“The meatball is on a roll!” Congratulations are in order for Martin Carlino, Jr. (a.k.a, the “Meatball”), son of associate editor Marty Carlino (a.k.a., the “Sauceman”). The bambino is a high school junior who, following in his father’s footsteps, wrote a lengthy essay on Lincoln titled “President Lincoln’s Influence Over the Northern Press: ‘Public Opinion is Everything’”. He entered it in the 2011 Gilder-Lehrman writing competition and was awarded first prize. He won the whole lasagna! The Carlino famiglia attended an awards ceremony where “Meatball” collected his $1,000 cash prize. That’s a lot of spondoolah. He already has a topic in mind for next year’s competition. Who knows? He may become a contributor to the Rail Splitter! It’s a dynasty!