. A special friendship developed and a short time later this lovely woman became my bride. She is the love of my life for what is now almost thirty years of marriage. My wife is a constant source of inspiration and encouragement in every aspect of my life, including my writing endeavors, and might I add, she is an excellent editor and always able to make perfect sense out of everything I write down. My wife is my best friend and the best mom in the world. Just ask our kids. And also like my own incredible mother was throughout her life for me, my wife is the greatest cook and baker.
We have been blessed with two wonderful, loving children who are the absolute joys of our lives. They are intelligent, college educated young people who have already accomplished a great deal at their young ages. Most importantly, they are caring individuals with wonderful hearts and a strong sense of family.
If I could nominate one person for sainthood, it would be my mother. I loved her dearly. She was the storybook mom. I never met anyone like her. She lived for her entire family, always placing everyone else's needs ahead of her own. We were a family that loved to eat. She did a lot of supermarket shopping. Mom's cooking and baking was par excellence. I don't remember a time when there was not a warm full meal at the dinner table. She enjoyed sewing on her old Singer machine and was only to happy to mend and repair the family's pants, shirts, dresses and jackets. We were a middle class family and mom, like my dad, knew the meaning of the dollar and were never wasteful. As children, my brother and I never wanted for anything. They were wonderful providers. Mom was a worrier, always concerned about our health and safety. This carried over when they became grandparents and our children had colds or the flu. She would regularly call us to make sure everyone was feeling better. Mom was there for us, day or night, to talk and listen to whatever problems we were facing, and always willing to help. In the very same way my kids rightfully regard their own mom, I can say, too that my own mother was also the world's best mom.
I can never say enough great things about my father. He was the best dad that a boy could ever have. I shared so many of my first experiences with him, from playing catch in the backyard, to my first time going to Yankee Stadium, taking me to the movies, and trips to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. He was the most regular person and never put on any airs. My childhood memories are priceless. Both of my parents had a strong belief in God and their Catholic faith. The spirituality they brought to our family was not lost on me.
My brother is a very special person. We are four years apart in age. I am the elder. We had different interests growing up as kids and didn't hang out much together, but I knew then and now that he is always there for me. He is a terrific husband, father, grandfather and all-around family man. I want to believe that the two of us took on many of the traits of both our parents.
Not everyone can say this, but I was blessed to have been raised in a family that also included the most wonderful four grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My wife's parents, sisters-in-laws, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews and their own kids are all special and terrific folks. They made me feel welcome from the very start...one great big family.
I am proud to say that all these people are absolutely the best. Life is good!
Nonfiction vs fiction writing
I have written some short fiction pieces but the majority of my work has been as a freelance journalist and generalist practitioner, writing almost exclusively for newspapers and magazines. Writing for this medium, I enjoy researching and gathering facts, (something I undoubtedly learned from years in the insurance trade), formulating subjective opinions on particular topics that have teeth, reporting on them, and receiving honest reader feedback, whether positive or negative.
I also very much enjoy reading novels and short stories. I have the ultimate respect for fiction writers who creatively come up with incredible new plots time after time, and then develop them into great stories. Don't ask me to choose which fictional form (novels or short stories) I enjoy more and which is the most satisfying. It all depends upon the storyline and the characters, not the length. The books on my night table always include a good mix of fiction and nonfiction.
It is my intention to eventually include some short fiction that I have written on my website.
Favorite and most influential journalists, novelists, and essayists
Any such favorite writer’s list for me would be extensive and quite varied, but I will give it a try. They run the complete gamut: news, sports, and music journalists; essayists; historians; newspaper columnists and reporters; novelists; short fiction writers; and those writers I simply enjoy reading for the pleasure of their own individual writing style. I especially enjoy articles by journalists who examine social commentary in urban and suburban life; and humor. Some of my favorite authors have written American and European literature; contemporary fiction; literary criticism; historical fiction; history, especially New York City history; biography; mystery; suspense; and detective fiction. As you can see, I have included just about every type of writer and genre.
It is not uncommon for young writers to be influenced by the style of certain authors and journalists they admire. I was no different in this respect. First and foremost, Pete Hamill, the acclaimed New York journalist, novelist, essayist, and former newspaper columnist and editor for both the New York Post and New York Daily News, was and remains my major influence and inspiration in my decision to pursue a writing career. The name of my website, "Piecework Journals," is borrowed liberally from Mr. Hamill's excellent book titled, "Piecework," a collection of his brilliant essays, which was published in 1996.
