I was fortunate enough to grow up on the friendly streets of Bensonhurst in South Brooklyn. My first eight years of school were spent at Our Holy Lady of Guadalupe Parochial School. I took special interest in history. During the summer I attended perhaps the finest horse camp on the east coast: Camp Susquehana, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Pennsylvania. I didn’t like rules, but I did like horses, and I quickly became a Blue Ribbon Jumper. I also went to Cheshire Academy, an ‘elite’ prep school in central Connecticut and played baseball, all the way up through semi-pro.