Taking a page from life

Frank Brancaccio definitely qualifies as a late bloomer. He attended college after age 50. Now, at 63, he’s just had his first novel published.

"I think everyone has their own time to evolve, and it can come early or late," says Brancaccio, whose novel, Ephemeral Nights, was published last month. "Lots of people at 50 think they’ve done it all. But at that age, I thought, I’ve got a life ahead of me."

Indeed he did. The new chapter in his life came after 20 eventful years of living in New York City.

At age 19, Brancaccio left his native South Philly for the Big Apple, eager to pursue a career in theater and the arts. He studied acting with such distinguished teachers as Stella Adler and Uta Hagen, and soon was getting jobs in the business.

Brancaccio served as assistant director for an off-Broadway play, Rehearsal for Murder, and was assistant editor for After Dark, a theater magazine. He made it to Broadway in l988, serving as assistant to actress Ellen Foley, the star of Me and My Girl.

Brancaccio broke into film, too. "I appeared in probably every mobster or cop movie shot in New York in the l970s," says the former actor, reeling off the titles: The Godfather II, Serpico, Fort Apache, the Bronx and Crazy Joe. He also had parts in Superman and Saturday Night Fever.

But after two decades in New York, Brancaccio decided he needed a life change. So he returned to his roots in South Philly, settling into the cozy house on South Juniper Street near Federal that he still shares with his 92-year-old mother.

"I wanted to join the real world," he explains.

So Brancaccio enrolled at Community College of Philadelphia and earned a degree in mental health, a topic that had always interested him. He then served as a counselor at Philadelphia Community Health Alternatives, an AIDS testing center. Next, he worked with mentally ill and homeless people.

Then came yet another career change.

"I took a hiatus from a real job so I could think about my own life," Brancaccio says. "And I decided that what I’ve learned in life I wanted to start putting in writing."

It was an unusual decision for someone who had always believed he had no writing talent.

"All my life people had said, ‘You should write.’ But I’d say, ‘You don’t understand – I can’t write!’"

HIS FIRST EFFORT came with surprising ease: Prompted by an article that invited people with Tourette’s Syndrome to write about it, Brancaccio penned an autobiographical short story in just one hour. The author has had Tourette’s since childhood.

The neurological disorder typically involves compulsive movements, tics or even outbursts of profanity (although this symptom is rare). Brancaccio’s symptoms are hardly noticeable, but he felt self-conscious and kept his condition a secret.

He opened up about it in his short story, Subway People.

"I used to ride the subways in New York and look for people with severe cases of Tourette’s, and they frightened me," he says. "The story is about my coming to terms with Tourette’s and not being afraid of ‘subway people’ anymore."

After Brancaccio wrote the story, he put it in the mail and forgot about it. To his surprise, he heard from the editor one month later, who told him his submission had been accepted for a book of short stories titled Don’t Think about Monkeys: Extraordinary Stories Written by People with Tourette’s Syndrome.

"I was beginning to realize that I did have something to say," says Brancaccio.

He then began writing articles for the monthly newsletter of Graduate Hospital. These pieces, too, were about Tourette’s.

Relaxing in his living room, Brancaccio doesn’t look like someone with a compulsive neurological disorder. In fact, there’s no evidence at all of Tourette’s except for a very-occasional twitch of his eyelids. Overall, the author is friendly, low-key and calm.

Although he wrote his first short story in one hour flat, writing a novel was far different. The idea took hold one night when he was visiting a friend in New York. Brancaccio began to tell the friend all about his experience with an obsessive relationship. It happened years ago, but left an indelible impression.

"You should write about this!" the friend said.

"And when he said it, I knew I had to do this," recalls Brancaccio. "It was suddenly very clear to me."

He had no agent, and had never attempted a novel, but he took the plunge and began to write. It did not come easily. "I’d sit and write maybe five pages, and then I had to get away from it," he says.

The novel that evolved focused on two fictional male characters but was based on his own experience. One of the characters is ultimately consumed by his self-destructive behavior.

"So many people get into obsessive relationships and don’t understand why they’re in it," the author says. "They don’t even realize it while it’s happening. It can’t be explained."

IT TOOK THREE years to complete the novel. Then came the challenge of learning how to submit a manuscript. "I had no idea what to do," says Brancaccio, who started to read how-to articles and books.

The aspiring novelist then used the Internet and found the name of a publisher who did not require an agent.

It was a fortunate choice. Publish America was the first and only publisher Brancaccio tried – and his manuscript was accepted.

Eleven months later, his book arrived in the mail: It was a paperback with an arresting cover design. And under the title Ephemeral Nights was Brancaccio’s name.

"No one was home and I just had to share this with someone," he says.

So he rushed the book to his neighbor two doors away. "She was the first one to see it, and she was very excited."

His mother, Mary De Stefano, was next to see it, as soon as she came home from a doctor appointment. The book is dedicated to De Stefano and to a close friend from childhood, the late Margie Ranieri.

Brancaccio autographed his mother’s copy with the words, "Without you, there could never have been a book."

He is the primary caregiver for his mother, who has kidney disease and requires dialysis treatments three times a week. But De Stefano’s ailments don’t stop her from cooking, which is a family interest.

"She’s a great cook and still makes the best homemade pasta," says her son, who also enjoys cooking as a hobby.

There are also professional cooks in the family. Brancaccio’s late father, also named Frank Brancaccio, was the main chef for both Ralph’s and Phillip’s restaurants. And his sister, Maryann Brancaccio, is the co-owner and chef of August, 1247 S. 13th St.

The writer’s other interests include theater and music, especially jazz. He’s also a dedicated movie buff with a special love for foreign films; he even named his cat Fellini after his favorite Italian director.

But writing is his primary focus. Brancaccio is already at work on a new project: short stories. He finished three and his goal is to write eight or 10, enough for a book.

After all those years of telling himself that he couldn’t write, Brancaccio now knows otherwise.

"I love writing," he says. "It’s a whole different way of expressing yourself. When you see those words on a page, it’s really exciting."

Ephemeral Nights by Frank Brancaccio is available in major bookstores or at www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com.