Growing up in a working class environment in New Jersey, I identified with the subtle nuances and rich characterizations of Mr. Hamill's prose whenever describing the tempo of the streets, the people, hanging out on the stoop, playing stickball on streets empty of cars, the ball fields, the factories, and the saloons, that once defined life in his old Brooklyn neighborhood. Pete Hamill's depiction of what real nostalgia is all about, while never confusing it with mere syrupy, sentimental drivel, is but one aspect of his fine work that I have always admired.
I have had a strong interest in Edgar Allan Poe since I was a young teenager. My enthusiasm for his numerous accomplishments increased more as I grew older. Like so many youngsters, I was initially captivated by the horror in Poe's writing, especially his application of the surprise ending, that is, the plot twist, a powerful technique that continues to be skillfully used by Poe's many talented heirs in books and film. As I delved even further into Poe, I came to appreciate his enormous body of work and contributions in different fields of literature, and also his own complicated life. He is the father of the Gothic horror story, modern science fiction, fantasy and satire; and the father, although not the inventor, of the detective story. Many of his stories deal with themes that are forerunners to modern forms of parapsychology, schizophrenia, the psychotic personality, and the split personality. Poe is considered by many as the first modern American critic and the first to write seriously about criticism.
In the year before he died, Poe, who was an amateur astronomer, completed Eureka, his cosmological treatise on the creation of the universe, based on mathematical and astronomical observations. It was his attempt to deal with the philosophy of death and the unification of the soul after death. Poe's interpretation of the cosmos origin in espousing the "black hole" theory and explanation for the dark "night sky" conundrum is now almost universally accepted by astrophysicists.
I have yet to mention that Edgar Allan Poe also wrote some of the most well-known and best loved American poems. Unfortunately, he clearly was a misunderstood genius who was maligned during his lifetime and for years after his death by many unscrupulous and jealous peers. Thanks to the enlightening scholarship that emerged during the early part of the twentieth century and continues, I believe it is now quite safe to say that Poe has eventually won out on his critics.
Another writer whom I have great admiration is the late Rod Serling. He was an extraordinary person, and a literary genius who reached the pinnacle of success, as creator and main writer of the classic television series, "The Twilight Zone." In the years since the original broadcasts aired in prime-time, his stature has been elevated to that of a true American icon.
Rod Serling wrote the vast majority of the "Twilight Zone" scripts. He was a visionary whose creative stories spoke of humanity, sympathy for the downtrodden, and the absolute need for tolerance against the social evils of prejudice, racism, and bigotry. He wrote about urban alienation and the atrocities that come with war. His writings also explored such human conditions as depression and mental disorders that can lead people to acts of utter destruction and commit suicide. His intelligent discourse on these very subjects was brilliantly camouflaged through the guise of different genres: fantasy, suspense, horror, science-fiction, superstition, drama, light comedy, and psychological thrillers. This was successfully accomplished to appease the program's sponsors ongoing fears of offending and potentially losing their all-important, dearly coveted product base with the buying public. His masterful application of richly layered dialogue sailed over the heads of most sponsors and avoided a number of potential censorship issues.
Serling's work was especially significant during the middle period of the last century because many of his story lines went far beyond the conventional bounds of popular culture. "The Twilight Zone" was therefore able to prosper during the years that conservative prime-time programming dominated television in the early 1960s, when the series aired.
Many of "The Twilight Zone" episodes also served as morality tales, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. Others contained elements of real nostalgia, where his characters seek to relive the earlier and supposedly happier times and places in their lives. Some of the tales were actually based on Serling's fond recollections from his own childhood and early adult life while living in Binghamton, NY.
The intelligent use of language that permeated all of Rod Serling's fine work served as the essential cornerstone for his magnificent career. This included his early acclaimed writing for 'live' television in the mid-1950s; the subsequent classic "Twilight Zone" years from 1959 to 1964; as a respected Hollywood screenwriter for major motion pictures; and later, the "Night Gallery" television series from 1969 to 1973. All his writing projects have held up immeasurably well in the ensuing years. Serling's incredible body of work is a testament to his outstanding skills as one of the most successfully prolific writers of the twentieth century.
Rod Serling was a remarkable individual, a family man, a workaholic, very much admired by industry peers and his multitude of fans throughout the world. This has perpetuated into an amazing legacy, which continues to grow and flourish. Serling died much too young at the age of 50 in 1975. As is the case with the classic works of so many great writers and artists, "The Twilight Zone" has outlived its creator and continues to inspire us today and will continue to do so for generations to come.
