.

.

 

LEONARD CASTRIANNO: Glass Half Full

 

Leonard Castrianno was not really a huge country music fan. But given the right circumstances, he would load many dollars' worth of Dolly Parton songs into the jukebox at his favorite bar, an East Village watering hole where rock was favored.

"The place would just clear out, and he knew that would happen," said Garrett Davis, Mr. Castrianno's friend who was often an accomplice in the song switching. "Then we could get to the bar, no problem. He hated a crowded bar."

Despite that, Mr. Castrianno, who was 30, lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, was gregarious. An enthusiastic socializer, he was funny. He was also relentlessly positive.

"He would cut me off mid-sentence and say, `Look, what's your problem?' " Mr. Davis said. " `You always see the worst in everything.' "

But not this time. Even though they had an argument shortly before Sept. 11, Mr. Davis feels Mr. Castrianno has forgiven him, and that their friendship lives on.

.

From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times