No. 18 Vol. 7
www.mypaperonline.com
July 2020
When Life Gets to be Too Much, Take a Trip to Jason Shapiro’s “The Magic of Mayfair”
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By Jillian Risberg t may not always look like it, but amid life’s soaring highs and crushing disappointments there is meaning. We can own what we do with it on any given day. Jason Shapiro knows all too well just what that means. The Livingston author has had his fair share of happiness, loss and trauma. In the book, “The Magic of Mayfair,” which hit shelves mid-November 2019 — Shapiro leverages his memoir to help normalize conversation about mental health. “The book serves as a keen reminder that more kindness, compassion and understanding is needed in this world and that mental illness is not a personal failure or a weakness,” says Cheryl Granovsky. “This author has taken affirmative steps to reduce the stigma.” The suburban paradise of South Florida (Tampa/ Clearwater area) serves as the backdrop when the author’s then eight-year-old self moves into a new home on Mayfair Court. “My childhood really was this time that was just in my mind perfect,” he says. “It was the suburban boom, the resurgence; kind of the duplication of what the 50s and 60s was like but in the 80s (summer of 1983).” The author quickly met his best friend, Billy Gange (Jimmy Gallo in the book) and with their instant connection and lifelong bond, we get to tag along as Shapiro shows us the wonder everywhere through the eyes of the children.
“All the people that I’ve loved and lost over the last 10/15 years were healthy and happy at that time,” Shapiro says. “It was a great time and I always thought about that.” The story kicks off at the point when the author finds a cassette tape (broken 15/20 years prior) that Gange had given him when he moved off the street in 1989. “I got it fixed and started watching old videos,” Shapiro says. “And I videotaped some of the videos on my phone and then put it on Facebook, hash tagging the post, ‘The Magic of Mayfair.’” The love reaction was swift from friends the author grew up with, including Ira Rosoff. “We were childhood friends and reconnected 30 years later through this book,” Shapiro says, adding that the singer/songwriter penned the nostalgic track also titled, “The Magic of Mayfair” (inspired by the book). Delving into the pages, the author introduces the reader to three main characters; his dad, brother and best friend. “Unfortunately they get all impacted in certain ways,” Shapiro says, referring to a series of tragic events later in life that brings him full circle back to Mayfair Court. According to the author, one of the reasons he’s gaining ground with this book and it’s really resonating with people is because he never set out to capitalize on the story, only did it as a cathartic kind of exercise for himself. “It helped me deal with my emotions and reconnect with a lot of those people,” Shapiro continued on page 2
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