So here is my list of writers in no particular order of preference, but only as these gifted individuals came to my mind …
Edgar Allan Poe, Pete Hamill, Rod Serling, W. C. Heinz, Tom Wolfe, Thomas Wolfe, O. Henry, Ed McBain, Richard Ford, Richard Price, Miguel de Cervantes, Sinclair Lewis, Roger Kahn, Kevin Baker, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Irving, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Charles Dickens, Gay Talese, Dick Schaap, Flannery O'Connor, George Carlin, Voltaire, Anna Quindlen, Joseph Mitchell, Harlan Coben, Emile Zola, Don DeLillo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Shirley Jackson, Paul Astor, Thomas L. Friedman, E. L. Doctorow, Henry James, Scott Turow, Charles Baudelaire, Edward Robb Ellis, E. B. White, Dante Alighieri, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Ian McEwan, A. J. Liebling, Stephen King, David McCullough, Upton Sinclair, Raymond Chandler, Jorge Luis Borges, Joyce Carol Oates, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Philip Roth, Stephen Ambrose, Raymond Carver, Nora Ephron, Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Tom Ainslie, Russell Banks, Mary Higgins Clark, Niccolo Machiavelli, Laura Hillenbrand, Honore de Balzac, Michael Lewis, Ralph Ellison, John Grisham, Mario Vargas Llosa, John Updike, Dave Anderson, John Cheever, Denis Hamill, Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury, Henry James, Alexander Dumas, Robert Caro, Phillip Lopate, John Dos Passos, Harper Lee, Calvin Trillin, William Faulkner, J. M. Coetzee, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Richard Yates, Mitch Albom, J. D. Salinger, Nelson DeMille, Richard Matheson, Hervey Allen, George Orwell, Flannery O’Connor …. and on and on. You get the picture.
Favorites works of fiction and nonfiction
I can answer this in the same vein as when reflecting on my favorite writers. The list is extensive and quite varied by subject. Many of my favorite books were enjoyed for their specific subject matter that interested me, some for inspiration they delivered, many for the pure delight and pleasure they gave, and others simply because they brought back a flood of wonderful memories from my childhood years.
I read a number of these wonderful books in my late teens and early twenties. Many years later I read several of them again. It was fascinating because I came away remembering how some of these great books spoke to my senses a certain way as a young person, only for me to gain an entirely different perspective and meaning from them as an adult.
So here is a very, very long list of personal gems that make my list, while I have no doubt forgotten to include many others which probably would stand equally side-by-side with these special books. They came to mind in no particular order of preference, except for the first five listed, which rank as my all-time favorites:
The Bible; Tales of Mystery and the Imagination (E. A. Poe); The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe); Don Quixote (M. de Cervantes); Forever (P. Hamill); The Jungle (U. Sinclair); The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (S. Wilson); Here is New York (E. B. White); The Elements of Style (W. Strunk & E.B. White); The Bell Jar (S. Plath); Brooklyn (C. Toibin); Main Street (S. Lewis); Indignation (P. Roth); Everyman (P. Roth); Fahrenheit 451 (R. Bradbury); Invisible Man (R. Ellison); Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? - Selected Early Stories (J. C. Oates); Candide (Voltaire); Reinventing the Melting Pot (T. Jacoby, Editor); The Poet (M. Connelly); Writing New York (P. Lopate, Editor); A Good Man is Hard To Find (F. O'Connor); The Fifties (D. Halberstam); The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger); Treasure Island (R. L. Stevenson); The Elements of Journalism (B. Kovach & T. Rosenstiel); You Can’t Go Home Again (Thomas Wolfe); Hawthorne - Tales and Sketches (N. Hawthorne); Twice-Told Tales - Nathaniel Hawthorne (N. Hawthorne); The Scarlet Letter (N. Hawthorne); The House of the Seven Gables (N. Hawthorne); Underworld (D. DeLillo); Selected Poems of William Butler Yeats (W.B. Yeats); Long Time Gone (D. Hamill); Empty Stockings (D. Hamill); The Prince (N. Machiavelli); 1776 (D. McCullough); Mickey Mantle - The Indispensable Yankee (D. Schaap); One Hundred Years of Solitude (G. G. Marquez); Crime and Punishment (F. Dostoevsky); The Count of Monte Cristo (A. Dumas); Robinson