This and more is revealed for the first time in the compelling new book NO MORE TOMORROWS by Alice La Bianca, high school sweetheart and first wife of Leno La Bianca. But this book goes beyond the tabloid sensationalism of Leno's death to reveal how he lived.
Leno was the only son of Antonio LaBianca, who arrived at Ellis Island in 1910 by himself at the age of sixteen. With a second-grade education, he established in 1930, with his wife, Corina, what was to become the second largest wholesale grocery business in Southern California. He worked hard at becoming an American, but loved his Italian traditions. He was a "godfather" to his friends, with none of the evil ways of the Mafia.
From an early age, Leno was torn between his respect for his parents' Italian traditions and his intense desire to be independent of his father's expectations and his mother's quiet insistence of obedience. His rebellion finds expression when he meets and falls in love with the impetuous Alice, far from the Italian girl his parents were hoping for. Her indomitable spirit proves to be a guidepost during the trying times of war, separation and family misunderstandings, but her fierce determination to rule her own destiny conflicts with Leno's legacy and tragedy is inevitable.
NO MORE TOMORROWS chronicles nearly 70 years of this remarkable family against the backdrop of early Southern California history. Details abound of World War II (through Leno's letters) and post-war politics that lead to further wars and cultural upheaval that change forever the face of a tranquil state.
Nearly 80 rare photographs generate in the reader an intimacy with the characters, as the story reveals the sharply differing approaches to life of Leno and Alice and the tragic irony of where both fate and these approaches led them.
