One boy, two lives … for starters.
In Philly, we call them corners, like, “What corner you from?” As a kid, you strolled a sidewalk where generations of boys left a trail, most leading nowhere, returning home, to the corner. In the background, girls slowly sailed by in a flicker book, as boys looked longingly, reminded that other beautiful, alien lifeforms also exist. Aristotle’s lyceum existed in those streets, where everything useful and untrue was acquired.
When a boy lives among hundreds of orphaned boys over a decade, in a sequestered, segregated, sleepover school, almost nothing can be learned at the time. Colossal, opulent buildings, one with gold on the ceiling, keep the boys confused and watchful. Thirty-four Corinthian columns rising sixty-five feet uphold a gabled roof covering a city block. There, shuffling in the midst of ancient architecture, a boy shrinks, then enlarges, like Alice.
When times and people are strange, everyone behaves within his own possibilities. A child who leaves home learns many things, and a little something more about himself. He just won’t know that for a while. All of this becomes sentimental in the retelling.
Ron DeChristoforo was born in South Philadelphia, four-hundred-sixty-six feet from Nick’s Famous Old Original Roast Beef Cafe, across from his uncle’s butcher shop. No one ever explained how a roast beef sandwich became famous, but there’s that.
At seven, he joined hundreds of fatherless and orphaned boys, living in a free boarding school in North Philadelphia. So, he pretty much covered the city before finishing second-grade. Luckier than most, he spent a lifetime wondering, What happened and who were all those people?
The roots of his novel (This Way Out / Köehler Books, 2025) grew from a decade of stories shared by the boys of his youth.
Other Books by Ron DeChristoforo
Early in his career, Ron DeChristoforo wrote three novels based on screenplays: Grease, A Small Circle of Friends, and The One and Only.
His most recent story, “Never Put Anything in Writing,” appears in The Writers’ Journal (December 2024.)
A former college English teacher, Ron spent most of his career in publishing and educational technology.
Ron holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Temple University. He and his wife live in Williamsburg, Virginia. Family and friends are scattered throughout Virginia, Philadelphia, New York City, and New England — people, places, and stories in his heart.
