John Fante

John Fante (April 8, 1909 – May 8, 1983) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Italian descent. His 1939 work Ask the Dust, a semi-autobiograpical novel about life in and around Los Angeles, California, was the third in a series of four novels, published between 1938 and 1985, that are now collectively called "The Bandini Quartet". That book was made into a movie of the same name in 2006. He also wrote several other books, stories and screenplays, including the 1957 film Full of Life, based on his 1952 novel by that name. Other noted screenplays Fante co-wrote include the 1962 films Walk on the Wild Side and The Reluctant Saint and 1968's made-for-television movie Something for a Lonely Man.

Personal life

Fante was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1909, to his father, Nicola Fante from Torricella Peligna (Abruzzo), and his mother, Mary Capolungo. He attended various Catholic schools in Boulder, Colorado, before briefly enrolling at the University of Colorado. He dropped out of college in 1929 and moved to Southern California to focus on his writing. He wrote about writing and the people and places where he lived and worked, which included Wilmington, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, the Bunker Hill district of downtown Los Angeles, California, as well as various homes in Hollywood, Echo Park and Malibu. Diabetes cost him his eyesight and led to the amputation of both legs. He died in 1983.