About the Author

Richard Gambino is Professor Emeritus at Queens College of the City University of New York, and holds a PhD in philosophy from New York University. He was appointed to the United States Bicentennial Commission by President Gerald Ford in 1975. He served, by appointment of Governor Mario Cuomo, on the New York State Council on the Humanities from 1984 to 1992. In 1988, he was awarded New York City’s Leonardo Da Vinci Award by Mayor Ed Koch. He was a full-time visiting professor at SUNY/Stony Brook for seven semesters in the mid-1990s. In 1999, HBO made a fictionalized feature film based on his non-fiction book, Vendetta (Guernica Editions, 2nd edition, 2000) about the largest lynching in US history, starring Christopher Walken, Ed Hermann and Bruce Davison. In 2009, the New York State Press Association gave him a First Place Award for his newspaper writings. The citation with the award reads: In an age of instant messaging and short attention spans, this is a refreshing display of real writing, style, substance and organization. His dry, wry wit and universal commentary are engaging and educational. Aside from Vendetta, Gambino is the author of two other Guernica books: Blood of My Blood (3rd edition, 2010) and Red Hook (2005).