Although the 55-year-old real estate investor is still very much at large, he hopes he won't remain that way. At 5'8" and 326 lbs., Russo got so fed up with his porky persona, he nailed posters up all over town with his picture and the words: "$25,000 reward [to charity] if you see this man eating in a restaurant anywhere for a period of one year. Or, until he brings his weight down to 200 pounds or less!" So far Russo has managed to hold on to his cash but not his girth. Since he began a 1,000 calorie-a-day diet on Dec. 15, Russo has dropped more than 50 lbs. and promises that if and when he gets down to 200 lbs., he'll donate $1,000 to charity for each pound he gains.
It took a frightened call last November from his son John, 26, a law student in California, to wake Russo up to the fact that he had to lose weight. "He called me in a panic at 6 A.M. to see if I was still alive," says Russo, who developed an eating disorder 30 years ago when his son Nick, who died in 1972, was diagnosed with leukemia. "John said he had just had a horrible dream that I died from overeating." Russo found himself waking up in the middle of the night with severe heartburn or falling asleep at the wheel of his car because his body was starved of oxygen due to obesity. In October 1988 Russo's sister, Maria, died at 61, weighing considerably more than 300 lbs. "I tried to get her to lose weight," says Russo, who is divorced, "but she'd say, 'Look at yourself!' What could I say?"
When Russo decided to get serious about his problem, his sons Stephen, 25, and John came up with the idea for a reward. To discourage the urge to cheat, Russo took all the food in his condo, stuffed it in a walk-in closet and gave Stephen the key. Reward posters were also nailed up across the Hudson River in Manhattan as well as in Jupiter, Fla., where Russo does much of his real estate dealing.
Russo still goes to schmooze at his favorite restaurant in Ridgewood, Spallino's, where he endures the sharp-eyed scrutiny of diners who hope to collect the reward. But Russo is interested only in shedding his excess baggage, not his wealth. A waiter refills his water glass and teasingly tries to tempt him. "Hey Nick, are you sure you don't want something to eat?" Russo just smiles and answers, "I may be fat, but I'm not stupid."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
