From an old friend...

I was a transplanted Catholic school kid venturing into public high school; no friends, no experience, no clue. In my sophomore year a mutual friend, Bill Evans, invited me to sit at his table in the cafeteria. My life would never be the same; it was here that I got to know Leslie. Though our high school career I was accepted into the group, most of whom were lifelong buddies; while Les was recuperating from back surgery we became family. We shared a Croatian heritage, Lord knows we drank enough of my grandma's homemade brandy on those inumerable crazy weekends that always started out in Leslie's dining room. Leslie' s humor was a natural, his dad Mitchell kept us rolling every time we were there .

The good times we shared are immeasurable, from sitting in his bedroom listening to all the great music we all brought to share, to walking drunk through his neighborhood almost every Friday and Saturday night; Sunday afternoon baseball at Westinghouse Park. Climbing down Wintergreen Gorge in Erie, PA (not to mention "sneaking" to Erie one Saturday afternoon to get some weed). All the while laughing and disrespecting just about everything and everyone we encountered.

I lost contact with Leslie and everyone else from those days as I moved away and set about raising my family; not that hardly a day went by without thinking about those days. The news of his passing was devastating, but I am a better and more fulfilled individual for having had Leslie in my life.

-- Joe Gagliardi