Fourth in a series

Re: “He Was Helpless to Block Fatherly Abuse”

No stranger to drama, John Cassese, the Santa Monica-based Dance Doctor, was not exaggerating the other day when he thanked G-d for rescuing the dancer-singer from numerous almost-tragedies.

Speaking calmly as he narrates a bio film he hopes will blossom into a commercial motion picture, Mr. Cassesse remembers.

“My first near-death experience was when I was 7 years old,” says the New York-born youngest of five brothers.

“The rule was, I had to stop at my grandfather’s bar on my way home from school. I would have my Uncle Joe walk me across the street, which was very wide, six lanes. When we got to the other side, there would be a pack of lifesavers he would deliver from his hand to my hand. I think he knew something that I didn’t at the time.

“One day I decided I wasn’t going to stop at the bar,” said Mr. Cassese, “because I saw my brother Phil walking across the street. I just screamed his name out and ran into the street, thinking he would walk me.

“I didn’t see the big Mack truck that was coming, and I wound up unconscious in the hospital.

“When I woke up, I found my mother praying over me. She said I had a concussion. She prayed that I would come out of it, and I did.”

There is no doubt about who was Mr. Cassesse’s favorite parent. “My mother was a very spiritual, religious, caring, selfless, loving person,” he said. “Without her, I could not have survived my childhood.”

 (To be continued)