Meet Tony Godino | Fiction Writer &Poet

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tony Godino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tony, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
“Most of life is just eating ham sandwiches.”
– Norm MacDonald

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a child of immigrants (my father is an Irish immigrant from Cloyne, which is near to Cork) I find it important to talk about this as much as possible. At one point I realized that if I also make art about it, and release this art to the public, then I can be talking about this even when I am not physically speaking.

I have a bit of a tragic story, but I guess who doesn’t. My father, who was an immigrant, married my mother, who was also an immigrant, when he was 70 and she was 20. He died when I was 5 from an accident in which he was crushed by like a big block of concrete or something at the construction site at which he was working. My mother took her life when I was 8 years old from grief over the loss of my father. I had 3 sisters, I’m the youngest. Two of my sisters died in a car accident together. The other has been in and out of rehab and jail for heroin since everybody died. I am currently unaware of her whereabouts but I check my shoulder regularly. She is not good.

I lived in Albany until I was 15 with my uncle, who was an immigrant. Then I got HEAVY into pills and other drugs. Mostly pills, though. I love pills. Anyway. When my uncle died, I moved to Cleveland to live with my grandma who was an immigrant. She then died when I was 17 from being old, ya know? After she died, I really thought. And that led me to getting cleaned up for a while. I stopped doing pills even though I really love them. I was living on the streets and I had to be aware.

Eventually, I got a job at a deli and the owner let me live in the apartment above the deli for real cheap. He and I became great friends. He was like a father to me except he was Italian and I would never let an Italian be my father. Anyway, he died and left me his deli. I ran that until my 30’s and then I was like I should write a book so I started writing a book.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would definitely get chicken parmesan sandwiches at Foggia’s in Lakewood, California.. Then we would get cannolis at Sante Fe Importers in Seal Beach, California.. Then we would get cheesesteak hoagies at John’s Philly Grille in Seal Beach, California. Then we would probably drinks six or seven Pacificos at literally any bar and then maybe have another chicken parmesan sandwich at like three am.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Foggia’s in Lakewood has a great chicken parm

Website: https://tonygodino.bigcartel.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonygodinodied/