Remembrances of 'Tookie': Despite world renown, Frank Dileo was
still a small-town guy at heart  Share with others:  Print Email
Read Later  As the record executive-cum-personal manager
responsible for catapulting Michael Jackson to his career peak
in the 1980s, Frank Dileo gained riches, traveled the world and
met with presidents, princes and the otherwise famous.  But
here, in his hometown, he will forever be known as "Tookie," the
charismatic, friendly, driven Italian kid from Point Breeze,
whose deep roots, big heart and outsized personality could never
be altered by fame and fortune.  Mr. Dileo ascended from selling
records out of his car trunk to the stratosphere of the
entertainment industry, but he never forgot boyhood friends like
Fat Pat, Skeeter, and Bobby the Rat, the zing of his sister
Rosemarie Dileo's hot sausage or how Sundays are sacred for two
reasons -- Mass and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Mr. Dileo, 63,
died Wednesday in North Lima, Ohio, from complications of
triple-bypass surgery in March.