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With works that often focused on working class hardships, prolific scribe Louis Larusso II used his upbringing in Hoboken, NJ, to fuel a creative fire that had been burning since the mid-'70s. Born and raised in Hoboken, the writer received publication early on when his kindergarten teacher sent a poem he had written her to the local newspaper and it subsequently appeared in print. Larusso would later study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. One of his earliest plays, entitled Beginnings, concerned his grandparents' move to his family's home. A Tony and Drama Desk nomination for Lamppost Reunion gained Larusso increasing recognition, and the writer would go on to pen such Broadway plays as The Wheelbarrow Closers and Knockout. In film, Larusso was credited with contributing to the scripts for Saturday Night Fever (1977), Beyond the Reef (1981), Hell Hunters (1986), and The Closer (1990, based on the aforementioned play Wheelbarrel Closers). On February 22, 2003, Louis Larusso II died of bladder cancer in Jersey City, NJ. He was 67.