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Joseph DiLeonardo is still friends with his best friend from kindergarten. He also is friends with 30 or so others with whom he went to South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St.
“We scheduled to meet on a regular, once-a-month basis,” DiLeonardo, 71, said of his classmates. “Having these luncheons, I realized how successful this group of people were. We were post-Depression babies and because of that we had a small class. Only 120 students graduated from Southern.”
The 1954 graduate from 11th and Mifflin streets was used to meeting with his various classmates and hearing how these “captains of industry” were excelling in their respective fields. The uplifting stories moved the advertising executive to put pen to paper.
“It’s an inspirational memoir,” DiLeonardo said of the book he penned over the last year about his constituents’ post-high school lives entitled, “Super Glue.” “We had a number of class reunions. The first class reunion wasn’t for maybe 30 years — it was like we never even left — and we started to talk to each other and the second reunion wasn’t for another 20 years.”
Knowing these long breaks were not enough face time for the longtime friends, the Class of ’54 started arranging their own South Philly-based lunches at places like “Scannicchio’s and Barrel’s” were they would meet up and discuss the past, present and future.
“It would run between 15 to 30 people who meet once a month. It’s a pretty big crowd,” DiLeonardo said. “We’re getting ready to put together a complete class reunion.
“It’s a story about this group of friends who banded together to overcome the challenges of the post-Depression era. It’s a timeless story of the resilience of the human spirit.”
The 170-plus-page, self-published tome speaks about more than 30 stories of South Philly born-and-bred successes.
“I did a little bit of a focus group on my own before I published and got a lot of encouragement. I’ve sold close to 200 books so far — some are friends, some are complete unknowns,” DiLeonardo said. “It’s not so much about the story part, but about the characters in the book.
“The story is about a lifestyle and time of life that was different, but almost similar to what’s happening now. Things were tough and people were out of work, almost like what we are going through right now. It’s very timely and everyone likes it. I’m thrilled.”
DiLeonardo’s mother, Josephine, still lives at the family home at 11th-and-Mifflin. She is 95 years old.
“I left the area when I got married in 1960, but never really 100 percent left it,” DiLeonardo, a Westchester resident, said. “I’m still there all the time. Well, I have a lot of family in South Philly, family and friends.”
DiLeonardo met his wife of 40 years, Skipper, at a school dance. After graduating from Southern, he went to study engineering at Drexel University, but it wasn’t his forte.
“I didn’t do too well there, so I transferred to Charles Morris Price, in Center City, Philadelphia. I believe it was at 13th and Locust,” DiLeonardo said. “I studied marketing/advertising there. So that’s how I got in to that end of the business and I’ve been there ever since.”
DiLeonardo began working in advertising upon graduation.
“My best friend became chairman of N.W. Ayer, Jerry Siano. We went our different ways. He went and worked in New York for 30 something years. I stayed in Philadelphia,” DiLeonardo said. “Around 1970 and we started a full-service advertising agency.”
As the CEO of DSC Advertising, headquartered in Old City, DiLeonardo is still an active participant in the industry. His work on the book, “Super Glue,” was rewarding, but not a probable career path.
“I loved writing and it’s something I was passionate about, but I don’t know if I could write another book. This book was a labor of love,” DiLeonardo said.
The writing process included the informal discussions with friends over South Philly grub, but moved into a more formal line of questioning.
“I started to write the book just from conversations at the luncheons because I was fascinated with what some of these people accomplished,” DiLeonardo said. “And I started to do telephone interviews to get the full stories.”
His discovery process reaffirmed old bonds and brought about a larger sense of community the author hadn’t expected.
“In the process of doing my telephone interviews and personal interviews, we actually went way back to just about kindergarten,” DiLeonardo said. “There were a lot of friends, we were friends from elementary right through high school. That’s an incredible part of the story. In the process of writing the book, we planned an elementary school reunion.
“We had our 61st celebration of Francis Reed in November of last year. That was a lot of fun — at a little restaurant in South Philly.”
Family and friends have delighted in the retelling of 70 years in the area through multiple storylines that include a high-power attorney, an antique car show organizer and a graphic designer for local papers. Positive feedback also has come from non-residents, like the owner of the Center City Borders bookstore, who ordered a dozen copies of the book on the spot.
But the best compliment came from DiLeonardo’s own family circle.
“My sister-in-law really made me feel good,” the author said. “She said reading this book is like having a conversation with a friend. You want to read it real slow and you don’t want it to end.” SPR
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