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From my study, I am looking at Lago di Lugano, where the lake makes a hard right turn. The shimmering sky-blue water is surrounded by lush green mountains, with stunning homes featuring orange-tiled roofs, dotting both sides of the lake.  I could have lived anywhere on earth that didn’t allow extradition to the United States, but I chose Lugano, Switzerland, as my forever home.

When I was a boy growing up in the Bronx, I always checked the New York Daily News for the day's weather forecast. Back then, the forecasters were about 40% right.  I still check the weather in the Bronx till this day out of force of habit. Now we have satellites, Doppler Radar, Accuweather, Ventusky, and the Weather Channel. All combined, they are still about 40% right. I always loved the summer. Even the dog days. I saw that it hit 102 degrees in the Bronx today. The asphalt could easily make the real feel 112. It brought back memories.  

Ever since I can remember, I loved doing voice impressions and disguises.         Accents of all kinds came naturally to me as well. I never got into throwing my voice or ventriloquism even though I loved Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie McCarthy. Ask anyone under 40 who they were, and you’ll get a blank stare.          My favorite impressions in the 50’s mainly were movie actors. I perfected Jimmy Stewart and James Cagney. My Cagney from several of his hit movies like White Heat and Mister Roberts had my family and friends rolling around on the floor.

Monday, September 22, 1958 The weather was still warm. The remnant of a very hot summer. It was a day I will never forget. I had just turned 8 years old in June and was now in the second grade. I couldn’t have been more innocent as to the ways of the world, the desires or men.I was called from my class to go to the rectory to help Father Edward O’Gorman.  As a first grader, I had been in and out of the rectory and convent many times to help the nuns and priests with various tasks. I was the top student in the grade and the most compliant with anything that was asked of me. This visit to the rectory had a profoundly transformative impact on my life.   I never thought I would be writing blogs.