The story of Dr. Titus Plomaritis reads like a pitch for a Hollywood movie. Born during the Great Depression to Greek immigrants, Plomaritis farmed chickens; became a star on the football field; served in the Army; became a teacher, photographer, and accomplished doctor; and even served as a confidant to President Jimmy Carter.
And now Plomaritis is sharing his incredible journey in Titus, an autobiography filled with remarkable memories and 250 photos. Winner of the Pete Delohery Award for Best Sports Book in the 2018 Shelf Unbound Indie Book Competition, Titus is an inspirational tale for young and old.
I had a chance to interview him to learn more.
Why did you decide to write this book?
It all started with encouragement from my children and grandchildren, when my story telling was the feature attraction at our annual family gatherings. Then one day my older daughter Lyn, a retired talented and gifted educational teacher from Alaska, came home for a visit. She took me by the hand, like I was one of her second grade students, to the Apple Store to purchase a computer. She was insistent that I preserve all my thousands of photos, negatives and 35 mm slides into the Apple Photo Library for safe keeping and for future generations. It was an extravagant, seven-year task that is thoroughly explained in the introduction of Titus, from that first walk into the Apple store to the completion of my 600 page autobiography with 250 images and classic photos.
You have quite an amazing background - how do you think your book will resonate with people who haven't had experiences that intense?
There are over 100 reviews on Amazon from all walks of life, young, old and in between, many are former patients, some are sports fans who still talk of my football heroics from Lowell High School and Boston University over 70 years ago. Some of the comments are so touching, I get choked up reading them. One in particular from a guidance counselor that states, “every parent with an adolescent child should have them read this book”. The inspirational component displayed in sports, military, schools, politics, parenting and romance will resonate with everyone. At 5’5”, I am a living example of someone with a driving force to reach the pinnacle of excellence, the theme of my book.
Why did you start the foundation?
There is a short five page story in the book titled, “Boston University Major & Minor Benefits” that summarizes how that football scholarship to BU in 1949 was the stepping stone of opportunities including coaching, teaching, professional photography, corrective exercise therapy & a very successful Chiropractic practice for 40 years. It provided me with the resources to send my four children to college and graduate schools with no school debts.
The Plomaritis Family Foundation was set up to provide scholarships to Lowell High School's (MA) & Pelham High School's (NH) deserving students. In return, I receive a great feeling of satisfaction.
What advice do you have for others who are struggling to make their mark on the world?
Purchase TITUS and read it with a note pad and a pencil in hand!
Note: On one of my book signing tour stops a lady in her eighties walked up to me using a walker with a TITUS book tucked under her arm.
She asked if I’d autograph it for her.
I said, “Yes, I’d love to, where did you get it?”
She said, “ I love to read and when browsing at a B&N about 6 months ago I saw TITUS on a shelf and said to myself, 'there can’t be two of those', further explaining that she went to grammar school with my wife Claire, to whom the book is dedicated. Also that she was sitting in back of the church when we were married. She was so sweet, telling me she has read the book five times from cover to cover. I spent over 20 minutes conversing with her and as she was departing she opened her purse handed me a $100.00 bill and said, “apply this to your Scholarship Foundation”.
WOW! It’s been happenings like this that have occurred over the just completed 79 store book signing tour that make it all worth while.
Author Titus Plomaritis was born in 1929 and became a living legend in Lowell, Mass., after leading the Lowell High School football team to its first undefeated season. Plomaritis would later play four seasons at Boston University. He served as a US Army paratrooper during the early post World War II occupation of Japan. He earned a doctor of chiropractic degree from the Chiropractic Institute of New York in 1957 and a master of science in nutrition from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1979. Plomaritis was a fulltime practicing chiropractor for over forty years.
He established the Plomaritis Family Foundation in 2012, which has funded over $70,000 in college scholarships for students graduating from Lowell and Pelham high schools. In addition, Plomaritis recently established a perpetual scholarship at Boston University. Plomaritis and his high school sweetheart, Claire, were married for sixty-five remarkable years and had four children.
Absolutely every dollar from the sale of Titus goes directly to the Plomaritis Family Foundation to scholarships for deserving students.
Available from Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Authorhouse, Boston University Book Store, Lowell High School Book Store, and National University of Health Sciences Book Store
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