A Story Without a Name The Mystery of Elena Ferrante
The 55th Biennial Convention OSDIA Elects Second Woman President
Fridays Are for Fish A Brief History of Fish on Fridays
Turning Wine Into Welch
How Missouri’s Grape Growers Persevered During Prohibition
FALL 2017
a
ITALIAN AMERICA
OSIA members benefit from a 10% discount on all our services!
Do You Ever Imagine Your Italian Ancestors? Bring that vision to life with real history.
• Discover centuries of information about your roots through our research services onsite in Italy • Obtain your Italian Dual Citizenship by working with us to manage the application process. For more information, visit www.myitalianfamily.com, or call 1-888-472-0171
Adopt an Olive Tree
for one year from our groves in Calabria, Italy and we will send you the extra virgin olive oil from your tree after harvest. You will also receive photos of your tree, an adoption certificate and your tree is tagged with your name for the year!
The Perfect Italian Gift!
FALL 2017
b
www.treolive.com 413-224-2031
ITALIAN AMERICA
FALL 2017
VOL. XXIII No. IV
Italian America
®
T h e O ff i c i a l P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e O r d e r S o n s a n d D a u g h t e r s o f I t a l y i n A m e r i c a ®
Features
10 16
FRIDAYS ARE FOR FISH
A Brief History of Fish on Fridays By Eric Dregni
A STORY WITHOUT A NAME The Mystery of Elena Ferrante By Miles Ryan Fisher
22 28
THE 55TH BIENNIAL CONVENTION
OSDIA Elects Second Woman President By Miles Ryan Fisher
TURNING WINE INTO WELCH
How Missouri’s Grape Growers Persevered During Prohibition By David McCormick
ON THE COVER: Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan Novels series. (Carly Jerome)
D e pa r t m e n t s
8 Pagina Italiana
2 High Profile 4 National News 5 Oggi in Italia 6 Regions 7 Mangia
9 Bulletin Board 13 Speakers Bureau 14 Book Reviews 26 OSDIA Nation
31 From the National 32 Foundation Focus 33 Fighting Stereotypes 34 Letters to the Editor 35 The Last Word 36 Piacere
Italian America is published by The Order Sons and daughters of Italy (OSDIA) 219 E Street NE • Washington, DC 20002 • Phone: (202) 547-2900 • Web: www.osia.org Editor-in-Chief: Miles Ryan Fisher mfisher@osia.org Writers: Jeanne Jones; Eric Dregni; Miles Ryan Fisher; David McCormick; Felicia Naoum Translator: Maria Goffman Proofreaders: Peggy Daino, Marlene Palazzo Graphic Designer: Diane Vincent To advertise: Contact Dave Bayard dave@boja.com (973) 822-9275 or Laura Lemos laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274
Italian America Magazine is published by the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy (OSDIA), the nation’s biggest and oldest organization for people of Italian heritage. To subscribe, see www.osia.org or call 1-800-552-6742. FALL 2017
1
ITALIAN AMERICA
High Profile
Italian Americans making an impact
A Son of Italy Heals the World: Mike Sofia Discovers the Cure Michele and Giovanna Sofia were born within a block of each other in Baltimore’s Little Italy—yet they didn’t meet until they were eighteen years old. Michele’s family had moved back to Italy just six months after he was born. It wasn’t until he returned at the age of eighteen that he and Giovanna met at a dance in St. Leo’s school hall, back in the Little Italy where they were born. They had three children, one of whom would end up revolutionizing the lives of every person who suffers from Hepatitis C. Mike Sofia was raised in the same city where his parents were born and later met. His father, a barber by trade, had only an eighth grade education. His mother, a payroll clerk, had a high school education. All of their children would become successful professionals. “Education was really important to (my parents),” Mike said. “They saw it as a way out of the lower middle class.” He developed an interest in science at a young age. After graduating from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, he pursued a life dedicated to drug development. At first, he focused on drugs that lowered cholesterol and then on those that dealt with pulmonary inflammation. Then he tackled Hepatitis C, a disease that infects the liver and
Mike with his daughters, Jacqueline (left) and Michelle, and his wife, Charleen. eventually destroys it. Mike started working with a molecule that could inhibit the enzyme critical to the existence of Hepatitis C, but could do so only in a test tube. The problem was the molecule’s instability, which prevented it from surviving ingestion. So Mike had to figure out a way to keep it preserved when it entered the body. He developed what he refers to as “a Trojan horse”—a cloak in which the molecule exists, disguising it from the body. Once the cloak reaches the liver, the liver dismantles the cloak until the molecule is exposed. While this strategy worked in the lab, taking it to clinical trials was a different story. According to Mike, less than ten percent of any drug that goes to clinical trial ends up working. But in the trials, not only did the new drug improve the conditions of individuals with Hepatitis C, it cured them. For Mike, the feat didn’t sink in right away. “The magnitude of this didn’t really hit me until I met a patient who was cured of the disease,” he said.
