Dominic Albanese was born in Hell’s Kitchen three months after the atomic bomb dropped. His half-Italian, half-Irish roots have been a source of confusion, bemusement, and amusement, sustaining him through his family’s move to Coney Island at age six and, later, when he dropped out of school in the seventh grade to work in a gas station on Neptune Avenue. There he got involved with some chop shop guys and was caught. The family’s priest and his dad, along with the cop who popped him, forged his birth records to make him two years older. Five minutes later, he was enlisted in the army. He went to work for Nick Torelli in 1967, on cars that belonged to all the San Francisco rock stars, dope-dealers, lawyers, doctors, and assorted wannabes. LatDominic Albanese was born in Hell’s Kitchen three months after the atomic bomb dropped. His half-Italian, half-Irish roots have been a source of confusion, bemusement, and amusement, sustaining him through his family’s move to Coney Island at age six and, later, when he dropped out of school in the seventh grade to work in a gas station on Neptune Avenue. There he got involved with some chop shop guys and was caught. The family’s priest and his dad, along with the cop who popped him, forged his birth records to make him two years older. Five minutes later, he was enlisted in the army. He went to work for Nick Torelli in 1967, on cars that belonged to all the San Francisco rock stars, dope-dealers, lawyers, doctors, and assorted wannabes. Later he was sent to Italy for training twice by Ferrari, and once to England by Jaguar. Dominic twisted wrenches on some of the best cars in the world for more than forty years. In 2009 he retired to swim, walk, go fishing, and write poetry. Now a septuagenarian, having turned seventy-two in November 2017, he says that for the first time in his life, he feels he has very few worries other than a yearly depression that creeps into his writing between Christmas and Easter, which proves his native roots are strong. Once he gets a handle on it, he remembers that he lives close to the ocean, where he can fish and kayak and get back to acting like he’s twenty-two again....more
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