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National News
OSDIA Hosts Italian Ambassador in Live Interview Series
On Wednesday, May 20, the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA) proudly hosted Italian Ambassador Armando Varricchio as part of their OSDIA Live Interview Series that was launched in April. During the exclusive interview, Ambassador Varricchio spoke about the current state of Italy and stressed the impor tance of the relationship between the Italian Embassy and OSDIA.
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The OSDIA Live Interview Series, which can be viewed on OSDIA’s Facebook page, airs every Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Guests have included author Adriana Trigiani, actor Joe Mantegna, cooking host Mary Ann Esposito, and Capitolo di Roma Lodge’s Carmelo Cutuli and Clarissa Burt.
(Clockwise) OSDIA National First Vice President Robert Bianchi, Clarissa Burt, Ambassador Varricchio, and host/ producer/author Lisa Marie Falbo.
Known by all for his generosity, OSDIA National Past President Frank J. DeSantis passed away on April 25, 2020 at age 85. DeSantis, who joined the Renaissance Lodge #2259 (Orange, California) in 1972, served as OSDIA’s 26 th National President from 1997 to 1999. Prior to that, he held numerous positions, including State President of the Grand Lodge of California. In 2011, he received the Guglielmo Marconi Award, OS DIA’s highest honor, for his decades of commitment and service to OSDIA and the Italian-American community.
DeSantis was an ardent champion of education, hav ing raised significant funds that provide scholarships to this day. In one instance, he raised over $250,000 of the $500,000 needed to preserve the Italian Studies Program at California State University Long Beach. Today, a total of 400 students participate in that program.
For his lifetime of dedication to Italian heritage, De Santis was honored by the Italian government with the Order of Merit of Cavalieri in 1985 and then again with the Order of Merit of Commendatore. He also received the “Targa Dora” Civic Award from the Region of Puglia.
Frank will be deeply missed by everyone at the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America and by countless people across the country. Beloved Strega Nona Author, Tomie dePaola Passes Away
An author and illustrator of more than 260 children’s books, Tomie dePaola was a popular fig ure in American literature and ItalItalian America ian-American culture, particularly interviewed Tomie for his Strega Nona book series. The series, which aptly featured a dePaola’s fictional character, Strega Nona, in its Winter “Grandma Witch,” involved magic 2017 issue. and a pot with endless pasta inside. It was set in Calabria, the region where dePaola’s grand parents were born. The first book of the series—entitled Strega Nona—received a Caldecott Honor in 1976 despite facing friction. It had been banned by several American libraries for its positive portrayal of magic, and according to dePaola in a previous conversation with Italian America magazine, he had been urged to make it “less ethnic” dur ing the publishing process.
DePaola’s books went on to sell 25 million copies and be translated into more than 20 languages. He received numerous awards, including the 2011 Children’s Litera ture Legacy Award that is given by U.S. children’s librarians to an American-born author or illustrator who has made “a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”
DePaola was born in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1934, and passed away last March at the age of 85.
