Mario Puzo: They Made Him an Offer

It took me three determined attempts to locate the grave of author Mario Puzo, buried in North Babylon Cemetery (not to be confused with Babylon Rural Cemetery) on Long Island. The third time was the charm, and I finally found it. On Sunday evening, after dinner, my cousin joined me in the search. We split up and walked through the rows of the cemetery. 

Despite coming across many noteworthy monuments, I still couldn't find Puzo's grave. Suddenly, it occurred to me that he might be buried in the small --and less occupied-- graveyard across the street. It turned out that it was another section of the cemetery, and I spotted Puzo's grave nestled within some bushes as soon as I entered. He is buried with his wife Erika who died in 1978. Surprisingly, the rose granite monument makes no mention of his fame as a writer. Standing before the grave, I couldn't help but recall the day long ago when, as a teenager, I and some friends eagerly made our way into the city to see the recently released epic film 'The Godfather'. 

As a child, Mario Puzo was driven by a desire to be remembered. His voracious reading habits, which saw him tackling Dostoevsky's 'The Brothers Karamazov' at the age of 15, were a testament to his early ambition. He saw a career as a writer not just as a means of making a living, but as a way to leave a lasting mark on society.

So, write he did. Eight books in all. But it would be Puzo's third book, ‘The Godfather' ’that would guarantee his immortality. Curiously, Puzo was reluctant to tackle 'The Godfather' and said so in an interview. 'The Godfather' is not as good as the preceding two (books). I wrote it to make money.” In fact, he used his $5,000 book advance to buy a home for his family in Bay Shore, Long Island.

The Godfather, a literary and cinematic triumph, that some say was based on Frank Costello, was a No. 1 bestseller in the U.S., selling more than 21 million copies and maintaining its position on the NY Times book review list for 67 weeks. The transition from page to screen was a testament to the dedication of Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, who worked together on the screenplay for the 1972 movie version. Their joint effort was recognized at the 1973 Academy Awards, where they were honored with the Best Adapted Screenplay award.

Puzo died in 1999 at his home in Bay Shore from heart failure. At Puzo’s memorial service at Boyd (now Boyd-Spencer) Funeral Home in Babylon, on a hot July day in 1999, Rev. Janine Burns eulogized Mario Puzo as "the son of Italian immigrants from Naples, Italy, who grew up devouring books like potato chips and wanted to do nothing more than to earn a living writing serious books from his soul."

The impact of Puzo's work extended far beyond the pages of a single book. But it is 'The Godfather' that will forever be etched in our collective memory. Its influence is not just significant, it's monumental.