Ron Talarico

Ron Talarico was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and earned a Master’s degree in Italian after spending a year in Italy. Following two years of teaching Italian, he dedicated a decade to working with individuals with developmental disabilities, during which he edited and co-authored a comprehensive 600-page basic skills training curriculum for that population. After two and a half years assisting late-stage chemically dependent individuals at the De Paul Center, he spent the final 23 years of his career as Assistant to the Director of the research arm of the School of Social Work at Portland State University. A prolific writer, Ron has self-published numerous reflections and essays on diverse topics, along with a researched memoir titled Fire in the Dark. In 2023, he completed Monday Afternoons at Three-Thirty and his first work of fiction, a play titled Redemption: An American Family Tragedy.