 He graduated from Camden High School, served in the Navy during World War II, received a bachelor of arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, and began his career as a radio announcer and, as "Nickaphonic Nick", worked as a disc jockey with Philadelphia's Jerry Blavat.He moved to Texas in the late 1950s to become a sports broadcaster.Virgilio moved back to Camden following a bad love affair in Texas  and discovered haiku in 1962 in a book he found at the library at Rutgers University-Camden.