Mr. Lawrence DAntonio

My name is Lawrence DAntonio and I am the author of THE GREATCOAT. I am the first born of six of a seriously charming salesman father, and a richly talented, pitch perfect, lyrically loving musician mother. My drift toward history led me to concentrate on this subject in secondary school, undergraduate and graduate studies. I taught US and European History on the high school level and in college. Additionally, I created and taught courses on the American Civil War, the Thirty-years War in the 20th century (aka WWI and II), and the War in Southeast Asia (Vietnam).

I left high school teaching (retaining an adjunct position, part-time in college), and pursued a career in sales which eventually landed me in the fine wine business, where, in addition to importing and selling fine wine, I also became the wine educator for my distributor employer.

THE GREATCOAT is a fictional memoir, the product of family stories from the Depression and WWII generation told me by my mother. As it is multi-generational, I rely upon memories of people, events, and places prominent in my life as I came of age. The story will take you through a horrifying episode witnessed by a young pilot shot down in the Battle of the Bulge, onto his son's struggles with service in Vietnam and onward to the 911 era.