Dickson Street (Paperback or Softback)

They called it “the wrong side of town,” but for me it was a place of excitement, adventure and decisions that would determine the course of my life. It was the 1950’s—when kids played outside until the streetlights came on, neighbours knew one another by name, and a handshake meant something. From family dinners and corner stores to six-channel black and white televisions, school, church, music, discipline, and community values. These memories paint a vivid picture of a generation that lived without calculators, computers, smartphones, social media, or modern conveniences—yet somehow never seemed to miss them and believed they had everything.

At the center of it were our parents, especially Dad, with unwavering love, patience, and wisdom throughout all my bad choices. With discipline and a belief in who I could become, he planted the seeds that would slowly shape my life for the better. This is a story about an Italian family, and the small everyday events that change a life. It’s a tribute to parents whose influence rippled through decades in the lives of their children and grandchildren.

This book also wrestles with the question: How did Dad, an uneducated steelworker, find a wisdom that rivals that of enlightened Buddhist monks? The answer isn’t found in books or temples but in the furnace of everyday toil: in the heart of suffering, sacrifice and an attitude that duty comes first.