New Memoir – From the Streets of Dorchester, Mass. to a Bomb Squad in Vietnam to Finding the Courage to Confront a Parent’s Suicide.

From the prattle on the cobblestone streets of Dorchester, a working class neighborhood of Boston, to the harrowing jungles of Viet Nam, an era comes alive in the newly published memoir “Just Call Me Moose! Growing Up Italian in America”.

The 256-page book not only provides a visceral look at an important time in history. The book also explores author Karl Bossi’s lifelong confrontation with his father’s suicide which occurred just days before his senior prom. In deference to this, a portion of the book revenues will be give to the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention (www.afsp.org) in New York City.

Ron Della Chiesa, an icon of WGBH Boston public radio, noted that “Just Call Me Moose! Growing Up Italian in America” is “a powerful and poignant journey that takes the reader from the streets of Boston in the ’fifties to the jungles of Vietnam.” He added, “This is a nostalgic tale, sometimes humorous, sometimes sad. I can relate to his search for the cause of his father’s untimely and tragic death. …Fascinating and thought provoking. …I laughed and cried, and you will too!”

The book is published by Gondola Press (www.gondolapress.com) and is illustrated with 17 vintage photos. The hardcover version (ISBN 0-9759811-0-2) is $23.95 and paperback version (ISBN 0-9759811-1-0) is $14.95.

This gritty memoir chronicles the vibrant life of Karl Bossi growing up Italian in a predominantly Irish and blue-collar neighborhood of Boston. Upon graduation from Northeastern University Bossi left home for a career in the Air Force and lived in Japan, Vietnam, Spain and Turkey around bombs, bullets and booby traps.

What follows is Karl’s 50-year journey to recognize that it was impossible to embrace his own life as long as he avoided his father’s death.

Bossi's memoir, sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, is a vivid and often humorous portrait of what it was like to grow up with poles-apart Italian-speaking parents. Only later does he understand that “Mum” never found the channel that Pop transmitted on, but not until he realizes that “Mum” wasn't much better when it came to tuning into her last son.

Diane Freund, who won the Faulkner/Pirate's Alley Prize for her novel “Four Corners’ and is an Associate Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing and Composition at the University of Arizona, commented, “I'd say that the story is about one man's determination to overcome the legacy of his father's death, by risking his own in Vietnam. The book comes to rest with his knowledge that risk on a grand scale is nothing compared to the day-to-day risk of rebuilding one's life.”

Bossi retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1982 as a lieutenant colonel at Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the Chief, Maintenance and Quality Assurance Division, Field Command Defense Nuclear Agency. He remained in Albuquerque as an aerospace logistic engineer at Sperry Flight Systems later Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems Division and worked on many key defense programs including the B-1B bomber, OH-58D helicopter, F-117 stealth fighter, and C-17 transport aircraft.

Bossi holds graduate degrees in counseling and guidance and procurement management, and is a published writer and award winning photographer. While working in Albuquerque, Bossi's articles with photos appeared in the Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque Business Journal, New Mexico Magazine, and the nationally syndicated Country Woman Magazine.

The Gondola Press is a member of the Small Press Association of North America (SPAN) and the Florida Publishers Association (FPA). The independent small press has a mission to assist writers working in all genres seeking to publish their work.

To purchase a copy of memoir “Just Call Me Moose! Growing Up Italian in America”, contact Book Clearing House toll free 1-800-431-1579 or visit www.bookch.com.

Libraries, book stores and other organizations, to arrange for a presentation or book signing by Karl Bossi, please contact Gondola Press, http://www.gondolapress.com.