Russell A Vassallo

Russell A Vassallo was born in Newark, NJ on April 24, 1934. Besieged by asthma, bronchial pneumonia and mastoiditis he spent his winters alone and bedridden where his favorite pastime was reading the classics. Russ attended Seton Hall University where he majored in Political Science and Literature. His penchant for words helped to earn him part of his college tuition by writing short stories for other students. He entered Seton Hall University School of Law in September 1958 and graduated...See more

Russell A Vassallo was born in Newark, NJ on April 24, 1934. Besieged by asthma, bronchial pneumonia and mastoiditis he spent his winters alone and bedridden where his favorite pastime was reading the classics. Russ attended Seton Hall University where he majored in Political Science and Literature. His penchant for words helped to earn him part of his college tuition by writing short stories for other students. He entered Seton Hall University School of Law in September 1958 and graduated three years later. Due to financial circumstances at home, he did not apply for admission to the NJ Bar for ten years. In the interim, he worked for two major insurance companies as an investigator and started his own investigation and subpoena business. Ten years later, Russ passed the NJ Bar exam on the first try and became a successful attorney. While practicing law he married and raised four children. His first marriage ended and in 1983 he met his present wife, Virginia, who encouraged him to battle back against depression by writing short stories. To his surprise, he discovered that growing older and maturing had given him more insight and depth for his writing. Russ and Virginia now live on their farm in rural Kentucky with six horses, two dogs and five cats all of whom provide Russ with countless stories for upcoming volumes of Tears and Tales! See less