Anthony's Prayers Continues to Spread

The inspiration from Anthony's Prayers continues to spread and now has reached the place where he faced his greatest spiritual challenge. The Staten Island Advance on Friday ran a story about his book. The Advance in 1972 broke the story about the abuse and mistreatment of children in the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. Anthony, as a boy, was a resident of that school in the mid-1960s - “One thousand twenty seven days of my life,” he later wrote - and was severely abused and deprived while living there. The Advance story said the book "features poetic excerpts from Torrone’s writings and photographs of his daily life, his friends and church, and his many remarkable Lego creations." The story already has prompted more orders for the book.

One New York reader emailed Anthony the following: "I consider you to be an extremely inspirational and strong individual, and I will be proud to own a copy of something that you created. As an occupational therapist, I hope to advocate for and with people just like you, and to help the rest of the community realize the wealth of talent that is so often hidden behind stereotypes and labels. Thank you for sharing your story, and I cannot wait to share it with friends and colleagues."