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A Son Grapples with HIs Father's Violence

Author Lorenzo Carcaterra is managing editor of the CBS weekly series "Top Cops." He's written a memoir, "A Safe Place," about growing up the son of a violent, loving, murderous, and generous father. They lived in New York's Hell's Kitchen during the 50s and 60s. Lorenzo found out at the age of 14 that his father had murdered his first wife when she threatened to leave him. Lorenzo's father went on to terrorize his second wife, beating her and Lorenzo. Yet his father also could be warm and affectionate to his family.

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Other segments from the episode on April 5, 1993

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, April 5, 1993: Interview with Lorenzo Carcaterra; Interview with Parnell Hall; Review of the CD box set series "DIY."
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12:49

Detective Writer Parnell Hall

Hall has been an actor, a private detective and a screenwriter -- he wrote the horror movie C.H.U.D. Now he is a novelist, writing mysteries featuring Stanley Hastings, a failed actor turned detective.

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22:24

A Son Grapples with HIs Father's Violence

Author Lorenzo Carcaterra is managing editor of the CBS weekly series "Top Cops." He's written a memoir, "A Safe Place," about growing up, the son of a violent, loving, murderous, and generous father. They lived in New York's Hell's Kitchen during the 50s and 60s. Lorenzo found out at the age of 14 that his father had murdered his first wife when she threatened to leave him. Lorenzo's father went on to terrorize his second wife, beating her and Lorenzo. Yet his father also could be warm and affectionate to his family.

Interview
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46:32

Writer Lorenzo Carcaterra.

Former New York Daily News reporter and author Lorenzo Carcaterra. His first book, A Safe Place: The True Story of a Father, a Son, a Murder, was about growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, the son of a violent, abusive man who none-the-less loved his son. Carcaterra learned as a teenager that his father had murdered his first wife. Carcaterra's newest book Sleepers, (Ballantine Books) is also about growing up in Hell's Kitchen and the bond of friendship between him and three friends.

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