Ralph Locascio

Alone in Winter Ralph Locascio

The main protagonist, middle-aged Larry, a chronic seducer of women and owner of a small flying business, is usually successful in his seduction ploys but two strong women thwart his efforts. One of them, Joyce, 40, is the managing editor of a women's magazine in New York City. She has an extremely strong sex drive that has not been integrated into her conservative personality. As a result, she feels growing dissatisfaction with her life until she meets Martin. Martin, mid-40's, a reserved university Humanities professor, becomes more engaged in life after surviving the crash of a small airplane that he was piloting. Happy, early 30's, initially appears as a narcissistic young woman who survives by exploiting men. A narrow escape from being murdered by her husband causes her to abandon that life style. She becomes more self-reliant, although still self-centered. As the two men and two women attempt to establish connections and seek deeper meanings in their lives, their experiences result in varying degrees of character improvement. Some of the sub-themes are the excitement of small-plane flying, survival after a plane crash, prostitution and sexual attitudes, man-woman relations, father-son relations, science vs. religion as sources of truth, and university politics.