Tuesday,
May 22, 2007
Book: “When the World Was Young”
by Tony Romano
The
ANNOTICO Report
This
is the debut novel of Tony Romano, published by prestigious Harper
Collins.
Tony Romano was born in the Italian
Is
that Impressive? Tony comes as an infant with parents, from
Where
did Tony learn to speak English before entering school at 5? Tony not only
learns English, but turns out to be an English teacher, at a High school, and
then write a novel, that's published by a prestigious firm.!!!
About
When the World Was
Young
It's the summer
of 1957. In the heart of
Just as it seems
the Peccatoris' stoic foundation and resilient spirit
are enough to withstand the family friction, the events of a single tragic
evening bring all their lives to a sudden and irreversible standstill. Haunted
by overwhelming loss, and drowning in years of secrets and deception, the
family begins to unravel under the burden of guilt. As the Peccatori
children move into adulthood, alienated from one another by grief and the
complexity of their adolescence, their ties of kinship are put to the ultimate
test.
Bound together by
blood yet indelibly marked by loss, the Peccatori
family becomes a testament to the power of sacrifice, loyalty, and
unconditional love. Told through alternating voices and beautifully crafted
prose, When the World Was
Young is a stunning,
poignant tale of one family's will to survive.
[This
book, along with ANY others can be purchased
through either of the Web Sites at the very bottom]
Thanks to
Turns
out that those who Teach often can also Do
The
Daily Herald
By
Burt Constable
Tuesday, May 22,
2007
Regarded as one of those cool teachers who inspires
students to do great things, an inspired Tony Romano was working on something
great, too.
Hed arrive early at
I had first period off, so Id find a little office
and sneak away and try to get down a few words maybe three or four hundred, says
the soft-spoken 49-year-old teacher.
In the summer with his wife, Maureen, and daughters, Lauren,
Angela and Allie, hed sit on his backyard deck in
The teachers familiar with Romanos writing and discipline
knew what would happen. Henry Sampson, an English and
creative writing teacher, kept telling his students: One of these days you
are going to hear from Mr. Romano.
Today is that day. Romanos debut novel,
When the World Was Young (published by HarperCollins Publishers),
hits the bookstores.
Theres that maxim out there: Those that can,
do; and those that cant, teach. Tony disproves that, says Gary
Anderson, a fellow writer who co-wrote a textbook with Romano and now is
chairman of the English Department at Fremd. The
best writing teachers are writers.
Romano had won writing awards, but his collection of short
stories didnt draw much attention from
publishers, who wanted a novel.
Born in the Italian
While that background and neighborhood gave him a setting and
an eye for detail, his books characters and plot came from Romanos
head.
I remember driving by this pizza place in
Two years of writing later, he had his novel. The next five
years, he tried to sell it.
This is my rejection folder, Romano says, sitting in
a teachers lounge as he offers a red binder brimming with letters. Im an expert in rejection.
And these are only the ones that came back with ink
from an editor. I only kept the ones that had something positive,
Romano says.
On Jan. 6, 2005, Romanos wife handed him the phone.
Its
I loved your book, gushed agent Marly
Rusoff.
At that point, I could barely breathe, Romano
recalls. Three weeks later, he signed with HarperCollins. The famous literary
house also will publish his collection of short stories next year, and will
consider another novel hes completed as well as a follow-up to When
the World Was Young.
Fremds
media center is holding a book release party at 7 p.m. Wednesday to kick off a
four-state book tour with stops in
I think the kids are just going to have even more respect
for him, says devoted reader Maria Mungai, an AP
Spanish teacher who grew up in an Italian family and says Romanos book
has heart.
It really inspired me that he made time for his own
writing when he had a billion papers to grade and all that comes with being a
teacher, notes Alyse Liebovich,
24, a former student and current photographer who took the photo of Romano for
his book jacket. This man I regarded as an incredible teacher is also an
amazing writer.
Balancing his family duties and his 26-year teaching career in
English and psychology, Romano still seems a bit overwhelmed by his new
identity as a critically acclaimed novelist.
I never say writer it almost sounds pretentious, Romano
says. I tell them Im a teacher.
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