Jimmy Catfish: The Beginning and The End

by Bill Russo

Overview

The narrative of Jimmy Catfish starts peacefully in the 1950s with Cisco da Silva, captain of the last three masted schooner. Sailing back and forth from New Bedford to the islands of Cape Verde, he bravely battles the worst torments of the raging Atlantic Ocean. After a near fatal disastrous voyage he is forced into retirement on Cape Cod. That’s where his troubles really begin.
His new life is at first peaceful and prosperous. A beautiful wife, a small lakeside cottage, a bit of land, and some cranberry bogs seem certain to portend an idyllic existence – but with the birth of his son – Jimmy Catfish, the amphibious boy - Cisco’s life becomes a nightmare.
His skirmishes with the demons from the lake and the conflicts within his own mind lead him to a fiendish plot against his own son, who emerges as a leader of the scale-less beings that live under the surface of the lake.
Jimmy Catfish is the story of a good man’s fight against the unfairness of life. It’s also the tale of an unfortunate boy, born deformed and ugly but with skills and abilities far above the reach of even the stoutest Olympians.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940153678535
Publisher:	Bill Russo
Publication date:	08/12/2016
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	326 KB

About the Author

Bill Russo had lived in an area of Massachusetts called the Bridgewater Triangle for many years and never knew that it was said to be inhabited by scary swamp creatures until he met one. It happened on a midnight walk. Years later, two film producers read his blog about it and featured him and his story in their documentary, The Bridgewater Triangle. He also was approached by Discovery channel producers and was featured in the opening segment of Monsters and Mysteries in America - Season two, Episode two.

Among his work, are two anthologies featuring the Bridgewater Triangle Universe. One is strictly fiction and the other contains his account of meeting the swamp creature - plus other stories from New England.

As a disc jockey, he was the first person to play and promote the trucking classic "Tombstone Every Mile". He counted as a friend, the first man to cross the musical color line, in a 1940s Jazz Band. The "Human Jukebox", who opened for both Elvis and Roy Orbison, was a neighbor of his. Stories of these and other artists are included in "Crossing the Musical Color Line".

Bill's background for writing comes from a Boston education at the venerable white shirt & tie, Huntington School for Boys. He followed that up with a study of journalism, music, and broadcasting at the famed Kenmore Square institution, Grahm Jr. College, where he said he learned more about music from an African American gentleman who was the school's janitor, than he ever could in a classroom. He introduced me to Gloria Lynne, Bill said. Years after he learned of her, she had a mega hit with I Wish You Love.

One of Grahm's well known graduates was performance artist Andy Kaufman who created his Taxi TV character Latka while at Grahm. Andy also claimed he learned Transcendental Meditation at Grahm, although it was not taught there. But who knows? It could be true. Bill Russo learned music from the Janitor. Maybe someone in bookkeeping was a guru and gave Andy the secrets of TM.

At various times during his career, Russo was a New England Newspaper Editor, a Disc Jockey, and a Radio newswriter and newscaster for a number of stations. He also has had stints as an iron worker, and a low level manager for a major mail order clothing retailer.

One of his favorite jobs was partnering with Bill Barry, the inventor of a jewelry polish called Clear Bright n Shiny. The 'Bills' as they called themselves toured New England selling the cleaning product in demo shows in BJ's Wholesale Clubs.

Long before the TV program Shark Tank, they auditioned for a late night TV infomercial company and beat out a huge number of other entrepreneurs for a chance to have the product pitched on late night TV.

The highlight of that competition, Bill said, was that we got to sit in Billy Mays chair! And some people said we were better at pitching than Billy himself." The late Billy Mays was a highly paid pitchman for dozens of products featured on televised infomercials.