My immediate family is my wife, Rebecca, my daughter, Amanda, and my grandaughter, Anita.

My wife and I are extremely close. We have lived and worked together for over thirty-five years. Though all my writings bear my name, none of them could exist without my wife's support. 

Amanda, her partner, Bill, and my grandaughter, Anita, grow closer every year, though we are separated by a continent. We live in Las Vegas. They live in New York. 

My Family History

I was born into a military family. Both my parents moved from the Army to the Air Force when it was first started.  My uncle was John Ralph Gagliardi, the first American serviceman killed in the Japanese attack on the Philippines, the day after Pearl Harbor.  My father, Franklin Gagliardi, serving in the Philippines with my brother, became one of the few survivors of the Death March of Bataan. Franklin spent WWII in a Japanese prison camp.  Both brothers were awarded the Silver and Bronz Stars.

My mother, Anita, was an officer in the US Army Nurse's Corp.  My parents met in when myfather was in the hospital recovering after the war. 

I was born on a military base in Fairbanks, Alaska. I have an older sister, Michele, and two younger brothers, Gregg and Mark. My father died when I was 13 and he was 47. We were raised by my mother who worked as a nurse. Due to my poor eyesight (fixed by Lasix surgery) I did not qualify for military service.   Instead I mastered "the art of war" in business, specifically the software business, where tragically thick glasses were no handicap.

Michele retired as a dean of a colleged in California, which was pretty amazing since she never earned a college degree. Gregg is a retired machinist, while Mark still works as a machinist for Northrop Grumman.

One of my first cousins is John Gagliardi, the most successful coach in the history of college football at St. John's College in Minnesota. Gary and John plan to do a book on strategy in sports when they both get the chance.

I have no family relationship to Victor Gagliardi, a great photographer and gallery owner, but we are both good friends after meeting at a book show some years ago.

I also have no known family relationships with Michael Galardi (his branch of the family change the name's spelling), one of the first American's prosecuted under the Patriot Act. However,  both our families go back to the same small town in Colorado (Trinidad), where my grandfather had seven brothers. So we are possibly related. 

I also have no connection with the actor, Mark Gagliardi, who stars in 'Drunk History' and 'The Thrilling Adventure Hour.' However, one of my two brothers is also named Mark.