Mike’s maternal grandparents (Maurizio and Nella) with his Uncle John. FALL 2017
2
Of all the cured patients that Mike has met, it was a man who stood before the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expert panel that showed him the significance of what he’d accomplished. The expert panel—which would determine whether or not the drug should be approved— reviewed the positive findings of the clinical trials. After this scientific data was presented, they allowed for public ITALIAN AMERICA
comment. That’s when one man stood before them and told them his story. He’d grown up in Nigeria and immigrated to Canada, where he became a university professor. He’d contracted Hepatitis C as a child, likely through vaccination. As he grew older, the disease progressed, and his doctor told him that he needed a liver transplant. But he waited. He decided he wanted to see his children graduate from college, something Mike described as “the classic immigrant story of wanting to see your children do better than you through the value of an education.” After his children graduated, he underwent the transplant. Initially, it was successful. But just six months later, he had recurrent Hepatitis C, something that happens in 80% of transplant cases. The doctor told him there was nothing left to be done—that he should get his affairs in order. The very next week, the doctor called him back, informing him of a clinical trial for a new drug named sofosbuvir (brand name Sovaldi) and asking if he’d like to participate. Sixteen weeks later, he was cured. He stood before the FDA’s expert panel a year and a half after being given a second life, and Mike listened to him as he related his story. “It was at that time I realized how important the work that we do is,” Mike said. For his breakthroughs in discovering the cure for Hepatitis C, Mike recently received the Lasker Award, an award that is considered to be on the path toward a Nobel Prize.
Mike’s uncle, John Dell’Uomo, who was Lodge President of Little Italy #2286 in Baltimore in the late 1980s. Now Mike continues this work, pushing for progress in the cure for Hepatitis B, a disease with a much more complex life cycle than Hepatitis C, which will be even more difficult to solve. But he proceeds undeterred. After all, failure lies in the nature of Mike’s work, where “most of what you do doesn’t work.” Yet he chooses to see that in a positive way. “It’s what comes out of failure that can help you grow in your profession and also as an individual,” Mike said. It’s the passion he has in his work, he says, that is pivotal to this perspective. “If you don’t have the passion, you’re not going to be able to persevere the ups and downs and all the travails.”
EXPERT ITALIAN VACATION PLANNING, CUSTOMIZED FOR YOU. myitaliandestination.com
FALL 2017 3 ITALIAN AMERICA
So he confronts the challenges he faces in a lab so that he may help others conquer the challenges they face on a daily basis. And it’s in this quiet work that he—a Son of Italy, a Son of Little Italy—affects the lives of thousands who suffer.
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 3
National News
Italian American issues and events
OSDIA dba Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America In one of the most significant moments in OSDIA history, delegates at the 55th Biennial Convention voted in favor of OSDIA to now do business as (dba) Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA). This occasion coincided, quite fittingly, with the election of OSDIA’s second woman National President, Vera Ferrara Girolami. Delegates also elected Nancy Di Fiore Quinn as National First Vice President, marking the first time in history that women have simultaneously held the two top positions in the organization. Originally, OSDIA was named Ordine Figli d’Italia—or “Order Children of Italy.” However, because the plural of children is masculine in the Italian language, this translated as Order Son of Italy in America, the name it has carried until last August when the organization decided to dba Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America. Lodges—local, subordinate, grand, and supreme—may still retain the Order Sons of Italy in America and its acronym if they so choose.
