No More Tomorrows

That hot August, 1969 weekend was one Los Angeles would never forget. Headlines bannered the grisly murder of actress Sharon Tate and then, of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca. Tate was a celebrity. But who was Leno La Bianca? And why, for many in the Southland, has his murder come to symbolize the demise of an entire way of life?

This and more is revealed for the first time in the compelling new book NO MORE TOMORROWS by Alice La Bianca, high school sweetheart and first wife of Leno La Bianca. But this book goes beyond the tabloid sensationalism of Leno's death to reveal how he lived.

Leno was the only son of Antonio LaBianca, who arrived at Ellis Island in 1910 by himself at the age of sixteen. With a second-grade education, he established in 1930, with his wife, Corina, what was to become the second largest wholesale grocery business in Southern California. He worked hard at becoming an American, but loved his Italian traditions. He was a "godfather" to his friends, with none of the evil ways of the Mafia.

From an early age, Leno was torn between his respect for his parents' Italian traditions and his intense desire to be independent of his father's expectations and his mother's quiet insistence of obedience. His rebellion finds expression when he meets and falls in love with the impetuous Alice, far from the Italian girl his parents were hoping for. Her indomitable spirit proves to be a guidepost during the trying times of war, separation and family misunderstandings, but her fierce determination to rule her own destiny conflicts with Leno's legacy and tragedy is inevitable.

NO MORE TOMORROWS chronicles nearly 70 years of this remarkable family against the backdrop of early Southern California history. Details abound of World War II (through Leno's letters) and post-war politics that lead to further wars and cultural upheaval that change forever the face of a tranquil state.

Nearly 80 rare photographs generate in the reader an intimacy with the characters, as the story reveals the sharply differing approaches to life of Leno and Alice and the tragic irony of where both fate and these approaches led them.

Alice LaBianca is a native of Los Angeles, having spent her early childhood and high school years in Highland Park.

She excelled as an actress in High School and in Little Theatre groups in Hollywood. She gave it all up when she met and fell in love with Leno LaBianca. She went on to get her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Southern California in Accounting, being one of the first women to do so. She passed the Certified Public Accounting exam in 1954, the only woman who sat for the exam. She has been a practicing CPA ever since. NO MORE TOMORROWS is her first attempt at writing, being compelled to tell the story of the family she grew to love in spite of their cultural differences.