Simkins Funeral Home in Morton Grove was packed last Saturday afternoon for the funeral of a man who was a father, brother, husband, teacher, softball player, friend, novelist, bouncer, mentor and more. Don Gennaro De Grazia had packed a great deal into his 56 years and many of the people who came to pay their respects shared their memories of the man.
He had dropped out of Warren Township High in Gurnee; lived for a time near Rogers Park and worked construction; joined the National Guard and spent 18 months at basic training at what was then Fort Benning, Georgia; got his GED and sampled a few colleges before landing as a fiction writing major at Columbia College; worked at Metro as a bouncer and security guard.
They remembered how he got his Master of Fine Arts degree and finished his novel “American Skin” and went about the arduous, years-long business of getting it published and watched it earn high praise and attract interest from the movie business; worked and became great friends with Irvine Welsh, the prolific Scottish author, with whom he collaborated on a play; orchestrated all manner of public reading events across town; met and married a writer/actress named Siera Cerny. Seventeen months ago, they had a baby girl they named Daisy Ella.
There was so much to a life cut so short. Later some of his friends shared more.
Joe Shanahan, owner of Metro/Smart Bar and Gman Tavern: “We have lost another Chicago gem. … Don was a co-conspiring cultural troublemaker that helped mix his and others literary work and music as part of Columbia College curriculum in and out of the classroom. As part of Story Week at Metro, we collaborated on many projects. My wife, Jennifer, introduced me to him. He was her classmate of hers at Columbia. We became fast friends over our love of music/books and he was hired to work at Metro. He told me from his invisible vantage point and his exposure to the punk/metal scene of that era helped in his writing of ‘American Skin.’”
Bill Hillman, author of “Mozos: A Decade Running With the Bulls of Spain” and other books, and professor at East-West University in downtown Chicago: “Don was the great mentor of my life. He brought me to Nichiren Buddhism which I practice daily. He was a fiercely loyal friend when violence sparked up. His classes improved my writing and he inspired me to be a professor. I wouldn’t be an author and professor without him. I will continue to teach ‘American Skin’ for the rest of my career because the characters challenge young people to think about identity, philosophy, and what it means to be American in a uniquely Chicago way. It’s a classic. So was he.”
Randy Albers, professor and Chair Emeritus of Fiction Writing at Columbia College: “I had the great privilege of being Don’s first fiction teacher … and of being the chair of his department after he moved through our writing program and became a much-beloved faculty member. … He could write the grittiest, most hard-assed street stories, but at their heart, they were incredibly humane tales of people trying to make their way through a challenging, often threatening world. … He was honest, reflective, a writer’s writer, but he loved the real world in all its panoply of experiences as much as the fictional. He fought passionately for what he believed in and sought deep connection.”
Don Evans, founding executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame: “Don spoke with great respect and admiration for so many young artists. He freely contributed his talents to countless upstart journals, live lit initiatives like Windy City Story Slam and other creative projects. He was an instrumental part of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He also started a bunch of his own enterprises such as the incredible literary series like Ex Libris at Soho House and Come Home Chicago. He was driven to explore and celebrate great literature — especially Chicago literature — and give other writers a platform.
Toya Wolfe, author of the prize-winning novel “Last Summer on State Street” and a former student of De Grazia: “I wish I had more eloquent words. He was a champion of me and my work. He took me from a baby writer to a professional.”
Sheryl Johnston, an entertainment publicist and friend of De Grazia’s since the early 1990s: “We met in a fiction writing class we took and I liked him immediately — he was impossible not to like — and as we worked on various projects over the years and I watched him be supportive and nurturing to, well, everybody. He was also so sweet and so funny.”
There are plenty more, all over the internet and at the funeral there were plenty of tears, some hugs, a few smiles. The crowd was peppered with people wearing softball jerseys; De Grazia was the manager and pitcher of the team named (in letters across the uniform front) the Lee Elia Experience, a reference to the former Cubs manager and his famous tirade about fans booing their own team. Most all at the funeral knew that De Grazia died June 13 of a heart attack following a game.
“At least he was doing what he loved,” one person said.
Sadly true but then this was a man who loved almost everything life had to offer.
rkogan@chicagotribune.com
