Dr. Mike reports in from snowy Minnesota

Hey Joe -- I came across the latest issue of The Ivy League Christian Observer (published by the Christian Union) and caught this article about you. If you haven't put this up on your blog, you really ought to. It's about the best description of Now or Never that I've seen. Also, it connects your writing to your days at Cornell, which was a big plus for me. Keep writing, mighty sage!  Your pal, Mike Finley, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Living Life in the Red Zone

Former Cornell Football Player Set to Release New Book

By Eileen Scott

 

 

Joe Cervasio, Cornell '69, is a storyteller...

From New Jersey Italian-Americans in his book, Bad News on the Doorstep, to ancient Arimatheans in his new book, Now or Never: The 11 Secrets of Arimathea, to a touching tribute to his Aunt Maggie and her "gravy," Cervasio writes of the richness of the human expe­rience with insight, empathy, and creativity.

But Cervasio also lives with a richness and loyalty to Jesus Christ and family that solidly create his own life story.

 

For Cervasio, that story began in New Jersey, where he came from humble Italian-American roots that keep him grounded today. Cervasio has lived his whole life in Jersey, except for the time spent at Cornell.

 

One of his teammates at Cornell was running back Ed Marinaro, who was a Heisman Tro­phy runner-up before playing in the NFL and going on to television stardom on "Hill Street Blues" and "Sisters." The two men remain close friends.

 

Cervasio is still involved with the football program as a member of the Cornell Football Association, and as a motivational speaker, spent time this summer talking to the team. But motivational speaking is only part of what this writer/businessman does.

 

In addition to writing the two books, Cervasio is president of the Bluegreen Institute in Florida, a leader in the resort timeshare industry. But it's not his professional or financial success that he primarily seeks to inspire.

 

What gets the most attention on his Web site is a telling paragraph of "interests" that go far beyond movies and sports. The list is really a record of the people and activities that have enriched Cervasio's life. It includes "the Number 10 grammar school and the neighborhood" followed by names of childhood friends and Mrs. Ellen Angus, his 7th and 8th grade teacher.

 

And that's what one might expect from this Belleville native who married his high school sweetheart and chose to com­mute from Jersey to Florida so his kids could grow up near family. The Cervasios passed on their love for sports to their two daughters; Corrine is a Syracuse grad, proud of the Orangemen, while Tina Cervasio, a Maryland Terrapin, was a television reporter for the Boston Red Sox for two years before going to work as an on-air personality for the MSG Network in New York City.

 

"It was a spiritual decision to stay in Jersey," Cervasio says. "We were developing a spiritual base there." Although Cervasio says he and his wife had been "good Catholics," he didn't become saved until after he graduated Cornell. 

 

"The Lord found me through a salesman who was a madman," Cervasio said of his business associate, "crazy" Bobby Bonanducci. According to Cervasio. Bonanducci had a checkered past but had been saved by the Lord. 

 

"He led me to the Lord one day in my kitchen," Cervasio recounts. "I said the sinner's prayer in 1973." In his book Bad News on the Doorstep, Cervasio mixes true-life experiences and characters with a fictional flair that leads to an endearing, nostalgic look at life in the 1950s.

 

Cervasio's latest book, Now or Never, The 11 Secrets of Arimathea, which is in the pre-publishing stages, is also based on truth, loyalty, and family. But this time, the setting takes readers back 2,000 years to the Judean town of Arimathea.

 

The book focuses on Joseph of Arimathea, and fills in the gaps between what we know of the Arimathean and what might have been. But like Bad News on the Doorstep, this Book isn’t just a story; it's a life lesson.

 

So what can readers learn from a 2,000-year-old, obscure man from Arimathea? A lot, according to the modern-day Joseph of Jersey. For within the story of the ancient Joseph is revealed 11 secrets of success that can impact the lives of today's readers.

 

Cervasio began uncovering these secrets while a football player at Cornell, where he noticed specific traits of successful players and leaders. And from then on, he kept observing the winning attributes of those he encountered.

 

Howeveer, instead of just writing another "how to succeed with 11 easy steps" sort of book, Cervasio interwove the secrets within the didactic stories of Joseph and other key, but obscure, figures like Duca, Joseph's servant.

 

The lesson Cervasio believes can most dramatically help young people today is to "stay in the moment." It's a lesson inspired by Exodus 3: 14 where God says to Moses, "I Am That I Am." "Too many of us are in the past and the future," Cervasio says. "God is not in the past or the future. He is right now."

 

Cervasio's attributes his personal success to an "ego-less consumption of the moment." That means not thinking about past failures or potential future profit; it means focusing on the task at hand and giving that your very best, he ex­plained.

 

And that's what Cervasio does each day as he builds his personal story moment by moment, serving the Lord, lov­ing his family, and sharing his talents and faith through sto­ries that engage readers and inspire lives.

Comments

[Joe C.]

Dear Dr. Michael Finley:

To my original editor of NOW OR NEVER: THE 11 SECRETS OF ARIMATHEA, thanks for your update on the blog. Indeed, you are my Minnesota Mentor on all things about this passion of writing, and whatever good comes of ... THE 11 SECRETS, so much credit will be given to you.

Your student,

Joe Cervasio, back in Jersey.