Entrepreneur, photographer, sailor, inspiration to parents and pet owners alike, Larry Lionetti was born in Stamford, Conn., in 1948, the grandchild of immigrants from Reggio Calabria and Avelino, Italy. It’s fair to say that the old country was in Larry’s blood from day one. His father, Lawrence, served in the South Pacific during World War II and married his childhood sweetheart, Rose Cipri, upon his return. Lawrence then ran Philips Cipri Pizza Parlor; when he and Rose brought Larry home from the hospital, they plied the doctor who’d delivered their baby boy with pizza and homemade Italian wine. The family lived above the restaurant, and the smell of rising pizza dough wafting through in the early evening – usually accompanied by the sounds of Perry Como and other Italian-American favorites on the jukebox – remains one of Larry’s cherished memories. He also lovingly recalls his German shepherd, Beauty, who romped with him in the rural surroundings of his youth. Larry, eager to serve his country as his father had, joined the U.S. Marine Corps at age 16, completing his High School requirements early and attending evening classes at East Carolina University; he served his tour of duty in Del Mar, Calif., and Bethesda, Maryland. While in the Marines, he developed a love of sailing that would only intensify with the passage of time. After completing his service, Larry enrolled at New York City’s School of Visual Arts to study photography. He quickly developed a career as a commercial photographer, snapping candid shots of pleasure-seekers as the house shutterbug at such top Manhattan nightspots as The Electric Circus and Hippopotamus as well as hiring himself out for private sessions. While at school, he spent much of his time on sailing vessels, even joining the crew of a yawl off Martha’s Vineyard for a summer. Soon he made the segue to advertising and journalistic photography, working on campaigns for DeBeers, Virginia Slims and other major brands and contributing pictures to Life Magazine as well as such publications as Boating and Detective. Relocating to San Francisco, Calif., in 1976, Larry continued to develop his photography career and became increasingly involved in the entertainment industry, education and nautical projects. He married Lena Quesada in 1983; they have four children: Lawrence, Lena Marie, Anthony and Angela Marie. With a master captain’s license to operate 100-ton vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard, he founded the San Francisco Giants’ McCovey Patrol Vessel, which operates charters in the cove adjacent to the team’s historic stadium. He also pilots fishing and nature charters from the San Francisco Bay to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, aboard the vessel El Pescador, which he has also used to skipper marine biologists from around the world for the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s tuna heart research program, among other enterprises. Larry is also an avid coastal cruiser and salmon fisherman; he travels annually to Mexico where he enjoys fishing for giant yellow fin tuna and participating in local competitions. While in Mexico he discovered a small fishing village, Punta Ipala, 70 miles south of Banderas Bay. The founder and operator of The Early Childhood Educators College in Sacramento, Calif., Larry has long devoted himself to filling the need for childcare training. What he learned there also helped spur the development of Hollywood Paws, a Los Angeles-based animal-training school. The institute is dedicated to getting the entertainment industry to switch from kennel dogs to those that live at home; Larry believes it is blazing a new trail in animal care and protection from exploitation. “There are no bad dogs,” he declares, “just some bad owners.”