OSDIA National President Vera Ferrara Girolami (left) and OSDIA National First Vice President Nancy DiFiore Quinn. (Arlene Nunziati)
Harley-Davidson Bids on Ducati When German carmaker Volkswagen announced that they were putting Ducati up for sale last July, Milwaukeebased Harley-Davidson prepared a bid that could be worth as much as $1.7 billion. If the purchase goes through, it would bring together the two most recognizable names in the motorcycle industry and would merge Harley’s
renowned touring bikes with Ducati’s high-performance racing bikes. Ducati, which was founded by Antonio Calvalieri Ducati and his three sons in 1926, is based in Bologna, Italy—the same city that is also home to Lamborghini, Maserati, and Malaguti (which specializes in Italian scooters). Originally, Ducati manufactured vacuum tubes and radio components, and it continued to produce them through World War II in spite of its factory being a bomb target. It wasn’t until 1950—24 years after being founded—that Ducati made its first motorcycle. Known for its exceptional racing bikes, Ducati has been at the forefront of the Superbike World Championship (SBK) since the racing circuit was formed in 1988. It is the winningest bike manufacturer in individual SBK races, and has also won 14 Riders Championships and 17 Manufacturers Championships—more than double any other manufacturer.
Ducati’s Suberbike rider Michael Melandi leans into the turn on a track in Buriram, Thailand. (Ducati.com) FALL 2017
4
ITALIAN AMERICA
Oggi in Italia
Italy’s news, politics and culture
Three Italian Brothers Search for Cave Where They Lived During Holocaust An hour-long documentary, Shalom Italia traces the journey of three Italian brothers who return to Italy in search of the cave in which they took refuge for years during the Holocaust. The Anati brothers—Bubi (77), Andrea (85), and Emmanuel (88)—were raised in Florence, and in 1942, their family escaped just before the city’s Jews were sent to Auschwitz. They found protection in several villages before making their way to a forest near Villa a Sesta, fifty miles from Florence, where locals helped their father dig a cave. The family lived there until the war ended. Following the war, they moved to Israel, where the brothers have lived their entire lives. In Shalom Italia, the Anatis return in search of this cave. In their return, the documentary brings to life the different perspectives of the brothers. Andrea reminisces of the years in the woods, remarking that he “played Robin Hood and collected mushrooms.” Emmanuel, however,
(L. to R.) The three brothers: Emmanuel, Andrea, and Bubi. (Tamar Tal Anati)
bucks at that reflection, saying that while Andrea could play, he had to grow up quickly. Directed by Tamar Tal Anati, Bubi’s daughter-in-law, Shalom Italia aired on PBS last July. Find the documentary at www.shalomitalia.com
Can Animals Detect Earthquakes? After last year’s Central Italy earthquake struck, German Scientist Martin Wikelski dashed to the Marche region in October 2016 to test a long-held belief that animals can detect impending natural disasters. Wikelski arrived on a farm in Pieve Torina and tagged its animals with what he referred as a “black box full of information.” The device measures the animals by the second, gathering data on their direction, speed, altitude, temperature, and location. By using data that is collected just before an earthquake (of four magnitude or greater) strikes, Wikelski hopes to prove that animals can help in warning humans of earthquakes. This is not the first time that Wikelski, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany, traveled to Italy to study animal behavior and natural disasters. From 2012 to 2014, he monitored goats and sheep living on the side of Sicily’s Mount Etna. “The animals predicted the major volcanic eruptions during these two years between four and six hours before,” he said. “At night, the animals woke up and nervously walked around, and in daytime, they moved to a safe area.” Over the duration of his study, eight major eruptions occurred. While Wikelski is unable to release the findings of his earthquake-related studies until they are published in FALL 2017 5 ITALIAN AMERICA
a scientific journal, he has suggested that they do find common trends among animal behavior prior to an earthquake. Over the duration of this study, which lasted from October to April, there were eleven days in which earthquakes struck.
