Great news out of the pro wrestling world: Bruno Sammartino, who held the heavyweight title longer than anyone, has ended his feud with Vince McMahon and will enter the WWE Hall of Fame. He was very unhappy when McMahon first admitted that the outcome of matches was pre-determined, which was obvious to everyone except those fans wrestlers themselves dub “marks.” Lately, he has claimed he was upset about the use of steroids, which prompted him to walk away from the game 25 years ago. Now that his own personal physician, not Dr. Vinnie Boom-Bots, is working to ensure the safety of the performers, all is forgiven. He helped sell-out large arenas such as Madison Square Garden 187 times. His matches with Gorilla Monsoon (fellow goombah Gino Morella) and Ivan Koloff are legendary to fans of the con. Circa 1960, I saw him approach the Rollerama, just up the street from where I grew up, where cards were staged every so often. His duffel bag looked so tiny in hand. He was massive, his suit stretched to its max, seemingly about to burst at the seams. His signature closing hold was the Bear-Hug, which squeezed the life out of opponents. It was claimed that he bench-pressed 500 pounds. Of course, all claims in the pro wrestling world must be taken with a grain of salt, but there was doubt he was incredibly strong. One of his ears was cauliflower. I was ten, so awed I couldn’t speak. I always got a kick out of it when TV ringside announcer Ray Morgan asked him to say a few words to his Italian-speaking fans. I laughed out loud at what he said he’d do to stu disgrotsyod. That’s the Brooklyn spelling for "disgrace to the human race." Anyway, auguri, Bruno. Hai sempre fatto bene. Grazie.
It was a surprising day at the floating book shop. I knew Jack of Chase Bank would make a purchase, but I didn't know he was going to donate the same amount of thrillers he bought -- seven. And Bad News Billy made his usual contribution, buying a spiritual pamphlet. His weight is up to 254. Still, he came out of the bank with a handful of lollipops and gave me a root beer flavored one. A middle age woman asked if I had any more books on WWII. Her father, a veteran of that war, devoured the previous one she'd purchased, on Frogmen. This time she took one on the Philippines and another on the allies strategy to defeat Hitler. I'd had those two a long time and had begun to doubt they would ever sell. Then a woman who has passed the floating book shop a thousand times without making a purchase exited the bank, coffee in hand, and approached. The last month or so she has begun to greet me. Maybe today she saw the pile of books on Jack's desk and was inspired. She bought Tom Wolfe's late 80's blockbuster, The Bonfires of the Vanities, a huge tome I'd been carrying for months. She then sat in her usual slot, on the cold ground, near the entrance to the parking lot, smoked a couple of butts, and read from the book. The crates were a lot lighter on the way back to the car, despite Jack's donation. Thanks, folks.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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