 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
A new chapter for dance instructor
By CAROLYN HOPKINS NEW PORT RICHEY -- Cynthia Marino, 77, is probably best known as a dance instructor, and now she is a published author. She and her husband, John, came to New Port Richey in 1975. Both enjoyed dancing, and she had taught dancing professionally in New Jersey. "There weren't many places to dance in this area at that time," she recalled. "We were hired by the New Port Richey Recreation Center to teach dancing and remained there until 1987, when a new floor was put in for basketball, and tap dancing was no longer allowed on that floor. It was while we were at the rec center that we formed the Dancing Guys and Dolls troupe of senior dancers. We had a wonderful time together doing this for more than 20 years." After leaving the recreation center, the Marinos instructed dancing classes at the Hillandale clubhouse. "Dancing," she said, "keeps the mind alert and keeps you mentally and physically active. You don't have to be Fred and Ginger to enjoy yourself dancing." After her husband's death, Marino said, her heart just wasn't in dancing anymore, but she felt she had to do something to keep occupied. At the suggestion of a friend, she had started writing an autobiography years before but had set it aside. "I enrolled in a creative writing class at Pasco-Hernando Community College. I showed my notes to my professor, Karen Cuccio Davis, and she was excited about it and gave me encouragement. I decided to fictionalize the names because it gave me more freedom to write." In the book, she refers to her first husband, Yehoshua Yosifon, as Avi; her three children, Jack, Michael and Daniella, are called Joshua, David and Dorit; and she refers to herself as Sonia. Her beloved John is known as Jim in the book. Her story has been published under the title One Dream, Two Loves and is written, for the most part, as letters between her and her best friend, Rosey. It covers her early life in England during the Blitz in London, her romance and marriage to her first husband and a journey to join him in Palestine, where customs and living conditions were so different. She tells how they reared their children and recalls their life during the end of the British mandate and the beginning of the State of Israel. The family emigrates to the United States, arriving Dec. 23, 1960. They encounter culture shock: automatic doors, supermarkets filled with products including frozen foods and an unfamiliar language for the children. She and her husband find work, and the children learn to speak English. They all begin a new life in the United States. After her first husband died, she and John Marino, "the love of her life," met at a Parents Without Partners dance. They married Feb. 23, 1974, and moved to Florida a year later, after he retired as a paymaster for a construction firm in New Jersey. They taught dancing until his death in 1997. Marino will sign her book from 1-4 p.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks, Citrus Park Town Center, Tampa. Information: call (727) 842-4018.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Seniority pages |
