Written by WHVoice   

It’s been 17 years since Lou Petrucci left the friendly confines of West Haven to take a job with the now-defunct New York Newsday, as a staff sports writer. The Boston University graduate (Class of 1982) stayed with the paper, becoming one of its most popular writers, before the corporation decided to get out of the Manhattan market and concentrate on Long Island. Like Nicky Palmieri, Petrucci hit a crossroads in his life, and decided it was time to take another path. That path was via Hofstra University, where he earned a master’s degree in education, and became a successful sixth grade teacher at Minnesauke Elementary School in East Setauket, NY.

Like his main character in Heart of the Hide, baseball has played a major role in his life. Playing in various youth leagues, he later took up coaching in the same leagues, and then took up umpiring. A graduate of Nick Bremigan’s school in Florida, Petrucci is now a successful Div. I and Div. II college umpire, who’s worked several league championships, including the Patriot League.

Now 45, Petrucci still possesses the determination and enthusiasm that characterized him when he was in his hometown. The idea for the book and the way it was written came out of several conjoining real-life plot lines.

“Jerry Gambardella, Jr. is a big character in the book, and I asked Jerry, Sr. if he’d mind if I wrote a book paying tribute to his son. He agreed,” Petrucci said.

The young Gambardella and his tragic death at 19 is a key ingredient in a book its author calls “tru-iction.” In fact, the idea for the book began in 2002 just after the teen’s death.

He linked up with iUnverse Publishing, and continued to write and refine the story, finally hitting the bookstands this month.

“There’s a lot of true incidents in the book with a lot of people who really were part of my life growing up, he said.

True as well is the affliction that animates much of Nicky Palmieri’s behavior. Petrucci was born with a cleft palate and had to endure many surgeries as a youngster. The pain of the surgeries was bad enough, but there was the pain and anguish of thoughtless classmates and even passers-by, that never let him forget his defect. It was only in baseball that things took on a different reality.

“Really, the story is 60 percent truth and 40 percent fiction,” Petrucci said.

Besides Gambardella and Nicky’s inner circle, all named after Petrucci’s family and lifelong friends, “Big John” Wisneski is another man from Petrucci’s past.

“He really did give me a job when I was that age, and was a big part of my life,” Petrucci said. Much of what Wisneski taught Petrucci, he teaches to the young Palmieri.

Wisneski died in 1975, and his death and the effect it had on Palmieri/Petrucci is explored.

Besides being a tribute to Gambardella and Wisneski, the interaction of Palmieri with his family, the importance of parental guidance, and the little things kids don’t realize about their parents, come through loud and clear.

“I wanted this to be a tribute to my parents and West Haven. It’s about that generation that pushed their children to do better than they did,” he said.

Petrucci’s father is clearly Nick’s father. An immigrant who came to this country in order to make a good life for himself and his future family, the elder Palmieri wouldn’t hesitate to use the lessons from the old country if they thought they were necessary. A crusty bird with a soft heart, he along with his wife had to balance tough love with real understanding.

The book is meant for junior high school readers as its primary audience. In developing the book, he got involved in a “Literary Collaborative Program” as part of his teacher prep. As he worked on the characters and the various chapters, he had his own sixth grade students read and critique.

“Many of the chapter headings came from the kids, and a lot of the interaction is taken from what the kids suggested,” he said.

While he played tribute to his family, friends and hometown, there was another important factor in the development of the book.

“I had to write what I knew,” Petrucci said. “I researched it heavily and found there was nothing written for kids with cleft palates.”

Believing he had a story to tell and a point of view that needed sharing, he worked with a California-based group, Cleftadvocate.com.

“While I was writing the book and having the kids look it over, one parent of a student with a cleft palate told me it did her child a lot of good,” he said.

When it came right down to it, though, Petrucci insists he just had a story to relate.

“I didn’t do it except to tell a story,” he said. “The students were a big help in the writing of it.”

No matter what happens with the sale of the book, which is on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com, the interaction of the story with the students is the biggest success he’s taken away from the experience. In that regard, the former journalist used his former professional abilities to bring out the literary talents of his many students.

“All the goals that I set for the book have been realized.”

Written by By Bill Riccio, Jr.   

In a year that has seen three books concerning West Haven hit the press, add another fictional account of life in this seaside community with more than enough real people and places to make it exciting.

Former sports writer-turned-teacher Lou Petrucci has hit a homerun with his novel, “Heart of the Hide,” recently published by iUniverse Publishing. Written primarily for the 12-14-year-old set, the story is a good read for the adult looking for light recreational fare.

No matter what your age, this finely woven story of family, loyalty, angst and coming of age offers a morality play filled with subtle subtexts and interesting twists of plot.

Centered around the activities of one Nicky Palmieri and his sandlot baseball team called the “Kelsey Avenue Crew,” the plot uses the rivalry this group of 10-12-year-olds has with an older group, headed by the bullying, Rusty Alves.

Alves and his “Morse Park Gang.” The Morse Parkers have a 43-game win streak on the line in the sandlot wars against Palmieri’s troupe, and win number 44 in the last inning, increasing the frustration for young Nicky and his friends.

If it was just baseball, Palmieri, would be able to handle the losses, but the streak is a metaphor for something more personal, more painful. Nicky was born with a cleft palate. The defect, which has been the subject of multiple operations, leaves the pre-teen with a scarred, constant reminder of the physical pain he’s had to endure, and the mental and emotional pain at the hands of Alves and others.

The experience has left Palmieri with a lot of emotional baggage and a short fuse to boot. His confrontations with Alves in Stiles School puts him in the crosshairs of principal, Mrs. Anderson.

Never one to let the adults have the last word, Nicky has his say, but pays the consequences. One of these confrontations leaves him with a two-day in-school visit to Mrs. Anderson’s office.

While the rivalry with the Morse Park Gang is the opening plotline in Heart of the Hide, the major thread through the story is one that mixes facts in a fictional way. Set in the mid- to late-1970s, Petrucci freely incorporates his friends of that time with some more recent names to set up the central themes.

Besides his mother and father, Nicky Palmieri has two major role models in his life, “Big John” Wisneski, owner of a deli at the corner of Platt Avenue and Jones Hill Road, and Jerry Gambardella, Jr., the star athlete at West Haven High. Both characters teach their own life lessons in their own way.

Wisneski, himself a former WHHS athlete, is a hulking persona with a heart as big as his body. He’s taken a liking to Nicky, and has given him a part-time job helping out at the deli. He’s also given him Nicky’s pride and joy, a “Heart of the Hide” glove, the best made, and the envy of anyone who plays the game.

Gambardella, a recent graduate and Hofstra University student-athlete helps the kids in the Kelsey Avenue Crew, helping Nicky and the others forget the taunts of Alves and others, and working with them on their skills and attitudes.

The young Gambardella dies suddenly, and his death sets up the central plotline in the rest of the book. Nicky’s decision to honor his hero in a special way forces him confront a flaw that began in order to protect others: lying.

Nicky has become a practiced liar in his short life. He lies to shield his family from his disappointments following each operation, and he lies in order to honor his hero, Gambardella.

This web of lies puts him in conflict with family, friends and Big John. Enter neighborhood newcomer, Ann, who takes an interest in Nicky, and can also play baseball. She’s his foil, the person who confronts him and his lies, and makes him confront them and their effects.

How it all resolves itself, and the real-life incidents that pepper the story are too intricate to describe here. Suffice it to say Heart of the Hide is a penetrating look at a frustrated youngster, who learns that life and success are what you make of it.

It’s a great read for young teens, pre-teens or adults just looking for a good story.

Those wishing the book can find it on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com for $12.95.