Maryan Karl Kulikowski of Polish descent, originally from Greenpoint, in Brooklyn, NY was a letter-carrier for the U.S Post Office. He was with the 87th AFA Battalion for four years during World War II, with which he landed in Normandy on D plus 2. His function was a radio-operator and forward-observer. With the equivalent of seven years of high-school credits, he proceeded through two years of college, attending Fordham, NYU, and the School of General Studies at Columbia University. At one point in time, he created and edited Gusto Press, in the Bronx.