“I already achieved what I wanted to achieve, so anything extra is just fun.”
For most of his life, being an author was not on the radar for Cinnaminson resident Charles Sacchetti. His dream was to become a baseball player, and he was able to live that dream for a short period.
Sacchetti grew up in South Philadelphia and attended John Bartram High School. He was a member of the baseball team that won several city championships.
Following graduation, Sacchetti attended Temple University on a baseball scholarship and later graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
“I started working for a short period in accounting before getting a shot at pro ball with the Phillies,” Sacchetti said. “However, I was later called into active duty with the National Guard during the Vietnam War so that ended my baseball dreams.”
Sacchetti has been involved with chemical sales for the past 35 years, and added author to his resume earlier this year with the publication of his book “It’s All Good; Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change.”
Sacchetti and his wife Luann moved to Cinnaminson 30 years ago and have been married for 42 years. In 2016, the 70-year-old sent four letters to the editor between the Philadelphia Inquirer and Courier-Post, and all four were later published.
“After learning the requirements from the Inquirer, I decided to write even longer articles in hopes they would get printed,” Sacchetti said. “My first story was about Mother’s Day, which is the first chapter in my book. It was printed on Mother’s Day which was a great kicker for me.”
Sacchetti continued sending submissions into the publication, even getting one printed on Father’s Day. He later started a Facebook page, where he published essays frequently and got plenty of feedback.
“People would comment and tell me to write a book,” Sacchetti said. “However, I thought it would be a great idea to immortalize my parents, friends and family so I decided to go for it. My book is 27 of my favorite essays.”
The entire process took Sacchetti six months to get his book published, after finding his publisher, Outskirts Press, and redoing some of his work for the final product. He enjoyed taking the chance at writing, and felt that was his motivation to keep pushing forward.
“It’s just fun,” Sacchetti said. “I feel when a topic gets brought up, I can listen to it and decide whether or not there is a story there. It takes me about an hour and a half to write a story.”
Amazon and Facebook have been two wonderful media platforms where Sacchetti receives feedback. He stated some days he gets 6,000 hits and some he gets 10,000 depending on the story.
“I figured I must be doing something right if people are commenting and giving my stories reviews,” Sacchetti said. “I already achieved what I wanted to achieve, so anything extra is just fun.”
Outside of his writing, Sacchetti enjoys watching Philadelphia sports, spending time with his family and taking part in his daytime work of selling specialty chemicals.
Sacchetti and his daughter go to spring training every year for the Phillies, as he continues to have that love for baseball.
As for plans for another story, the author has not decided that yet.
“I may do another book, we will see,” Sacchetti said. “I want to find the right topic before diving into the writing.”
Sacchetti will be taking part in a meet the author night at Cinnaminson Public Library on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. All ages are invited to attend, and it is a free event.
Registration can be done at http://www.bcls.lib.nj.us/calendar/meet-author-charles-sacchetti.
More information on Sacchetti and his book, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Just-a-thought-by-Charles-Sacchetti-612112518947533/.
