Curt Smith

Marco's Redemption Curt Smith

Marco Jackson, an intellectually gifted pioneer in computer technology, has achieved what some can only dream. He finished high school in 1953 at the top of his class, earned an academic scholarship to MIT and was selected as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. However, before achieving such a notable life, he learns he was adopted at birth. His Italian mother died on the day he was born and his Italian father abandoned him. Marco has a lingering need to find his birth father, and while on his honeymoon in Chicago, he finally meets him. His father is a notorious crime boss with the Chicago Mob, who is responsible for the mob's operations in Las Vegas. He wants Marco to come to Las Vegas and work for him. It's a slow seduction, which promises wealth, sex and excitement, so in spite of his success, Marco makes an ill-fated decision to naively join his father in the darkness of organized crime. It's generally true that no ever walks away from the mob; however, while at the bedside of his dying father, Marco is given a reprieve and allowed to return to his previous life. He spends the next 40 years mending his brokenness and calls the turning point with his dying father his redemption.