Small-City Pizzeria Voted Best Pizza in Italy In July, the 50 Top Pizza awards named the best pizzerias in Italy. The number one pizzeria—Pepe In Grani—is located in Caiazzo, a small city in the Campania region about thirty miles northeast of Naples. In order to determine the best pizza in Italy, the organization created a list of 900 pizzerias and sent 100 anonymous judges to visit them. In the end, it was Pepe In Grani and its owner Franco Pepe’s pizzas that won top honor. While it may be a slight detour from Italy’s large cities (the closest being Caserta), one can make the trip and stay overnight in one of the two rooms available for rent above the pizzeria itself. ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 5
Regions of Italy
Italy’s Twenty Regions
Calabria
The Toe of the Boot One of Italy’s most untouched regions, Calabria is situated in the toe of Italy’s boot. At the very tip of the toe is its largest and oldest town, Reggio Calabria, which is the closest point of Italy’s mainland to Sicily (a distance of two miles, separated by the Strait of Messina). Calabria borders just one region, Basilicata, to the north. For a long time, Calabria existed as one of the most impoverished regions, which accounts for the number of Calabrians who immigrated to the United States. Today, FUN FACT: The name “Italia” was first given to Calabria in honor of its king, Italus (or Italos). however, it boasts some of the most pristine beaches on the Tyrrhenian Sea (to the west) and the Ionian Sea (to the east). Its resorts sit along white sandy beaches with clear water and festive nightlife. Between these stretches of pristine beach are rocky coasts that hint at Calabria’s inland. In general, Calabria is a mountainous region with three ranges that are all National Parks: The Aspromonte, La Sila, and The Pollino. La Sila, sometimes referred to as the “Great Wood of Italy” and closer in resemblance to the coniferous forests one would find in Canada, contains the ‘Giganti della Sila,’ trees more than 500 years old and
130 feet tall. La Sila is also regarded as having the purest air in Europe. The Pollino Mountains stretch across north Calabria—separating it from the rest of Italy—and The Aspromonte are a massif in Calabria’s southernmost tip, close to Reggio Calabria. Farming remains the region’s main occupation, one of the primary crops being olives, as Calabria is the secondlargest olive oil producing region. Calabrians commonly add crushed red pepper to their olive oil and serve it on the side with most meals, a reflection of it having once been thought to be a cure for malaria. Calabria Capital: Catanzaro Population: 1.97 million (10th of the 20 regions) Size: 5,820 square miles (10th of the 20 regions) Provinces: Cosenza Reggio Calabria Catanzaro Crotone Vibo Valentia
The small town of Tropea on the east coast of Calabria. (diegograndi) FALL 2017
6
ITALIAN AMERICA
Mangia!
from the italian cookbook
Arancini (Little Oranges) Sicilian Rice Balls Ingredients: For the rice: 3 cups water 1 chicken bouillon cube 3-4 strands of saffron 1 cup Arborio rice ¼ cup unsalted butter (½ Stick)
(Evi Abeler Photography)
¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 3 ounces fresh mozzarella cut into ½ inch chunks 2 ounces Parmacotto or any Italian ham cut into ¼ inch dice Olive oil for frying (you may substitute with any frying oil you like) For the coating: 5 tablespoons all purpose flour ½ cup water 2-3 cups bread crumbs To make the rice: In a large saucepan over a medium-high heat, add the water, bouillon cube and the saffron to the pot, and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the rice until tender and most of the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let stand 15 minutes and stir in the butter and ParmigianoReggiano. Cool completely. Shape the rice into 2 inch balls. Press your finger into the center of each ball and insert 1-2 chunks of mozzarella and a few pieces of ham. Pinch the rice around the filling to enclose. If necessary, enclose the filling with a bit more rice. To make the coating: Whisk the flour and water together in a small bowl and put the bread crumbs into a separate shallow bowl. Set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Roll each ball into the flour mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs. Place them on the prepared baking sheet. Heat 2 inches of oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the balls in small batches, 2-3 at a time, and fry until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a towel-lined plate to drain. Serve hot or at room temperature.
