Ross T. Runfola
By Paula Wachowiak
Published in The Buffalo News, 10/11/2000

The next time you see what you think is a gas station attendant walking into a Wilson Farms for a quart of milk, think again. Ross T. Runfola dresses in costumes of different occupations to observe the inequities in society. He is fascinated by the difference in the way he is treated when he outfits himself in the clothes of a car wash attendant as opposed to how he is treated as Ross T. Runfola, Esq.. This calculated charade gives him inspiration and material for his poems and stories.

Although he is an award winning writer, Runfola rejected poetry until 1991. His brother sent him a Christmas present; a book of poems called Love Is A Dog From Hell by Charles Bukowski with the inscription "Ross, you're twisted. Charlie is twisted. Give him 25 pages." Runfola was mesmerized by the stark reality in Bukowski's poetry. One night Runfola just woke up and started writing poems. He says, "I don't ever say it's great poetry but it's poetry that describes my life. It's good and bad because my life has been good and bad."

Runfola says that his goal in writing is to create poetry that is "less conforming to meaningless codes; less reliant on exterior forms of approval and reinforcements, less tolerant of intolerance, more prone to risk taking, and more spontaneous and interactive." He is turned off by the kind of poetry that uses language that is abstract and contrary to the vocabulary of common people. When he reads in public it is not with the goal of getting people to like his poetry; he reads so that he can describe something about his life.

In the early lean years he was a sports columnist for The Buffalo New Times and a reporter for the Buffalo Courier Express. Always a maverick and an in-your-face individualist, he remembers his defining moment as a writer. Howard Cosell was in Buffalo for a book signing and under fire from Runfola. Exasperated, Cosell called him "the most obnoxious sports writer I have ever met." Runfola took it as a compliment.

During the worst economic period of Runfola's life he investigated and developed a story about a young black hockey player in Canada who was a victim of racism. He submitted an article to Sports Illustrated and it was rejected. Then he submitted it to The New York Times. Not only was it accepted but it also won the best sports feature published in any newspaper or magazine that year. That was just the hook he needed to make writing a lifetime endeavor.

In the real world Runfola is a lawyer and Professor Of Sociology at Medaille College. In all aspects of his life he wants to deliver a clear message that can only come through if he is true to himself. He does not care about the accepted modes of behavior in his personal or professional life. He feels that the more removed he is from being "academic" the more he teaches or writes about the "real" world removing barriers between student and teacher, writer and reader. He attempts to get people to think in creative ways and break with the constraints of homogeneity.

Runfola likes nothing more than lively controversy. So when he was attacked at Art Dialogue Gallery by an individual for being "offensive" not only did Runfola celebrate the harassment but he also got true poetry out of the experience. It created spirited conversation involving the audience that essentially turned his opponent into an unwitting colleague. He doesn't care if people agree with his poetry he simply wants to move them. Mission Accomplished.

Runfola is a frequent anchor reader for many of the local reading venues. Even if you are not a lover of poetry, and maybe especially if you are not, don't miss an opportunity to hear him read.

Ross T. Runfola is an attorney, poet and professor of sociology at Medaille College.