Featured Writer of the Month – November 2012

A somewhat “newbie” to writing, Kathy Minicozzi has charmed us with her endearing stories and Points to Remember! We are very honored to have Kathy as our Featured Writer of the Month!

Kathy Minicozzi

1. Tell us about the life of Kathy Minicozzi? birth, family, job, etc.

Other people find my life more interesting than I do. I think it’s a dull subject, but then it’s all old stuff to me, you know?

I was born right after World War II ended. Some people think I was instrumental in ending the war. When the Germans found out that my mother was pregnant with me, they threw down their guns in horror and ran screaming, “Noch ein verrückter Amerikaner!” (“Another crazy American!”) I don’t believe that, though. I just think that my father came home from the war, my mother was happy to see him and I was born not to long after that.

I am a Catholic school survivor and dropout. I switched to public school in my senior year of high school. I went to college to study music and learn to be an opera singer, and I have an MA in Music. After college I bummed around in Boston and New York, getting as much stage experience and training as possible and auditioning for anyone who would hear me, then headed to Germany and, finally, Israel to become a full-time, professional opera singer. When the opera company in Israel folded, I came back to New York City. That was in late 1982. I am now a confirmed New Yorker. You couldn’t pry me loose from this city.

2. You are an accomplished opera singer?

I like to think so. Enough other people thought the same way, so I was able to have something of a career.

3. How did that influence your desire to write?

It didn’t, actually. I used to love to write when I was a kid. I loved to tell stories, too. I used to tell made-up bedtime stories to my little sister when we were both in bed. My storytelling career came to an abrupt end when one of them gave my sister a nightmare. Mom told me from then on to just shut up and go to sleep.

When I discovered I could sing, I put all my focus and ambition on that, and my writing sort of got stuffed down, except for a couple of occasions when it kind of forced itself out again. That didn’t last long, though.

In the last few years, I have gotten the urge to write again. I took classes in fiction, creative nonfiction and humor to try to learn how to do it, and I’ve been writing as much as possible. Humor is my favorite genre – the one that comes easiest to me. When I write fiction, I like to combine humor and fantasy. Writing has now become as much of a compulsion as singing.

4. How much training goes into being an opera singer?

Years and years, and you never stop studying and learning. It’s like writing in that respect.

5. Are you a diva?

No, unless you are another opera singer singing onstage with me. Then I have the capability of turning out some very competitive bellowing, especially if you are trying to outdo me or upstage me. I have had some crazy fun moments onstage that way.


6.Are people afraid to sing in front of you?

No, but a lot of people are afraid to use colorful language in front of me because, for some strange reason, I give people the impression of being sweet and innocent. It must be from all those years in Catholic school. The veneer never quite wears off.

7. You never give up. I notice that about you a lot. Is that the performer in you or the Italian?

Actually, it’s the Scottish and Scots-Irish on my mother’s side of the family. They are pretty stubborn people. I have often been accused of being stubborn, so that must be it. Thanks, Mom.

I won’t let the Italians off the hook, though. I not only got my singing voice from the Italian side of the family, I’m sure that’s where my theatrical tendencies and quirky imagination came from. Thanks, Dad.

8. Tell us about your writing journey. You are somewhat new to humor so what attracted you to it and why didn’t you run away from it like a sensible person?

My name is Kathy, and I am a compulsive humor writer. I am powerless over it. I have this silly streak and it won’t leave me alone. Is there hope for me?

9. Is humor an important part of your life and why?

Well, if you can’t laugh at things you will either go crazy or you will end up being a fussy old woman with a pole up her rear. I’d rather laugh. It’s more fun and it gets the endorphins going in the brain.

10. Who are the people who have influenced you the most?

I have been blessed to have had many wonderful people in my life who have been willing to put up with me and even love me. I can only hope that I have given back even a quarter of what they gave me.

11. Do you have goals with your writing?

I just want to keep on doing it as long as my brain and my fingers are in working order. If I end up earning halfway decent money at it, that will be a nice perk.

Share this Post:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *