While I spent a good part of 2023 working several jobs to help pay for my son’s college, my focus in 2024 was to provide more balance in my life between work and fun and interesting activities. I also tried to focus on working more gigs as a background actor.
In January, the theme in my school was ‘clothing’. Since my daughter knows how to sew, I invited her to my preschool class as a special guest and showed my students how to sew.
I was a stand-in for a card dealer on a TV show called The Equalizer starring Queen Latifah.
After I picked up my son in Ithaca from a ski trip at Mount Tremblant in Canada, we decided to visit my cousin Jeff’s pizzeria Cheesy Charlie in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
In February, I had the privilege of being invited to the NYRR’s Club Night Awards Ceremony. There, I got to see my good friend Will Sanchez receive the highly-coveted Joe Kleinerman Award for his many years of producing and hosting the show Gotta Run With Will. In 10 years, Will has interviewed more than 300 runners with special stories to tell that were inspiring, historical, and intriguing. The photo below features previous special guests on Will’s show including Nicoletta Narangis, Ruth Gursky, and Michael Ring. Seated is George Hirsch who is Chairman Emeritus of the NYRR. My arm is around Monika, Will’s wife.
I worked a background gig in New Jersey portraying a ‘jogger’ in a park in a night scene that featured Billy Crystal. Unfortunately, I was not used due to too many joggers being hired for that scene, but I did get paid and fed that day, so there’s that.
In March, I proudly saw my brother Aaron being inducted as an official member of the Polar Bear Club. He had spent the season participating in many plunges with the Polar Bears and this qualified him to be official.
My friend and fellow runner Amy Padnani, a reporter who works at the Obituaries Desk for the New York Times, created an amazing feature called Overlooked. In this series, noteworthy people throughout the history of the NY Times who may have not received a proper obituary or any mention at all are given a proper send-off of the accomplishments they made throughout their lives. Many of these figures were either female, members of minority groups, or the LGBTQ community, and due to sexism, racism, and homophobia, their stories were not considered important at the time. I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy for an episode of Gotta Run With Will. She was promoting her book called Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World. Reading her book to prepare for the interview was a great experience for me. The episode can be viewed by clicking here.
Both my daughter and my brother’s daughter are named Emma Pesin. Both are very creative and get along with each other fabulously. I am so glad that these two cousins collaborate on many fun and creative projects together.
In April, I was invited by Will Sanchez to attend a film screening for the documentary, “Photographic Justice, the Corky Lee Story”. It was a gripping documentary about Corky Lee, an Asian-American photographer who bravely took thousands of photos throughout several decades that illustrated the Asian experience in America. His photos helped to change public opinion as well as create policies that helped the Asian American community. The photo below features me posing with Philippe Day and Corky’s partner Karen Zhou with Will Sanchez to the right.
I was hired to portray a skier in a ski lodge scene for the film TOW. The ski lodge was really a golf house. We had to act like it was the middle of winter. Meanwhile, the temperature was 85 degrees outside.
I did a book signing in a Dyker Heights cafe. It was a great surprise to find that one of my customers was my son’s kindergarten teacher. I told her how great he was doing at Cornell University. He’s come a long way from being a problem child in kindergarten.
I celebrated Mother’s Day in May with my mom and brother Aaron in Coney Island. My mom loves Coney Island and we enjoyed our time together there at Nathan’s Famous.
I’ve been the assistant secretary for Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) 11 for the past few years. Members of NAB help decide how NAB-approved Federal and State agency money should be spent based on the needs of our community. Approved projects may benefit the elderly, immigrants, our youth, the physical wellness of community members, public safety, education, and other community needs. In May, members of all NAB groups throughout New York City met in Manhattan for a party to celebrate our accomplishments.
When my school year ended in June, I decided to finally participate in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade after years of talking myself out of it. The parade does have a nautical theme, so I thought that wearing my special shark shirt would make me fit right in. I had no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised to hear so many spectators cheer me on as I marched with pirates, jellyfish, mermaids, and other people dressed according to the theme. Even a photographer from the Daily News took my picture and published it in the paper!
I spent Father’s Day with my daughter and father at his home in Leonia, New Jersey.
I worked a two-day overnight gig where I portrayed an onlooker to a car explosion that happened in a hotel parking lot. First, they filmed the explosion, then later, they filmed the car on fire as I and other onlookers watched the explosion while on camera. It was interesting to see actual firefighters put out the fire every time the camera stopped rolling.
Being a preschool teacher for 23 years now, I was very happy to find out that one of my former students is a full-grown adult and now loves to run. Yes, Patryk was only four years old when he entered my class and now he’s 24. We met up several times in the summer to run together at Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island. His dream is to one day run the NYC Marathon. I hope that I can help him.
July had both happiness and sadness for me. My uncle Marty passed away on July 17 after being sick in a military home for a long time. He inspired me to take up running when I was 13 years old after I witnessed him complete the 1980 NYC Marathon. He also motivated me to take up skiing and travel cross-country and I still do those things. My memories of Marty can be found here.
After many attempts at applying, in July, my son Hunter was accepted to be a research assistant for a professor at the University of West Virginia. He spent several weeks staying at a dorm there while getting paid a very nice weekly stipend. His time ended with a presentation of his research at an Undergraduate Research Symposium. While there, we visited the famous Falling Water house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Central Pennsylvania.
