Fourteen

Born eighth in a family that was on its way to becoming almost twice that size, Stephen Zanichkowsky spent much of his life trying to understand his place in the crowd at home. As a boy, he and his thirteen siblings were caught in a desperate struggle to avoid their father's violence and the physical and emotional collapse of their mother. At his mother's funeral, Zanichkowsky, now an adult, realized she'd spent 144 months of her life pregnant, and began to understand why there was never enough love to go around.

Stephen Zanichkowsky worked as a licensed electrician, a carpenter and furniture maker before turning to writing. His work has appeared in the New York Press, The Atlantic Monthly, and other periodicals. He lives in South Portland, Maine