I've been publishing the "Weekly Bystander" for over a year and thought that it might be a good time to put up a post containing an interview I did a couple of years ago for a local newspaper. It is in question and answer form and will be presented in two successive posts.
Q. Let’s start with some background. Where were you
born? Where did you go to secondary school? What did you like about going to
school? Was there a favorite teacher? Why did you decide to go to Fordham? What
was special about your undergraduate work?
A. I was born in 1939 and raised in NYC in the
borough of Queens. My parents were second generation Italian Americans and we
lived right next door to my paternal grandparents who were both born in Italy.
In 1953 I went to Power Memorial Academy, one of the
many Catholic High Schools in NYC. It was an all boys school located in a very
tough West Side neighborhood that was subsequently razed to make way for
Lincoln Center. The school was run and staffed by Irish Christian Brothers
although there were a few laymen on the faculty. A favorite teacher was the
Brother who taught the Senior Honors Literature course. I was always an avid
reader but he imparted a sense of the importance and value of the study of
great literature.
I went to Fordham on a full scholarship provided by
the Bulova Watch Company, my father’s employer. This competitive scholarship
would have paid tuition and room and board at any college of my choice.
Initially, I was going to Syracuse for Engineering but probably decided on Fordham
because I was uncertain about a career path, and it was closer to home. Since
Fordham’s Bronx campus was only about an hour and a half away by bus and
subway, I didn’t see any need, in my naiveté, to live on campus even though the
scholarship would have paid for it. There was no one to advise me since I was
the first in my family to attend college, and my mother had died when I was 11.
Like many other things in my life, it worked out for the best since NYC itself,
with its theaters, sports, nightclubs, museums, and libraries, became my
campus.
Even though I had been a top student at Power, I was
not prepared for the rigors of a Jesuit education at Fordham. In 1957 Fordham
was probably the best Catholic institution of higher learning in the country,
and the class of ’61 was probably its best ever. Even though I was only an
average student I was in a great learning environment. I say average but
looking back I realize that the curriculum was broad and comprehensive
including four years of Theology and Philosophy, as well as two years of Latin
and French as requirements. I
majored in History, a subject which I had loved since grade school. There was
nothing special about my work at Fordham. Nevertheless, even though I had only
average grades, I aced the graduate record exams and was accepted in the MA
program at Columbia. Finally, in my last year at Fordham I met my future wife,
Linda Gardella, a nursing student at Cornell University Medical center in
Manhattan.
Q. You have a PhD. What was
your Master’s in? Did you have to write a Master’s thesis and what was it? Were
your orals tough? And your Doctorate? That was in History. What was your
thesis? Did you enjoy writing it? Might it have been what led you to teach at
the college level?
A. I went to Columbia on a
NY State Teaching fellowship. I guess it was then that I really began to think
that I wanted to become a college professor. But just as at Fordham I found
myself way over my head at Columbia, a world-class institution with an
internationally renowned faculty.
I decided to specialize in
18th century British politics primarily because I was always
interested in the American Revolution, and also because I had taken a wonderful
course in British politics in my Senior year at Fordham with a really great
professor. My Master’s thesis was on the political career of a British general
and politician who was very active in the opposition to the War with America.
After completing my Masters at Columbia I went back to Fordham to continue my
studies in British politics under the mentorship of my old professor, Dr. Ross Hoffman.
It took almost 10 years to
complete my PhD dissertation on the political career of General Henry Seymour
Conway. I loved working on the dissertation but it was really hard work. During
that time Linda and I married and began a partnership based on mutual love and
respect that has continued to this day.
I taught in a Catholic High
School for a year and then she worked as a public health nurse while I took a
year off to complete my course work at Fordham. After a brief stint of
government work with the FAA in NY, I got a call for an interview at the brand
new Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
Q. You still enjoy teaching,
why did you leave it?
I taught History for seven
years at SHU from 1965 to 1972.
Linda and I bought a house in Fairfield and began a family. I was
teaching as well as doing research on my dissertation and thoroughly enjoyed
both. But the Vietnam era was
tumultuous for America. As the war came to an end, enrollment at the University
began to decline and in 1972 the University began to retrench. I was one of the
faculty up for tenure that year and none of us had our contracts renewed. In
the same year that I got my PhD from Fordham, I found myself out of a job with
a wife and five small children.
Nevertheless, it again turned out
for the best. I got a job in the Financial Services industry and managed with
Linda’s support to survive the very difficult early years. Over the years I was
able to build up a very successful career as a Financial Advisor before
retiring in 2008.
to be continued...
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