Author Spotlight: Louis Marino, author of “Santa’s Big White Chicken”
Louis “Lou” J. Marino, author of Santa’s Big White Chicken, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the youngest of six children of Italian descent.
Lou was raised in a lower middle-class neighborhood and he attended the public schools of Cleveland. In 1956, he graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts, major in Architecture.
Lou pursued his passion in architecture for several years until he transitioned to the real estate development industry circa 1975 and then continued in that field until he retired in 2000.
He is married to Nancy, and they have four children, two grown stepchildren, seven grandchildren, and seven step grandchildren. He lives in Fort Myers, Florida.
His book, Santa’s Big White Chicken, was inspired by an event in his life many years ago when, one Christmas, his stepson gave him a wood carved Santa sitting astride a chicken. He wondered what the story was behind such an ornament and found nothing about its origin.
In order to satisfy his own curiosity, he wrote this poetry collection. Lou would read it to his grandchildren every Christmas until they grew up.
Seeing as his oldest grandson, Louis Lonsway, has grown into a talented illustrator, Lou asked him to illustrate the story for him. Together, they have produced a new Christmas legend, Santa’s Big White Chicken.
