42 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MARCH 27, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com AUTHOR DIVES INTO LIFE OF “DON1” Photo: Joe (DON 1) Palattella Courtesy of Louie (KR.ONE) Gasparro FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! SPRING INTO SAVINGS ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 4/21/14 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 4/21/14 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $99 Includes: •EYE EXAM •2 Boxes of Lenses Contact Lens Fitting additional. Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses.Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 4/21/14 DESIGNER SUNGLASSES st STARTING AT $99 Place of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Some Restrictions Apply. See Store For Details. In Stock Items Only. Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. QC Must present prior to purchase. Offer expires: 4/21/14 buzz BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com He was born Giuseppe (Joseph) Palattella, but he would become “DON 1, M.A.F.IA.” The Italian-American teen from Queens helped put the borough and the Brooklyn- Manhattan Transit (BMT) subway lines on the 1970s graffi ti map. Decades later, a new book hopes to rediscover that legacy. One of his fans, Louie, “KR.ONE,” Gasparro, brings back to light the now-reclusive artist in “DON1, the King from Queens: The Life and Photos of a NYC Transit Graffi ti Master.” Gasparro, 48, grew up in the same Long Island City/Astoria area as DON 1, where he became an admirer of his subway art. It later infl uenced Gasparro’s own graffi ti work. During the mid-80s Gasparro, who knew DON 1’s brother, asked him if DON 1 would be interested in collaborating with him on some murals in Astoria. But he turned him down. Gasparro, a graphic designer, painter and musician, tried to reach out to DON 1 again in 2002 to interview him for a graffi ti website. After a year and half of phone conversations, the two fi nally met in person. “He was unaware of how infl uential he was,” Gasparro said. When they met, Don 1 came up with the idea for the book. The special thing about this book is it documents the graffi ti on the BMT lines, which ran through Queens and other boroughs, Gasparro said. “When the world found out about New York City graffi ti, they found out about the Bronx and Manhattan,” Gasparro added. DON 1, born to Italian immigrants, was artistically talented from a young age. In 1973, he was accepted into Manhattan’s High School of Art & Design. There, he was fi rst introduced to the world of graffi ti artists or “writers,” as they preferred to be called. “He was right at the cusp of the beginning of it,” Gasparro said. “DON 1 still is, without argument, one of the true BMT/IND masters that pushed the aesthetic envelope beyond its scope,” one of his contemporaries, Lee Quinones, writes in the book. Along with remembrances from fellow writers and DON 1, the book is full of vivid photos of the work of DON 1 and other graffi ti artists. DON 1, as a photography major at Art & Design, thought it was vital to document his art. DON 1’s illustrative and photography skills landed him jobs with several magazines after high school. But his creative path changed in 1978 due to a psychological condition, which DON 1 details in the book, and leading him to his now reclusive life. Yet, the inventive artist still lives inside of him, Gasparro said. And his infl uence will likely always loom large on the writers of the era. “There is no one better to represent Queens than DON 1,” Gasparro said. Gasparro will be signing copies of the book at the Astoria Bookshop, 31-29 31st Street, at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. For more information on the book and related events, visit http://krstorm.com. rediscovering the king
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