We are thrilled to announce the launch of our podcast Concettina Died and Other Stories of the East Side. Episodes 1 through 4 will launch on July 20, 2021, with weekly updates after that…

My father was what was known as a “huckster.” He supported our family by selling whatever product happened to be available at any particular moment…

A few days ago I had a phone call from my brother Nick. After we caught up on the latest news, we started to reminisce about our younger days on the East Side of Youngstown…

I recently finished reading Under the Tuscan Sun and I had such warm feelings thinking about the wonderful way Frances Mayes…

When I was growing up, we East Side boys were known for our loyalty to one another, and we were also known as ‘tough guys’…

Our home in Wilmington, North Carolina has a very small, fenced-in back yard, where we have planted two fig trees in the hope of enjoying the sweet fruit in the future…

Summertime in my childhood meant big family-and-friends picnics, and the favored spot was under an enormous old oak tree at Yankee Lake Park…

Temperatures this week in North Carolina have been hovering between 90 and 98 degrees Fahrenheit, and we are constantly seeking the cool comfort of air conditioning and a cold drink….

One summer morning when I was only 6 or 7 years old, it seemed as though every one of my mother’s lady friends came calling on her…

In July of 1949, I was just eleven years old. Palma, who was 18, invited a young man to our house, so that he could ask my father’s permission to marry her….

After my high school graduation, my parents were busting their buttons because I was the first in the family to go to college….

In 1958, after leaving Ohio University—actually I was asked to leave due to poor grades—I enlisted in the Army for a three year hitch, which was a better alternative than living with this disappointment and the wrath of my father….