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about paul
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I
was born in Bristol, Connecticut and grew up surrounded
by an extended mob
of parents, sister, grandparents, cousins, neighborhood kids,
rabbits, dogs, nurses, engineers and others that, at various
times, included musicians,
Italians, Canadians, cancer survivors, gardeners, chicken killers, hair
dressers, poker players, checker cheaters, pony riders, shopkeepers,
factory workers,
elementary school teachers, auto mechanics, rock and roll fanatics,
massage therapists, several people who may
or may not be dead, and a crowd of other miscellaneous wheeler-dealers.
I went to school at St. Joseph Elementary School
and St. Paul Catholic High School. I was a voracious reader as a kid. I
still am. I
attended the
University of Notre Dame (GO IRISH!) where, thanks to my friend John
Costello and his father, Dr. Donald Costello, I earned a degree in
American Studies despite the fact that the only American places
I’d ever
visited were summer vacations on a beach at Rhode Island
and occasional day trips around New England to watch jai alia,
greyhound racing or the trotters with my grandfather who, with my Uncle
Joe, taught
me how to ride and drive a sulky behind my very own pony named Misty
(that's me and Misty at left). After
college, I wandered around the country for a few years. Despite what my
mother might say, I did not steal her 1973 Buick Electra. Despite what
my friends might say, the car was the color of summer gold. Not piss
yellow. I've lived in
every state that begins with the letter U or a C. I was a Student
Conservation Association volunteer for awhile giving tours at the
Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in southeast Utah. I spent a winter
schlepping very expensive bags around the Rocky Mountains for guests
of the Snowmass Lodging Company. As a Holy Cross Associate volunteer, I
lived with a half-dozen friends in a tiny house in the San Francisco
Bay area where we tried to be good people. I stayed in California to
teach kindergarten at St. Patrick Elementary school in West Oakland. I
got married (yahoo!), and my wife and I lived in “the heart of
the bay,”
Hayward, California for nearly ten years. When we decided to move, we
put names of favorite places in a paper bag and pulled out a slip that
said PENNSYLVANIA. So that’s where we live now. These
days, I remain married to my best friend. I have a son and a daughter
who keep me on my toes. I’ve got a day job and a kayak and tons of
books that I love to read. I write early in the morning and late at
night. My
favorite place in the world is wherever my wife and kids are. I am
especially happy when that place is next to a lake or in France. My
favorite word in the dictionary is Naugahyde. I’ve been a vegetarian
for about 20 years. My favorite non-home-cooked meal is cinnamon-raisin
French toast plus black coffee at the Karlton Café in Quakertown,
Pennsylvania. For the future, I hope my family and friends are safe,
healthy and happy and that I will write dozens and dozens of new
stories and novels, each one better than the last.
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