Nick Traina

Nicholas John Steel Traina May 1, 1978 - September 20, 1997 was an American singer who for a time was a member of the punk rock band Link 80.

Related Topics:
May 1 - 1978 - September 20 - 1997 - American - Punk rock - Link 80

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The son of the famous and very wealthy American writer Danielle Steel, Nick Traina's last name comes from his adopted father, John Traina. He was raised in San Francisco but with his mother's enormous success in writing numerous romance novels that set a record for consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, the family also maintained an estate in the south of France. His biological father was William Toth, a much troubled heroin addict whom his mother divorced and whose extreme misconduct led to a court order restricting his parental rights.

Related Topics:
Danielle Steel - San Francisco - New York Times bestseller - France

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According to his mother on the Nick Traina Foundation website, "One of the most impressive things about Nick, at any age, and particularly later on, was seeing him onstage. At thirteen, he started his first band. At fifteen, he was recording with friends. At sixteen, he joined Link 80, a punk rock band, and played with them for three years. He toured around the country extensively with them."

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"With Link 80," she continues, "his performances were incredible. He leapt, he jumped, he sang, he danced, the crowds loved him, and I loved watching him. I would stand in the back proudly, and smile to myself, thinking?Wow?that?s my kid!"

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Because of the many problems Nick Traina exhibited from childhood, his life involved a number of psychiatric hospitalizations for drug abuse and for treatment of bi-polar disorder. While his mother wrote that she tried every thing at her disposal to get him the proper medical help, Nick Traina stopped taking his medication and on his third suicide attempt succeeded at age nineteen in taking his own life . At the time, Traina had recently formed a new band called Knowledge and had recorded a demo, which has since been released on Asian Man Records.

Related Topics:
Drug abuse - Bi-polar disorder - Knowledge - Asian Man Records

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Nick Traina was interred in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Colma, California. His mother told his life story and of the struggles with his illness in her 1998 book titled "His Bright Light: The Story of Nick Traina."

Related Topics:
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park - Colma, California

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In addition to his mother's book, a handful of songs have been written about Nick, including Link 80's "Unbroken" by former bandmate Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and "Hey, Nick!" by the White Trash Debutantes.

Related Topics:
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin - The White Trash Debutantes

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On May 16th, 1998, Danielle Steel hosted a memorial show for Nick at Slim's in San Francisco, featuring Link 80, Mu330, the Bruce Lee Band, Powerhouse, the Hoods, Subincision, All Bets Off and the Blast Bandits.

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An October 2000 copyright article of the American Psychiatric Association provided a review by Dr. Jeffrey L. Geller, M.D., M.P.H. of Danielle Steel's book about her son's illness. That review can be read here.

Related Topics:
Copyright - American Psychiatric Association

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