Chapter 4. Life Upon the Wicked Stage

Peter found work as a paralegal in a 559 449Wall Street law firm and enrolled in law school. But a summer singing-waiter job on Nantucket Island (left) somehow convinced him to pursue a career in the musical theater instead. He was in a dreadful production of 640 582Man of LaMancha, was featured in a 800640/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/GHC-NYT-Article-1980.pdfNew York Times article about Broadway hopefuls; then landed the Broadway show They’re Playing Our Song, touring with it all over the country (top right). In summer-stock and regional theater he played lead roles in plays such as West Side Story (center right), Cabaret, Pirates of Penzance (bottom right), and 640 402Fiddler on the Roof and acted alongside Jack Lemmon, John Raitt, 640 491Jane Powell, and 640 580Victor Garber. During this time he dabbled with dangerous outdoor activities, such as running a New York City Marathon and 800640/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Yosemite_quake.pdfrock-climbing in Yosemite Park during a major earthquake.

Between jobs he was a waiter at 500 349a fancy New York steakhouse but was fired for biting his fingernails, 291 400a habit common to Harvard alums. Dejected, he visited his girlfriend, 1000640http://www.tinadevaron.comTina deVaron (left) and noticed that her roommate was copyediting a memoir by 250 381G. Gordon Liddy — in her room, on her own time. This kind of work seemed perfect (you could even bite your nails!). Peter immediately contacted publishers via the phone book and lied his way into earned a job as an editor. Soon he was writing books (and 800640http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_multitaskingjuggling three careers — editor, writer, and actor) and somehow convinced Tina to marry him. After the birth of their first son, Nick, Peter decided to switch careers — to writing, full-time. 433 640So did Nick.