By Melissa Berman
Bob Calderon’s journey from a shy, closeted teenager in Woodmere to a published author at age 77 began with a newspaper column and a neighbor who saw potential where he saw uncertainty.
Calderon, a Lawrence High School graduate and former columnist for the Nassau Herald, recently self-published his first book, “What You See in Me”, a semi-autobiographical novella inspired by his experiences growing up in the Five Towns during the 1960s. The book follows Jacob Topol, a closeted boy navigating adolescence while searching for acceptance, purpose and his authentic self.
For Calderon, the story is deeply personal.
“I was closeted back then,” he said. “I was really frozen. People who are treated differently don’t have the coping skills at that age to deal with it. I wanted to be invisible.”
His life changed when Nassau Herald Executive Editor Leatrice Spanierman, then a neighbor living two houses away in Woodmere, invited him to contribute to the newspaper’s teen pages.