A CURIOUS VIEW: “FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS.” A political hero, a decorated soldier, remembers a literary hero and the book that changed his life.
By Lee Carosi Dunn
The last time I visited with McCain, last year, he asked about my children and reminded me that my son was the same age, 13, as he was when he discovered his favorite book in his dad’s library: “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” He told me it was time for my son to read this coming-of-age novel and reminded me that, as the book asks,
LCdr. John S. McCain, USN, is shown in this undated photo lying injured in North Vietnam wearing an arm cast. He was a held prisoner during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/CBS)
Though the list of things he did for his country is long, McCain didn’t just aid me by providing paid leave and flexibility in returning to the workforce: He made it possible for me to aid others.
This Labor Day, as we celebrate American workers and remember an American hero, let’s work together to enact paid leave for parents to ensure that they can return to the workforce — one that includes and accommodates parents. Congress should act this year: As Ernest Hemingway wrote, and as working parents know, “There is nothing else than now. There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow.”
Joseph Sciuto was born and raised in New York City, where he spent his early years listening to his Italian-American grandmother’s vivid stories about how their family was responsible for building much of the impressive Manhattan skyline, including the Empire State Building. The rich flavor of her stories about their family’s heritage still works its way through his writing.
Sciuto holds degrees from both John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Stony Brook University and a certificate in film studies from New York University. After studying psychology, film, theater, literature, and English as an undergraduate, he relocated to Southern California to attend graduate school at Loyola Marymount University, where he studied writing and film.
Sciuto's next novel, SOFIA, is available on June 27, 2019, following the success of HOLLYWOOD RIPTIDE, TARGETED DEMOGRAPHICS and PER VERSE VENGEANCE.
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A Curious View 