After his mother was killed by her boyfriend, Morra changed his name to Rockets Redglare, from the fifth line of the U.S. national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner".

He entered the program as a resident and became employed as a staff member, reaching the position of assistant residential director and then leaving to return home to New York City.

"[1] Redglare worked as bouncer at the Red Bar[2] in the East Village as a roadie for a band called The Hassles (which featured a young Billy Joel), and acted as a bodyguard and drug supplier to punk rock bassist Sid Vicious and artist-musician Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The night Vicious is alleged to have killed his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, Redglare had delivered 40 capsules of Dilaudid to the couple's room at the Chelsea Hotel.

The Chicago Reader called Redglare a "compulsive hustler who became obese once he decided to substitute beer for drugs," and acknowledges that "he was also a gifted raconteur", especially in informal, relaxed settings.