Faded Genes by Patrick Girondi

A 47-year-old Pittsburgh insurance man and his busted-night club singing friend go to Italy in the hopes of finding a Bone Marrow donor.

Danny’s life was mundanely ordinary. He sold insurance in the small neighborhood of Fineview overlooking Pittsburgh. His weekdays ended watching all-star wrestling with his mother, and his weekends were spent in bars with Patg, a broken-down crooner and Kevin, a drunk.

Danny is diagnosed with a flash leukemia. There were no transplant matches and little hope. Danny's mother confesses that to avoid deportation, his biological father had taken off for Italy before he was born. Papà has no idea that he has a son.

Danny heads off for southern Italy with Patg. Patg’s Italian is worse than his voice. It all makes for a compelling situation in which cultural lines are drawn and broken.

PATRICK GIRONDI, originally from the South Side of Chicago, is an Italian and American singer-songwriter, author, and founder of San Rocco Therapeutics, a gene therapy company focused on bringing a safe and accessible cure to Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia patients. Girondi has released seven music albums and two books--the Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller Flight of the Rondone and most recently New City.