Let It Be A Dance

About the Book

With wit, humor and imagination, the author entertains us with stories of growing up a second-generation Italian-American in Brooklyn during the Depression amidst a large clan of relatives. Among the family members we meet are his grandfather, a “piece of work,” his strong-willed mother, a real “Italian Mama,” and his musically gifted brother, a boyhood friend of Tony Bennett.

In telling his life story, the author reflects upon his rich and varied life experiences. He relives his indoctrination into the Catholic Church (complete with stories of his erotic altar boy outings to Coney Island), boyhood vacations to an Italian resort in upstate New York, adventures in Europe as a young man, meeting the girl of his dreams, marrying and raising a family.

Let it Be a Dance is, ultimately, the story of one man’s evolution from a physical-training instructor in the army in WW II, to a ballroom dance teacher and performer in a Catskill Mountain resort, to a professor of psychology (where he was dubbed “Crazy Frank”) and psychotherapist, and finally to a retiree with a life filled with creative opportunities. He writes, “Being not famous, rich, or powerful, if I do not tell my story, who will?”

About the Author

Frank M. Calabria is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Union College, a psychotherapist, and a long-time teacher and student of ballroom dancing. He is the author of Dance of the Sleepwalkers: The Dance Marathon Fad. He and his wife, Angela, live in Schenectady, New York, in the historic General Electric Realty Plot.