'74 & Sunny (24 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
here is no book if it were not for the memories and antics of my beautiful sisters Rosalie and Lorraine, my brothers-in-law Jack and Frankie, and
brothers
Jack and Joe; my cousins Arlene Benza, Richard Mantia, Grace Marie Haggerty, Phil Mattera, and most of all my cousin Gino Benza; thanks to the recollections from lifelong friends Joe Colucci, Ramsey Dabby, Pauline Meyer, and Debbie Rossitto. Thank you all for putting such vivid color to that summer of '74.

I owe a lot (much more than his fee) to my agent Steve Troha and to Ruth Pomerance at Folio Lit. And to my great team at Simon & Schuster: Mitchell Ivers, Jen Bergstrom, Louise Burke, Natasha Simons, Felice Javit, and Trish Bocz­kowski—wherever you've disappeared to! To my supportive friends Ro Terenzio, Neal Gumpel, “Uncle” Kevin Dornan, and Adam Tenenbaum, who bought me the laptop so I could begin this book. A kiss on the ring to Harvey Weinstein because whenever I've called, he's always been there—no questions asked.

A big hug to Richie Folk, for being a good son and a great big brother.

To my wonderful uncle Larry and my unbelievable mother and father, Al and Lily Benza. They were just too good to be true.

And, finally, to the newest Benzas—my Roxy and my Rocco. Daddy loves you with all his heart, his soul and his guts! Should either of you grow up to be an author, write nice things about me.

Photography by Barney Dunn

A.J. BENZA was New York City's most celebrated gossip columnist in the 1990s, writing and editing for the
New York Daily News
. He is a regular contributor to
Playboy
and
Penthouse
and has appeared on Howard Stern's Sirius radio show more than 100 times. He is a television writer and producer whose hosting credits include
E!'s Mysteries & Scandals
and the Game Show Network's
High Stakes Poker
. He lives with his family in Los Angeles and New York City.

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Copyright © 2015 by A. J. Benza

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First Gallery Books hardcover edition July 2015

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Interior design by Jaime Putorti

Jacket design by Laywan Kwan

Jacket photograph by plainpicture/Bildhuset

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4767-3878-9

ISBN 978-1-4767-3879-6 (ebook)