​Writing a Memoir About His Hometown of Quincy Turned into a Search for His Missing Father

What began as a nostalgic tribute to growing up in Quincy during the 1960s and 1970s became a deeply personal, years-long quest for answers about an absent parent. In his new memoir, Quincy Boy: A City of Presidents Memoir, author and current Framingham resident Brett Peruzzi traces his coming-of-age in the city that shaped him—while uncovering the story of the father who wasn’t there to see it happen.

Part family mystery, part portrait of a historic Massachusetts city in an era of rapid social change, Quincy Boy explores how place, memory, and longing intertwine. Peruzzi revisits the neighborhoods, schools, and granite quarries of his youth, as well as the cultural shifts that marked a generation. Along the way, his search for his missing father becomes a lens for understanding how family and community leave lasting marks on who we become.

“I set out to write about the place that shaped me,” Peruzzi says. “But I realized I couldn’t tell that story honestly and completely without confronting what was missing from it — my father.”

Peruzzi’s poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction have appeared in The Boston Globe, Ovunque Siamo, Exquisite Corpse, Modern Haiku, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, Boston Poetry Magazine, and Amethyst Review, among others. A graduate of Bridgewater State College with a bachelor’s degree in English and Northeastern University with a master’s degree in technical and professional writing, he grew up in Quincy and now lives in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Quincy Boy: A City of Presidents Memoir is available now in paperback and as an e-book on Amazon and Silver Street Media, a Massachusetts-based small business.