Comments on: Uncle Vic

By: LJB

LJB — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:03:17 +0000

I was missing Vic and came across your tribute. He was a mentor to me while I was in Chicago. The thing about Vic is that he made everyone feel special in love in a very specific way. I miss him. Thanks for the stories, it helped me recall all the things I loved about him.

By: Marlene

Marlene — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:30:39 +0000

Thank you so much for bringing your uncle’s amazing life force with your beautiful words and vivid detail. I love the image of Victor yelling American whores to an Italian plaza. So funny and precisely what made him such an outrageous delight to be around. He taught me the power in being authentic.

By: Russell

Russell — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 09:23:40 +0000

That was lovely. It really was.

By: Larry Garner

Larry Garner — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 20:26:05 +0000

Hello Andy,
Thank you for your moving remembrances of your uncle Vic. I was his student for a number of years in Chicago, a member of his ill-fated theater company, and his interpreter for phone calls to his zia Elisabetta as well as for 2 visits he made to the zia’s place in Rivisondoli (he pulled the same stunt with me as he did with you, asking me to translate utterly outrageous comments about whores and sexual practices that I felt obliged to reconfigure). I continue to work as an actor in Chicago, and often find myself comparing the directors I work with to Victor–they invariably come up short.
best wishes, Larry Garner

By: Pat Katzmann

Pat Katzmann — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:12:59 +0000

Hi Andy,

A mutual high school friend asked me for the link to your uncle’s blog, and when I visited it just now to get the URL, I was very sad to learn that he was already gone.

I first met Victor in July of 1962, when we were five. My parents and I moved into a bungalow on Clearview Avenue in Parma across the street from Victor’s house. I wonder if your mom or her sister remember me? My name was Pat Kovachevich then.

We were best frenemies for a while, started kindergarten that September. Victor used to love to tap dance wearing my mary janes. Some time around first or second grade, the D’Altorios moved to Marda Drive and Victor changed schools. Our parents still occasionally socialized, but over time we lost touch. Victor and I found each other again at Normandy High School, where we were involved in play production, and we both ended up attending Northwestern University’s School of Speech (now known as the Communications Dept.) — he of course was a Theater major, and I majored in Radio/TV/Film.

We didn’t see much of each other at university, nor were we in touch when we both lived in L.A. We only reconnected last September, and unfortunately, that’s the last time we communicated. You may not be surprised to learn that the communication involved a vulgar, but hilarious (and believable) rumor your uncle had forgotten he’d perpetrated in high school about a fellow classmate (who also ended up attending Northwestern). I was able to show him that somehow, like a perfectly constructed joke, that old rumor generated a real life call back 35 years later. At least I know that that brief email exchange made him laugh.

I’m very sorry Victor and I didn’t get to see each other again. Please convey my deepest condolences to your family.

Best regards,
Pat Katzmann

By: Melanie Joyce

Melanie Joyce — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:18:41 +0000

Andy, thank you for writing this about Vic. i liked hearing about the time you found out he was gay and i’ve always loved the story about him hiding food in the planters in Italy (that one makes me laugh every time…no matter how many times i’ve heard it!!). It’s crazy how memories come back to you. I’ve been remembering things i had kind of forgot about too. Though i am newer to the family and didn’t know uncle Victor nearly as long as you, joe, ellen, brad, etc. I am so thankful for the moments i did have with him. the family game of celebrity when Vic got pissed and tore up the name because he couldn’t read the handwriting and didn’t know who the person was comes to mind. ha. joe and i were just in LA this year and had some wonderful late night conversations with him in his apartment…(while Vic fixed himself two full sandwiches and devoured them as if they were nothing). i think we all kind of knew it would probably be the last time. we will miss him so much. his spirit in our family was incredible…and yes, loud and vulgar as well.

let’s make some plans to get together soon so we can see Dom and reminisce about Vic.

love,
Melanie

By: David Briggs

David Briggs — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:12:56 +0000

Hi Andy,
Beautiful blog. As one of your Uncle Vic’s best friends since college, I know how much Vic loved his family and you. I can’t believe he’s really truly gone.
I remember visiting him in either LA or Chicago and hearing that I think you or some other members of the family would be visiting soon, and I noticed he had a photo of the Pope on his fridge with Vic’s own obscene photo-collage addition attached to the Pope’s mouth. I suggested he might want to take that down before family arrived. Of course a horrified “Oh God, NOOOOO WAY, Dave!!!” was his response.
For better or worse, Vic refused to censor himself to accomodate others’ comfortability. I loved him very much, and he knew and loved me like a brother. And he could make me laugh harder than any other human being on earth.
All the best,
David Briggs

By: Allison Burnett

Allison Burnett — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:08:30 +0000

Beautiful tribute to an unforgettable man. I met Victor 33 years ago. He acted in two plays that I wrote and we saw each other on and off over the years…. I was stunned that he actually went through with it and, ever since, have been battling with feelings of anger and sadness at his stubborn choice. Thanks for writing this. Best, Allison Burnett