Peter Ventantonio (June 11, 1970 – May 12, 2021), known professionally as Jack Terricloth, was an American musician and guitarist, the lead singer of the cabaret-punk band the World/Inferno Friendship Society and guitarist and vocalist of Sticks and Stones. He died on May 12, 2021, in his Ridgewood, Queens, apartment due to hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
He grew up in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, the son of a businessman father and a school-principal mother; his hometown is referenced in the 1997 album The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League by the World/Inferno Friendship Society. He attended Bridgewater-Raritan High School, where he met future Sticks and Stones bassist Osamu Kawahara. During high school, he sold subscriptions to the Courier News. He credited the New Brunswick music scene with putting him on the map, but he moved to Brooklyn.Sisario, Ben. "Addicted to Peter Lorre (That Voice, Those Eyes)", The New York Times, January 7, 2009. Accessed September 4, 2019. I find Peter Lorre a strangely charismatic, extremely creepy person, which I think most punk rockers can identify with,' said Jack Terricloth, 38, who was born Peter Ventantonio and grew up in Bridgewater, N.J."Makin, Bob. "World Inferno's Jack Terricloth chats about Central Jersey beginning", Courier News, January 30, 2018. Accessed September 4, 2019.
As the front man and public face of World/Inferno, Terricloth advocated drinking, lying, traveling, stealing, doing drugs, keeping enemies, always looking one's best, getting in fights, befriending hobos and "walking the walk," through his lyrics, on-stage banter, and a rarely updated advice column on the band's website.Pritchett, Leah. "OutLoud gets friendly with World Inferno Friendship Society", Outloud, November 2007. Accessed September 4, 2019.
He was the author of two chapbooks, Cloth Dam Sorrow and Bakshish, both of which are anthologized with additional material in The Collected Cloth."Punk’s not dead and entertainment rules Im UJZ Kornstraße ist der eigenwillige Punkrock-Papst Jack Terricloth zu Gast" , Langeleine, May 27, 2008. Accessed September 4, 2019. "Und was die Wenigsten wissen, der Mann hat auch noch zwei sagenumwobene Bücher in Eigenregie veröffentlicht: 'Cloth Dam Sorrow' und 'Bakshish'"
His band Sticks and Stones, formed in the late 1980s, reunited in November 2017 for a series of performances in Brooklyn and Asbury Park, New Jersey.Biese, Alex. "Sticks and Stones reunite for Asbury Park, Brooklyn shows", Asbury Park Press, November 2, 2017. Accessed September 4, 2019. "Ventantonio and Kawahara first met in 1988, when Kawahara movedto Bridgewater at the age of 19 and both attended Bridgewater-Raritan High School."
When asked how he would like to be remembered, Terricloth replied: "Just to be remembered would be swell. Maybe remembered as 'that guy who was brave and gave me some ideas. Wengrofsky, Jeffrey. "Jack Terricloth is Alive and at-Large in Gotham", Coilhouse, December 2009 . Accessed May 19, 2021.
Ventantonio died on May 12, 2021. In 2022 the Jack Terricloth Foundation was founded by his sister Lisa and fellow artist Scott Hollingsworth, with the aim to promote arts and "marginalized voices".
References
External links
Jack Terricloth's Advice Column