Author Michael DeConzo

I have had the exceptionally good fortune to teach in three of the same Staten Island schools that I attended as a student: IS 49, where I taught Language Arts and reading and served as dean; Curtis High School, where I taught English and served as Literacy Coach and Assistant Principal English; and at the College of Staten Island, where I have taught as an adjunct professor in the School of Education since 2004. Last June, I was honored to deliver the keynote graduation speech to the class of 2021 at the college’s commencement ceremony.

Before I became an educator, I owned a candy store, a video store, drove a truck for a bar and restaurant supply, and kept uneven tempos in a few rock and roll bands. All of these experiences—and many, many more—have been channeled into TWO NICKELS, my first novel, which was published in January 2021.

The novel melds two disparate elements: a gritty story, centered around the misadventures of a 30-year-old actor in New York City during Christmas week, 1997, and a fantastical story of a homeless man who insists he is the reincarnation of the poet Virgil, Dante’s guide in THE INFERNO. Once these stories converge, fate begins to twist its strings and Johnny Romano, my actor protagonist, is forced to face a question that he’s been avoiding for ten years: what does it take to forgive ourselves and move on with our lives?

This past spring, I was awarded a grant from Staten Island Arts to support the publication of my second novel, WELCOME TO THE ARCADE, a prequel to TWO NICKELS, which features Johnny, Ralphie, Dinino, etc. as they come of age on Staten Island in the late 1970s/1980s. 

Always the optimist, I still live on Staten Island and enjoy spending time with my wonderful wife and children, gardening, drumming, listening to music, reading and walking Gatsby, our Labrador rescue.