In August, I held a book signing at a cafe in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I invited fellow author Eric Maldonado who had just published his book called Service (The Last Days Saga). Just two years ago, Eric came to my book signing at a cafe in New Jersey and purchased my book. It was exciting for me to be a fellow author with him at this event.
Before I dropped off my son for his third year at college, he wanted us to go on a trip to the Adirondacks. It was a long drive, but definitely worth it. We visited Lake Placid and went on hikes in the local mountains there. We visited Seneca Falls, which was the town that inspired Frank Capra to write the screenplay for It’s A Wonderful Life. It was such a thrill to be able to walk across the bridge that was featured in the film. There’s a true story about a man who lost his life saving a woman who jumped off of that bridge. That story provided the inspiration for the film. Seneca Falls was also the birthplace of the first meeting of the Woman’s Suffrage Movement.
Sadly, my friend Mark Vogt had succumbed to a catastrophic stroke in July. It took his family a week to decide to unplug his life support knowing that Mark would never come out of the coma he was in. Originally, I met Mark as we were fellow runners for the Staten Island Athletic Club. As avid runners, actors, and writers, we were both inseparable at times. We were involved in many adventure races and creative projects together. You can read my online memorial about what Mark meant to me here. There, you can see many photos and some videos we collaborated on together.
Before summer’s end, my brother Aaron and I got to hang out with our distant relative Mindy Passin Mentzel and her friend and fellow runner Kinga Tzach.
In September, I got hired along with my actor friend Pierre Candra to portray beachgoers for the new Adam Sandler film, Happy Gilmore 2. Within 15 minutes of being set up on the beach with other actors portraying beachgoers, we were removed from the beach. Production decided that they didn’t want people on the beach for the scene. I still got paid though.
After donating blood several times, I finally became a member of The Gallon Club. Members are those who have donated a gallon of their blood over time. I would like to thank Ryan John Knutsen and Michael Schnall for being role models for me. I used to faint when giving blood. I am proud that I have overcome that and I now donate blood about four times a year.
My brother and I participated in Artmageddon, an amazing art event that takes place throughout the community of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. While I was signing my books for customers, my brother made balloon animals dressed as Happy the Clown. It was a great time for both of us.
My cousin Danielle Pesin got married to Joseph Weiler on top of a mountain in New Jersey. Guests had to take a chair lift to the top to attend the ceremony. It was a beautiful event seeing the bride and groom exchange their vows with views of a sprawling valley below them.
I participated in a 5k race that benefitted the Guild for Exceptional Children. Our CEO Joe Riley was instrumental in making this event happen. Joe cares so much about the special population at our school and is always looking for new fundraising activities to help support the special programs. Pictured below are Joe and myself with the couple who collects new toys from various organizations. These toys are given out by Santa to all the preschool children in my school for the holidays.
I was again hired to be in Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2, but this time as a cop. I waited in holding all day with a few other actors portraying cops. They never used us, but we were still paid.
Below is yet another fun picture of the two Emma Pesins, this time they are dressed to celebrate Halloween together.
In November, I participated in the Second Annual Great Gobbler 6-Hour Mountain Bike Race. I decided to stop riding after completing two 13-mile loops and I’m glad that I did. I am getting older and these kinds of events are taking a toll on my body. Pictured below is me with Steve Lee and Michael Varriano. They are runners like me who are not afraid to engage in other non-running events.
I brought my kids to visit Clinton, New Jersey to take photos of them for our holiday card. The photo below was the winner.
My kids and I visited my dad for Thanksgiving at his home in Leonia, New Jersey.
I completed my sixth year as a part-time pacer for the Mile High Run Club. Even though it doesn’t pay much, it’s such a pleasure to use my running ability to help others achieve their marathon dreams.
A runner from Uganda emailed Dave Panza, the President of my Staten Island running club. He told David that he was going to be visiting Staten Island for a few days and if he knew anyone who could let him stay overnight. David forwarded the email to me asking me if I had any ideas on how we can help Noel Thomas Kalunda, a man who created the non-profit schoolsnotstreets.org. This organization helps get children off the streets by helping them get boarding and an education. I asked Bob Orazem, a lifelong runner from Staten Island if he could help me find Noel a place to stay. Bob immediately offered his home to Noel, which was such a gracious move. It was such a great feeling that I was able to make this connection between Bob and Noel. I was able to invite Noel to a group trail run with the Ridge Runners in the Staten Island Greenbelt. In the photo below at the right, I am flanked by Noel and Bob.
One Friday in December, I was sick and had slept for over 10 hours. I suddenly got up to walk, which affected my blood flow. I quickly grew faint and grabbed a heavy chair thinking that it would somehow prevent me from falling. Instead, I still fell, but had brought the chair down towards me as I fell. The chair hit me in the head above my eye. I felt very dizzy and got scared. I called the ambulance for myself to make sure that I was alright. After being tested and passing all tests, I was sent home. I was left with an achy head and a black eye. After two weeks, my eye was healing well.
My year ended by receiving a surprise package of Kona coffee, chocolate-covered macadamias, and pineapple candies that came from my cousin Andrew Zeitlin in Hawaii. What a nice surprise and a great way to end 2024.
Welcome to Pesinworld 