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Gene Ligotti I find it remarkable for someone who enjoys travel as much as I do, that I have spent most of my life living in New York City or its immediate suburbs. Born in The Bronx, raised in a small community called Malba in Queens, educated at Adelphi University in Garden City on Long Island and New York University in Manhattan, and since my marriage, I have worked and lived in Huntington, and now in Smithtown, once again on Long Island. With the exception of my father, who was a dental technician, all of his family excelled within the music profession. My paternal grandfather was a composer and conductor, my uncle was a philharmonic violinist, my first cousin is chairman of the music department at the University of Georgia, and both my aunts were professional opera singers. My mother’s father and grandfather were both barbers from a time when being a barber meant more than just cutting hair. So you see, I was predestined, if there is such a determination, to be a member of a barbershop quartet or something like that. At the age of seven I began the study of music with the piano as my instrument. My studies continued, forever it seemed, and I eventually studied at the Juilliard School of Music. In my early teens, I gave concerts at: Steinway Hall, Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, and of course Juilliard Recital Hall. In high school, I had a small Jazz band that played at local dances. For a time it seemed that I would be a concert pianist or would follow some form of musical endeavor, but destiny had other ideas for my future, and music would only be a source of personal enjoyment and not my chosen profession. I spent summers in Southampton and East Hampton on Long Island. There on the beaches and waterways of eastern Long Island, my love for the great outdoors first began. Although I spent my nights reading the classics, I spent my days: boating, swimming, fishing, diving, and sailing; simply enjoying life as only a carefree youth can. The experience was worthwhile as well as pure fun, as years later, I was a crew member of the racing sloop, Contessa, which raced, and sometimes won, yacht club regattas throughout the Long Island Sound. I was a member of the swimming team at Bayside High School and at Adelphi University I won my letter as a member of the collegiate swimming team. At Adelphi University I matriculated as a pre-med major since I had decided to become a dentist, and it was there that I met the love of my life, a combination of beauty and intelligence, the vivacious Corbina Theresa Loscalzo. Corby and I married and have two beautiful daughters, Gina Maria and Lisa Anne. We have one grandson, Gino, and twin granddaughters, Gabrielle and Juliette. These blessings from heaven, consume our life with love as only grandchildren can. After receiving my Bachelor of Art degree from Adelphi, I entered New York University, College of Dentistry. Four years later a veritable new book of life opened for me. I received my doctorate in dentistry, purchased a home, built an office onto that home, started a practice and Corby gave birth to our first child. New York University asked me to stay on and teach Operative Dentistry, which I did two days a week for three years. Over the years the practice grew and expanded causing me to enlarge my office space on two occasions. When the Hunt brothers of Texas pushed the value of silver to $54.00 an ounce, dentists scrambled to salvage this precious metal. I worked with a simple idea and invented and patented a system of separating and salvaging the precious metal from the oral debris during regular treatment, but, when the system was ready for marketing, silver dropped to $4.00 an ounce and dentists lost interest. The years of practice were good to me and I’m quite proud of the large well-respected practice I established in Huntington. During those early years I began the hobby of breeding and raising quality German Shepherd Dogs. Many of our show