Author Peter Marzano, '68, returns to Farrell

Pictured above: Peter Marzano, '68, (left) signs copies of his books for attendees of his discussion in the Learning Commons.

Author Peter Marzano, '68, returns to Farrell to tell students of the art of writing

Author C.S. Lewis once said, "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."

For the third straight school year, Peter J Marzano, '68, returned to Monsignor Farrell to teach and tell his story. This event took place in the Learning Commons and was presented by Ms. Dawn Guerriero and the Writing Studio.

Presenting and telling his journey, he hooked his audience on his books and story with his reason for writing and where he is at now. 

Marzano is the son of an Irish-Italian family. After college and an apprenticeship at the NY Telephone Company, he saw his career in sales and project management. With his father in mind, he rationalized that he wanted to write.

Pictured above: Peter Marzano, '68, discussed the process that led to the publication of his first two books, Litany of Sorrows and Search and Deception -- and he's in the process of writing his third book.

Believe it or not, he later had a dream that helped Peter Marzano get a plot to write his first book, Litany of Sorrows. One of Farrell's roots, brotherhood, is greatly shown in Marzano’s story. After writing Litany of Sorrows, alumni and friends of Farrell read Marzano's books and asked, “What’s next?”

This led him to write the book's sequel, Search and Deception.

In his lecture, he leaked his progress on his third book, suspensefully saying it is coming soon.

With his roots deeply tied to Farrell -- in fact, several members of the Class of 1968 were presented in the audience, celebrating their 45th anniversary -- Marzano wasn't hesitant to share advice and tips to help future authors.

Pictured above: Seniors Nicholas Notaro (left) and Matthew King (right) served as moderators for Peter Marzano's talk.

He expressed the importance of keeping track of the stories and characters. He used an Excel spreadsheet to organize his thoughts and the timeline of the story.

Moreover, he wasn’t afraid to ask for help, especially from his Farrell brothers. He asked his classmates and others to read his book, since when one writes, they can't check their writing for grammatical mistakes.

Furthermore, he expressed the importance of doing your research! Doing research for a story makes it more real. 

Pictured above: Peter Marzano (third from left) with members of the Farrell faculty. From left: Mr. Imperatrice, Mr. Albano, Ms. Guerriero, Director of the Writing Studio, Mr. Cummings, former Assistant Dean of Students, and Brother Hannon.

Marzano dedicated his stories to family members and friends, including his Uncle Frank, who was shot near Berlin, but luckily survived.  

In Peter Marzano's words: "Life is full of potholes."