Born near the historic excavations of Pompeii, Tony had a tragic childhood. He was just a toddler at the end of World War II when his mother abandoned him and his sister, just a year older, taking off with her newborn and an RAF Englishman, declaring him the father. The entire Naples area was extensively bombed during the war, then the occupying Germans destroyed infrastructure before departing. Tony was too young to remember his father’s daily struggle to survive, his earliest memories instead being of his “new Mammina”, his father’s new partner.

When Tony was eight and a half years old, his father was burnt to death in what was treated as an industrial accident at the shipyard while working on the ship Sydney, owned by Achille Lauro, shipping fleet magnate. No investigation ensued. Tony now believes his father was murdered at the behest of his mother, based on information uncovered later in Tony’s life. At the wake, his father’s blackened and bloated corpse, was “blown up like a cow”, a sight no child should ever have to see. Tony is sure an accelerant was involved and that the death was intentional. At the time, Tony’s biological mother faced deportation from England with her child due to illegal entry. His father’s death freed her to marry her Englishman at a time when divorce did not exist in Italy. Of course, Tony didn’t understand as a child but her actions later in his life compounded his belief that his mother was an evil woman.

Following their father’s death, Tony and his sister were sent to separate boys’ and girls’ orphanages, something his Mammina was legally powerless to stop. Losing the children drove her to despair since she loved them as her own.

 Achille Lauro, subsequent Mayor and politician, promised at the funeral to take care of the children. Readers might recognise the name from his eponymously named cruise ship which was highjacked in 1985 by the Palestinian Liberation Front, sparking an international incident. At the age of 21, Tony was grudgingly granted the briefest of audiences with “the great man”, effectively brushed off. However, 13 years earlier Lauro must have ordered special treatment for the children. 

Tony was sent to the orphanage along with around 250 other boys who lived in a gated compound run with severe discipline in military style. Within days, nuns from the religious order at the orphanage took Tony as “their boy”, affording him the privilege of going daily past the orphanage’s security gates to their external quarters. With the nuns, Tony learnt embroidery, became an altar boy and later was allowed to attend an art school after impressing with an oil painting at the age of 10. Tony’s early talent in many aspects of art and his meticulous attention to detail set him apart from other children and foretold his future career. A US Navy officer became Tony’s godfather while Lauro’s wife Angelina became Tony’s sister’s godmother on her confirmation. As altar boy, Tony’s ambition was to become a priest, but he later became aware he may have had a close shave with sexual predation at the hands of one priest who was unusually affectionate. As he aged, Tony’s views changed and he became a confirmed atheist.

Tony first learnt of his biological mother when, with funding from Achille Lauro, she made two separate trips, a year apart, from England to Italy to collect her children as they approached the age of 15 and could legally be sent to work in the UK. A cold and calculating woman, she had not wanted to be responsible for their upkeep any earlier. When Tony arrived in England, he was forbidden from revealing his identity as son since nobody was aware of the two abandoned siblings. Already in the house were a daughter belonging to his mother and the Englishman as well as Tony’s younger sister taken from Italy as a baby. Tony was beaten and mistreated by his mother who even allowed her husband to molest Tony’s older sister. She attempted suicide with sleeping tablets. The trauma never healed and Tony’s sister died later, at her own hand. In brief, Tony’s childhood, apart from his time with his Mammina, lacked the warmth and genuine love that should be the right of every child. This circumstance had a profound effect on Tony’s sense of self-worth, with his adult life characterised by a deep need for approval, connection and belonging.

Tony’s first career began in England but eventually took him to Canada and the US. With minimal training, a keen eye and an incredibly steady hand, Tony began work as an apprentice engraver and it didn’t take long for his innate talent to be recognised by his employers who set him more and more intricate tasks to do. Tony’s engravings were used in the pottery industry, some of his work even still seen today on fine china: think Wedgwood and the like. Tony eventually moved abroad to work with Franklin Mint in the United States to expand his skill in relief sculpting for the production of medallions and coins.  Waiting in Canada for a visa resolution, Tony took a temporary undercover job with Pinkertons, a private US investigation company. Using the resources available through the Pentagon, Tony searched for a friend from his Naples days, son of a US Air Force officer, who he then visited in Hawaii. Eventually, Tony returned to his engraving career, this time working on banknotes and stock certificates, and becoming an acknowledged master in the process. Much as Tony loved this delicate work, which suited his perfectionism, it was lonely solo work, which didn’t truly align with his gregarious nature and his desire for companionship and interpersonal connection. Tony decided to move west from cold, drab Chicago to enjoy exotic Hawaii before San Francisco and Los Angeles.

