THE EARLY YEARS is part one of a biography about growing up in New York City during the 1930's and 40's. This part spans approximately 80 years, including the depression years, the rise of the mafia, and the author's brush with it. The first immigrants came from Caggiano, a small Italian village in the south of Italy, near Pompeii and Sorrento. Settling in the East side of NYC along the East River, the family is confronted with mafia hoodlums almost immediately, and the mafia continues to plague the Caggianos for three generations. The depression years are very harsh requiring everyone to contribute to support the family, including scavenging at the local garbage dump. Sickness is commonplace and early deaths are every day events. Half the children born will die before reaching age 10. Those that survive the terrible hardships, two world wars, and the Korea war, will find a bright future. Part two (another publication) spans 60 years, from the mid 1950's to the present, and includes the author's professional life, unhappy marriage, children, some successes, failures, a nervous breakdown, and complete family disharmony. Struggling back from the abyss of complete mental breakdown, he gradually emerges to find a well deserved happiness.
About the Author: Vincent Caggiano is a graduate of The University of Maryland with degrees in electrical engineering and applied math. He was inaugurated into the honor societies Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu, and continued with post-grad work at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in Biomedical Engineering. While continuing his studies, Vincent worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab starting as an academic scholarship in 1955, and later as a research engineer, he worked on missile programs, artificial intelligence, space studies including a Mars probe, and early satellite programs. During the latter, he was a member of the team that developed GPS, a story that he hopes to write about in another book. During this period he also taught computer logic in the University of Maryland graduate school. His interest in artificial intelligence led to an offer to join a team at The Walter Reed Institute of Research in Washington DC, to study single brain cells. His innovative approach resulted in the development of new instruments to record single brain cell activity, and later he was part of several teams studying Parkinson disease, physiological shock, patient monitoring systems, and a variety of other programs, where he developed additional new instruments. Vincent founded Biomedical Electronics, a small company devoted to the development of patient monitoring and medical instruments. This company was integrated into ILC Industries, the supplier of the early space suits for astronauts. After retiring from scientific areas of endeavor, Vincent's attention turned to boating and marine activities in Virginia, then retirement. Vincent is now retired and lives in Florida but continues to write, mostly fiction, a new venue for him.