The Secret Saint Anthony Prayer by Richard Donze illustrated by Joseph Cairone

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The Secret Saint Anthony Prayer

by Richard Donze

illustrated by Joseph Cairone

Full-length, paper

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In The Secret Saint Anthony Prayer, several former classmates from a fictional suburban Philadelphia parochial school (named for the patron saint of lost things) plan a 2019 reunion for their 1964 eighth-grade class. Protagonist Paul Perdu volunteers to create a memory booklet for the party, stirring numerous and varied recollections—his intense rivalry with one classmate, romantic infatuation with another, the school janitor’s seemingly questionable death, and a favorite priest’s abrupt dismissal—all set against the backdrop of and intertwined with external events such as the JFK assassination and the Beatles’ first American visit. What gradually emerges is that grownup Paul’s recurrent failure to establish a stable adult career and life is possibly due to being lost in the moods and rhythms of his 14-year-old self. His maturity only chronological and emotional growth stunted after decades of disappointments and stagnation, 55 years later he has to choose—try to complete what was left unfinished in eighth grade, hoping for release and relief, or resign himself bitterly to staying lost. #coming of age #first love #grade school reunion #budding adolescence #lost boy #lost man

Richard Donze is a physician author whose poems and essays have appeared in medical journals and newsletters and four anthologies of physician poetry: Blood and Bone, Primary Care, Uncharted Lines and Voices from the Front Lines: The Pandemic and the Humanities. In 1998 Nova Science Publishers (Imprint, Kroshka Books) published his nonfiction book Dinner Music: How to Compose the Permanently Perfect Diet, a right-brained approach to nutrition advice. The Natural Order of Things, his first poetry collection, was published in November 2021 by Finishing Line Press. Dr. Donze was an undergraduate English major at the University of Pennsylvania before embarking on a medical career, and currently practices at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, PA, part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, as Medical Director of the Hospital’s Occupational Medicine Program. He lives in West Chester, PA with his wife Kathleen. The Secret Saint Anthony Prayer is his first published work of fiction.

Joseph Cairone is an artist and former landscape architect. His early fascination with all things visual was initially inspired by the great comic book and graphic novel artists of the 1950’s and 60’s. It continued through his Rutgers University formal education and subsequent professionally completed projects throughout diverse regions of the country. Having concluded a successful 44-year career as a principal Landscape Architect of his own Philadelphia-based design firm, Joe now lives in Havertown, PA with his wife, Donna, and their rescue dogs, participating in regional art shows/exhibits and plein air events.  The collection of illustrations for this novel is the product of a lifelong friendship with the author.