At only 17 years of age, after two and a half years of suffering and aided by a counsellor, Tony had left that “hell” of a home. With little in his pocket, Tony was free at last and ready to embark on a journey to find all he had been missing. Tony managed to survive on his street-smarts and his gift of the gab. He had his first girlfriend at 18, and at 19, she just 16, his girlfriend was allowed to join him on a motor-scooter trip to his birthplace in Naples. The trip was quite an adventure, with the pair roped together for her safety, lest she fall asleep and fall from the scooter. When his girlfriend suggested marriage, Tony approved the idea as he had nobody to call his own. The pair then travelled to Gretna Green, Scotland where couples under the age of 21 could marry with many fewer conditions to be met, instead of going home. A reporter in Gretna for a story turned the elopement into front page news which let the secret of his mother’s abandoned children out of the bag. According to Tony, they were just two kids, playing a game. The marriage lasted just days before the girl returned home to her worried mother and the marriage was eventually annulled. Tony moved to London, surviving on various jobs including teaching young girls to dance at the Arthur Murray School before securing an engraving job.

Tony eventually quit work as engraver/sculptor, it not being a viable long-term social-based career. In 1973, at the age of 30, Tony returned to Europe, travelling all over by Eurail Pass. In Florence, Tony finally found his métier. He consulted a Tour Director, applied for a job with Cosmos and got it purely on the basis of his fluent English as well as Italian. Tony now speaks French, Spanish, Neapolitan and some German. Tony’s 40 years in the Tour Industry as a Tour Director took him from basement level to top companies, based out of London. Tony was a caring, dedicated TD as evidenced by the dozens and dozens of handwritten and typed letters of commendation and recommendation he treasures. Tony even appeared on an Australian TV travel program, leading two tours organised by the channel.  

Tony’s travels were supplemented by private travel experiences in the northern hemisphere’s low season.  Having made acquaintances while on tour that turned into lifelong friendships across multiple continents, Tony had people to visit all around the world, a large “surrogate family” which even extending into the southern hemisphere. Tony was prepared to “go above and beyond” which pleased his employers but caused jealousy amongst his co-workers. Tony has newspaper clippings, sent to him by tour participants about the fates of other participants, some quite gruesome, though perhaps less so than the 3 tour participant deaths he had to deal with while on tours.

Tony had many adventures which have afforded him fabulous memories. He emigrated to the US in 1970 on the second Queen Elizabeth 2 crossing to New York with an exported MG car aboard. He crisscrossed the US from coast to coast 17 times in different cars including the 3 MGs he owned and loved, doing his own mechanical work on them, covering 45 states and all the major National Parks. In South Africa, Tony witnessed the county rejoicing after Mandela was released from prison. There was drama when Tony crossed Kruger National Park in a rented car, alone, escaping a charging elephant and getting lost for a while. Tony crossed the Navajo territory in New Mexico and ascended the Rocky Mountains on deserted back roads in snowy, winter night-time, with a badly leaking water pump, surviving the 400 miles to Denver by filling the radiator every 8 miles from multiple filled gallon containers. Tony was questioned by the KGB in Moscow while visiting a Russian girl, at the same time witnessing the incredible long queue in the freezing cold, for the first MacDonald’s in Moscow. Tony cheered Charles and Diana in the landau on their wedding day and stood in respect at the Hawaii air force base, welcoming back the first US prisoners of the war in Vietnam. Tony was in London for Winston Churchill’s funeral. 82 years of living truly generates many anecdotes.

Tony met Tang, a Thai girl and the love of his life (3rd time lucky, he says) in Bangkok in 1996 when he fell for a jewellery scam to the tune of £17,000, which he eventually got returned by using his street-smarts and the intervention of Master Card. He extended his stay in Bangkok for several months while chasing his money, and was introduced to Tang. The couple have now been married 28 years. Tang has tolerated the frequent trips away, as long as 40 days at a time. She is an independent woman, with good qualifications in accounts, who worked for prominent advertising firms when they lived in London, so there was no distinct economic disparity between them. Tony trusts Tang completely with their joint finances. Along with being able to share his love with so many people around the world over 40 years, Tony cites his marriage to Tang as his two greatest achievements.

Tony believes it is likely Tang will outlive him, which was the driving force behind their return to Thailand as he wants Tang to always feel secure in her environment. Tony had conducted some exploratory trips in 2018 and the couple conveniently sold their London home just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. He chose Hua Hin as the location for their forever home because of its large expat community, in the hope of finding strong new friendships within their gated community. Their beautiful home was completed in 2019 and Tony has furnished it with custom self-made furniture crafted with great care and diligence using his array of tools. Tony can turn his hands to most things and is proud he was able to add an extension into his precious 50-year-old solid teak dining table which travelled from California to London and now Hua Hin. Tony hand-painted delicate grain markings under the stain, to match the original timber precisely. It is Tony’s most treasured material possession.

Tony took Tang on a 3750 km driving trip around Europe in June, with stops in many cities. The Matterhorn in Switzerland, the French Riviera and Paris, Tony’s favourite city, are planned stops for the lovebirds next spring. Tony wants to reminisce and show Tang as much as possible while he can still drive.

Tony has made concerted friendly overtures to his neighbours and he has gone out of the way to be of assistance to others, yet still feels the sting of the cold shoulder and doesn’t understand why, which remains a source of disappointment. Tony has come to terms with the fact that he must accept what he cannot change, but it still bothers him as he has a great wealth of friendship going largely untapped in Hua Hin. Nevertheless, Tang is continually ensuring Tony is taking the best possible care of his health because she wants him around for many years to come, since he is such a genuinely caring human being.

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