Charlie Stella was born Carmelo Stella on June 1, 1956 in Manhattan, New York.  Raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Canarsie High School in 1974 and attended Minot State College in North Dakota on a football scholarship.  Charlie’s focus turned to writing during his sophomore year at Minot when he met Dave Gresham, a friend and teacher that Charlie credits with “changing his life.”

 

“When Dave read the first chapter of George V. Higgins’, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, to our class, I was hooked.  I knew people who spoke like Higgins’ characters.  I knew some of that world because my father was a knockaround guy himself.  I started to think I might be able to do this stuff someday.”