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Castellani grew up in Albany, NY. He attended the Albany Academy from 4th
grade through the twelfth. When he got there he could not read, write or spell because he
had been in an orphanage at an early age and then shifted from pillar to post until he
lived with his grandparents and arrived at the Academy. There he participated in track,
football, basketball, baseball and swimming. Scholastics were not his long suit but he
attributes every facet of his academic foundations to the Academy for it is the only
formal education he had. The Alumni Association became aware of Castellani's work on
Skid Row and honored him with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Castellani's name is now
engraved in bronze in the foyer of the school.
The Academy flew Castellani from LA to Albany to receive the award at the Alumni
banquet where 75% of his graduating class from 1952 came to share in the evening. |
