The Closer's Song

The Closer's Song is set in Greenwich Connecticut circa 1989 just prior to the last recession. It is the story of the unique relationship between a highly successful executive and his alter ego. Gerald Calderone now wealthy, ponders the cost of his fame and fortune. We learn of his fondness for fast cars and for a particular subliminal tape that he plays incessantly. We are drawn back to his childhood in suburban New York circa 1959. Here we learn of his early pagan existence. We are introduced to an autistic child, ridiculed and abused by those around him. Shy and reserved he ultimately turns to religion for solace, only to encounter innumerable obstacles to self-fulfillment. It is in his youth that he meets a unique individual named Francis. These two outcasts form a bond, and together search out their own personal salvations. Gerald a seminarian through learning and orthodoxy; Francis a hippie, through nature and humanism. Their relationship is intense and it leads them from Sleepy Hollow to Woodstock, Greenwich Village and back. They have such a profound effect on each other that the distinction between them becomes somewhat blurred. It ultimately leads to a suicide attempt in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery at the foot of the Headless Horseman Bridge. Drugs sex and rock and roll are part of the backdrop, as is raw human emotion. Eventually they drift apart, as Gerald embraces materialism, and Francis retreats into the woods. Gerald realizes his indebtedness to Francis when at the height of his career he stumbles. Plugging in his favorite tape once too often, he reaches out to his long lost friend only to be made acutely aware, of the secret he has been carrying for twenty years.