Retired teacher and author returns for book launch

Tony Ramano spent 32 years teaching English and psychology at William Fremd High School. On Thursday, Jan. 18, Ramano returned for a book launch for his new book, "Where My Body Ends and the World Begins."

The teacher turned author said he was glad to be back at Fremd, which he said was like a second home.

"It was great being back and seeing so many familiar faces, from cafeteria workers to hall monitors to retired colleagues and former students," said Ramano.

The event included musical performances and a reading from Ramano's book. The book tells the story of a fictional young man dealing with trauma nine years after surviving the 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels school, which killed 92 students and three nuns.

Ramano said he chose to write about this because he felt the event included two tragedies.

"One [tragedy] was you had the actual fire, which was bad enough" he said. "But then no one offered any counseling, no one took the kids aside to ask them 'what are you dealing with?'"

The evening, Ramano said, coupled with next month's 24th annual Writers Week, shows the school's commitment to expression.

"I don't know of any other school in the country that would host such a literary event," he said. "Not just the book launch, but Writers Week, which means [the school] respects and values a variety of voices."

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