Unique to him

Pete Hamill is what my Puerto Rican family would call "un duro". Someone who is damn good at what he does. Experience, unique style and passion. He has it all. Just like his beloved city: New York.

When he walked into the classroom of 15 journalism students at the NYU Arthur Carter Institute, the 74-year-old's presence was immediately felt.

The currently distinguished writer in residence at NYU spoke for over an hour. Just like my "abuelita" when I ask her to tell me stories.

“It’s wonderful coming in contact with people who are seeing the city for the first time in a real way,” Hamill said.

A native of Brooklyn, New York City truly is embedded in his life and writing, but it is not the only spice in the intricate recipe that is Pete Hamill.

One can say Hamill is quite the international man having married twice. First to Ramona Negron, a "puertoriquena" like me. Then to Fukiko Aoki, a Japanese journalist with whom he remains.

Marrying outside your own ethnicity is a very enriching experience, Hamill said.

Youth was the culprit that dissolved his first marriage that ended in divorce in 1968. But not before blessing him with two daughters, Adrienne and Dierdre, and a love of Latin music. His young "boricua" love was 18 and he 24, both on the verge of the 60s.

"It would be unfair to get into details," Hamill said. "It was nobody's fault, it just didn't work."

Though Hamill and Negron couldn't work things out, it seems most everyone can find common ground with Hamill. Even the great Frank Sinatra could see eye to eye with him.

“We were friends, but we were New York friends,” Hamill said. “We shared similar backgrounds. We came from immigrant families, weren’t formally educated, but we found our way.”

Art, sports, war, journalism, fiction and love are just a few of the realms Hamill has delved into at some point in his life.

He has spent the longest amount of time working at the New York Post. Hamill has also worked and written for various publications such as the New York Times, The Village Voice and the New Yorker.

Hamill has also written many books and is currently working on one due to be released by late spring.

Hamill is all over the place. Destination and topic wise. But New York City is what he always returns to. Both in his travels and his writing.

Apparently Dorothy had it right when she said "There's no place like home." His city has molded not only his life, but also his writing, neither of which he is done with.

“I’ll stop writing when they carry me to Greenwood cemetery,” said Hamill. “I try to live my life without finishing.”