Author Archives: Billy Russo

1964: My mother taught me how to drive. She sat close to me on the big bench seat of her ’61 Impala. Every time I made a mistake, she smacked me. Pam, my sister, says from the back seat, “how … Continue reading →

I was the youngest entrepreneur I knew.  The old Italian men in the neighborhood would pay us kids twenty-five cents if we brought them pigeons (squib), mostly roadkills.  For my birthday, circa 1959, I got a badminton set.  I remember … Continue reading →

I grew up on Dobbs Ferry Road, half way between White Plains and Yonkers.  Our stretch of road was fairly steep.  On a snow-filled winter day around 1956 I discovered that if I rushed to the edge of the roadway, … Continue reading →

Imagine: Greenburg, NY, circa 1954. I’m heading into the backyard with a length of rope. As I head out the door, I announce that I’m gonna try a circus trick I saw on television. My mother turns to my father … Continue reading →