Michael Anthony ( April 30, 1968 - ) is an American artist, working primarily as a painter of canvases. He is also a writer of poems and short stories, as well as an amateur photographer and musician. He is best known for his 'Insight' series of paintings, begun in 1997, as well as his all night philosotheological dissertations . . .

== Early Life ==

Anthony was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Xavier Mannone. He was named after the Michael Anthony of the The Millionaire TV series of the 50's. The name on his birth certificate was Michael Anthony Mannone. It was later discovered that Michael was conceived during Mr. Mannone's overseas tour of duty in Vietnam, where he served as a helicopter pilot for four years. This eventually led to the divorce of Mr. Mannone and his mother Carol Ann (b.Carol Ann Webster,1943), in 1972. Michael's real father, Ronald Dominick Ricci, son of Dominick and Josephine Ricci, was never really in the picture. He was the estranged husband of one of his mother Carols' best childhood friends. Although they were in love, and despite Ronald having proposed to Carol, she wouldn't marry him. It was well known that he was a ' player ', a flirt, and a cheater. The details are not pretty. A good looking italian-american restaurant owner at a young age, he was the object of many a young girls affections, in Bostons' predominantly irish suburbs of the 1960's. Ronald was known to be talented and somewhat creative, having acted and sung in high school plays, playing several musical instruments, and having a passion for drawing. Michael's mother Carol, daughter of Ray and Irene Webster, was an attractive girl of irish-scottish descent, and 27 when her son was born. Despite rumors to the contrary, her and Ronald truly were ' in love ' when they decided to go along with the pregnancy. Abortion was simply not an option back then. After all, anyway, she was married. However, the child didn't belong to the husband. Growing up, Michael was repeatedly told that he was a ' love child '. Carol's father, Ray (1913-2006), was a descendant of Noah Webster, famous for, among other things, his Webster's Dictionary, and his ' Blue-Backed Speller '. Unfortunately, Ray was adopted, and was considered an outsider to most of the Webster family for his whole life. He went to a private boy's school founded by Henry Ford, and later became head landscaper at a Ford Motor Co. plant in Massachusetts, where he worked for many years.
In 1973 Michael's mother remarried. The new husband was Edward Michael Ridge, a longtime friend. Shortly after, Michael was adopted by Mr. Ridge, and took on his last name, becoming Michael Anthony Ridge (Michael Ridge). This was the name he was to use for most of his life, professionally, as an artist, yet one he always had difficulties relating to. Edward Ridge was fair skinned, with a pale complexion, freckles, reddish hair, and blue eyes, just like his mother, while Michael was more olive toned, with dark brown hair and eyes. He has stated that from his earliest memories, he has always felt somehow alienated, an outsider, from the world in general as well as his own family.
Shortly after their marriage, Michael's mother was involved in a serious car accident. She had been working as the hostess of a restaurant, and was on her way to a Valentine's Day party, with the elderly father of the restaurant's owner in the passenger seat. She somehow lost control of her new 1972 Cadillac, a wedding present, and struck a telephone pole at over 60 mph. After spending over a month unconscious, with over 100 stitches in her head, and after having part of her brain removed, she finally woke up, and began to recover. She was left with amnesia, having no memory of her life before the accident, and mild permanent brain damage, including no short term memory function and no peripheral vision. Mr. Anthony states 'not only did she not recognize me, she refused to believe that I was her son. I'll never forget the blank look in her eyes as she aggressively denied me. It would be quite some time, years, before she finally accepted the fact '.
His childhood years were mostly uneventful, in one sense, but tinged with a deep sense of loss somehow, and from someplace he did not yet understand. He withdrew into himself, and found that he had highly adaptive and creative abilities, as well as a good capacity to discern, comprehend, and work through any problems or challenges that came his way. Being very mechanically inclined, he was constructing, creating, building, and drawing since age four or five. He won a statewide drawing contest in the first grade, addressing a then local and current issue of vandalism. Among all competing first graders in the state, Michael's advanced, intricate, and colorful drawing took first place. There was an awards ceremony, and at the age of six, he won his first trophy, a plaque with his name and accomplishment. His self esteem had been comforted with this recognition.
However, there were some events, maybe a half dozen or so, by the age of 7 or 8, that really had a profound effect on him, and he is even today somewhat amazed that he survived them. It started when he was four. He . . .