I have been married for 44 years to my soul mate and BFF Jean who coined my nickname “Jackie Paper” when we first met as Ph.D. students at Fordham University because I loved reading newspapers, especially the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Our journey together has been blessed many, many times by the Lord with three great children in Tarah, Katie, and Patrick; two wonderful sons in law in Logan and Brian; and of course our three beautiful grandchildren — Aurora age 6, Redding age 4, and Irene age 2. I love dogs and especially our Golden Retrievers Cali and Riley who despite their sometimes frequent barking, brighten my day by their very presence along with our son Pat’s dog Pepper who is also a Golden. Looking back over the years I think our family’s obsession with dogs was the backstory for a couple of Hollywood movies “Must Love Dogs” and of course “Marley and Me”.
Soon I’ll be turning 70 and I can’t run anymore like I did during the good ‘ol days of the many marathons and triathlons I competed in but I am still quite active and enjoy long walks on the boardwalk, hikes with the dogs, biking up and down the beautiful NJ shoreline where I live, and my new obsession of swimming laps several times a week at the Atlantic Club in nearby Manasquan. Although my palate is fairly limited, I enjoy cooking fabulous breakfasts and brunches for my family and friends and in the words of my late Mom now in heaven with my Dad and older brother Dennis, I will always be a “theatre and movie buff” to the core.
I have also enjoyed a lifelong obsession for cars both new and old. In fact, I have owned more than 40 new cars in my lifetime and also restored a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang convertible which I held for 15 years as well as two BMW 2002 models, one in blue and the other in burgundy. It’s pretty clear to me that my love for cars traces way back to the early 1960s when every October during the launch of the new model year, my friend Robbie and I would visit all the new car dealerships in Ridgewood, NJ where we grew up. We never bought one new car in those early days of childhood but the seeds and the passion had been firmly planted, leading to my doctoral thesis while at Fordham and helping launch my professional career as one of Wall Street’s most respected automotive analysts.