Crusoe (D. Defoe); Presumed Innocent (S. Turow); The Boys of Summer (R. Kahn); Animal Farm (G. Orwell); Nineteen Eighty-Four (G. Orwell); Up in the Old Hotel (J. Mitchell); Moby-Dick (H. Melville); Israfel – The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe (H. Allen); Edgar Allan Poe - A Critical Biography (A. H. Quinn); Edgar A. Poe - Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance (K. Silverman); Poems of Edgar Allan Poe - Illustrated by Edmund Dulac (E. A. Poe); The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe (R. B. Johnson, Editor); Rod Serling - Stories from The Twilight Zone; Rod Serling - More Stories from the The Twilight Zone; Rod Serling - New Stories from The Twilight Zone; Ball Four (J. Bouton); Atonement (I. McEwan); A Christmas Carol (C. Dickens); A Tale of Two Cities (C. Dickens); Hard Times (C. Dickens); Great Expectations (C. Dickens); Cathedral (R. Carver); The Epic of New York City (E. R. Ellis); Last Night in Twisted River (J. Irving); To Kill a Mockingbird (H. Lee); Undaunted Courage (S. Ambrose); Clockers (R. Price); The Wanderers (R. Price); Willie Mays - The Life, The Legend (J. Hirsch); The Top of His Game - W. C. Heinz (B. Littlefield, Editor); On the Waterfront (M. Johnson); A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (B. Smith); The Portable Faulkner (M. Cowley); Tuesdays with Morrie (M. Albom); The World is Flat (T. L. Friedman); Longitudes and Attitudes (T. L. Friedman); 52-Pickup (E. Leonard); Wonderful Town - New York Stories From The New Yorker (D. Remnick, Editor); The Compleat Horseplayer (T. Ainslie); Disgrace (J. M. Coetzee); Blink (M. Gladwell); Serling - The Rise and Twilight of Television's Last Angry Man (G. F. Sander); Seabiscuit (L. Hillenbrand); Rabbit, Run (J. Updike); Rabbit Redux (J. Updike); Rabbit is Rich (J. Updike); Rabbit at Rest (J. Updike); Licks of Love (J. Updike); The Best American Short Stories of the Century (J. Updike, Editor; K. Kenison, Co-Editor); Gulliver's Travels (J. Swift); Johnny U - The Life and Times of John Unitas (T. Callahan); The Gold Coast (N. DeMille); Mayday (T. Block / N. DeMille & T. Block); Empire City - (K. Jackson & D. S. Dunbar); Sinatra! The Song Is You (W. Friedwald); The Frank Sinatra Reader (S. Petkov & L. Mustazza, Editors); The Old Man and the Sea (E. Hemingway); The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (E. Hemingway); Tell No One (H. Coben); The Great Bridge (D. McCullough); John Adams (D. McCullough); Barbarians at the Gate (B. Burrough & J. Helyar); Paper Lion (G. Plimpton); The Bronx is Burning (J. Mahler); An American Tragedy (T. Dreiser); A Stranger is Watching (M. H. Clark); The Cradle Will Fall (M. H. Clark); The Firm (J. Grisham); Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America (B. Shapiro, Editor); The Last Dance (E. McBain); The Stories of John Cheever (J. Cheever); Teacher Man (F. McCourt); Tepper Isn’t Going Out (C. Trillin); Piecework (P. Hamill); Downtown, My Manhattan (P. Hamill); News is a Verb (P. Hamill); A Drinking Life (P. Hamill); Snow in August (P. Hamill); Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (P. Guralnick); Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (P. Guralnick); The Sportswriter (R. Ford); Independence Day (R. Ford); The Call of the Wild (J. London); Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria (M. Rotella); My Cousin the Saint (J. Catanoso); The Road (C. McCarthy); Dynasty (P. Golenbock); Unto the Sons (G. Talese); The Last Boy - Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood (J. Leavy); Wait Till Next Year (D.K. Goodwin); Chronicles: Volume One (B. Dylan); On Writing (S. King); Washington Square (H. James); Danse Macabre (S. King); Pet Sematary (S. King); The Shining (S. King); Liar's Poker (M. Lewis); Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (M. Lewis); The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and his Struggle to Save New York (V. Cannato); Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 13 More Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on T.V. (A. Hitchcock, Editor); Alfred Hitchcock's A Baker's Dozen of Suspense Stories (A. Hitchcock, Editor); The Girl on the Train (P. Hawkins); The Best Short Stories of O. Henry (O. Henry); Manhattan Transfer (J. Dos Passos); Balzac - Selected Short Stories (H. de Balzac); Tell it to Sweeney (J. Chapman); My Life and Hard Times (J. Thurber); Paradise Alley (K. Baker).