For more Italian recipes, be sure to FALL 2017 7 ITALIAN AMERICA
Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe
Ingredients 1 pound fresh or dried orecchiette 1 bunch broccoli rabe, about 1 pound, washed, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 5 cloves garlic, sliced 4 anchovy filets ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. If using fresh orecchiette, add the broccoli rabe first and boil for 5-7 minutes. Drop in the fresh orecchiette and continue (Evi Abeler Photography) cooking until the pasta is al dente, about 4-5 minutes. If using dried orecchiette add the pasta and vegetables to the water together and boil until the pasta is al dente. When the pasta has about 4-5 minutes to go, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, with a wooden spoon until the garlic is golden and the anchovies have broken down, about 2-3 minutes. Scoop out about a cup of pasta water and set aside. With a large strainer or a spider, scoop the pasta and broccoli rabe, letting the water drain out of each scoop, and add it directly to the skillet with the garlic, oil and anchovies. Toss together quickly for 1-2 minutes, making sure you evenly coat the pasta with the garlic and oil. If the pasta gets too dry, add some of the pasta water that you set aside. Serve in If you liked these recipes, warm bowls. find more in Rosella Rago’s Cooking With Nonna.
Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America’s Facebook page! ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 7
Pagina Italiana
Per chi studia la nostra lingua
In Realtà, Dante e Beatrice Probabilmente Si Parlarono a Vicenda Uno o Due Volte “In Reality, Dante and Beatrice Probably Only Spoke to Each Other One or Two Times” Written by Jeanne Jones Translated by Maria Goffman
Quando ero più giovane, avevo questa idea che qualsiasi suono che ho pronunciato in mimica della conversazione significasse qualcosa in un’altra lingua. Mio padre mi ha detto questo, anche se lo ha negato. “È idiota,” disse dopo che avevo sputato qualche sillaba assurda e mi chiesi cosa significasse per qualcuno là fuori nel mondo. Alcune delle possibilità della vita sono scomparse dopo di che, ma ho marciato con il mio inglese basico, cercando di farmi capire. Solo quando incontrai Matteo in una breve vacanza a Firenze ho ricordato questa idea magica. In un primo momento, ho cercato invano un modo per comunicare con lui, il mio italiano era limitato a diversi modi di dire mi scusai. Il suo inglese non era molto meglio. Abbiamo parlato principalmente con i gesti, ma i gesti possono farti guai. Abbiamo gesticolato molto insieme e in poche ore, mi sono innamorato. Sono stato convinto che fosse la mia anima gemella. Per dimostrare il mio amore, ho preso il tempo di memorizzare, in italiano, le parole di Dante: Tu lascerai ogne cosa diletta piu caramente. Credevo che tornasse a casa con me e che questa dichiarazione sarebbe stata di qualche conforto a lui. Quando non stava imballando la borsa, mi sono confuso. Sono tornato a Dante, ma era inutile. “Questa è la freccia che l’arco dell’esilio spara per primo,” penso di aver detto in italiano memorizzato. Sembrava confuso e usava i gesti per togliere i miei vestiti. Fu allora che mi ricordavo la lingua segreta che avevo sfruttato come un bambino, le sillabe asurde e l’insistenza di mio padre che mi sbagliavo. Incoraggiato da una rinnovata credenza nei miei poteri (e ancora una volta arrabbiata dal desiderio ovvio di mio padre di tenermi in piedi), ho detto, “kay fico pun esco casi.” Può sembrare divertente, ma per me significava, “Siamo perfetti l’uno per l’altro. Muoviamoci insieme.” E sapevo che un’anima gemella
avrebbe capito. Ma il povero Matteo sembrava altrettanto confuso come quando avevo lamentato l’esilio di Dante. Dissi, “Prova. Dì qualcosa.” Non disse nulla. Ho puntato su di me e detto, “vaffinbango carramush,” cioè che parlo la lingua dell’amore. In risposta, anche lui mi ha indicato e ha detto, “sei pazzo,” che ho interpretato come “let’s speak it together,” ma poi ho imparato ciò che in realtà significa in italiano. Ho provato qualche espressione più fantasiosa, diventando meno convincente di ogni cosa di me che stavo comunicando a Matteo. Continuava a ripetere “sei pazzo,” che ho capito non poteva significare “let’s speak it together,” dato che era esattamente quello che si rifiutava di fare. Sono tornato ai gesti. Gli mostrai la mia valigia, il mio passaporto. Ho messo un anello sulla mia mano sinistra e l’ho girata in modo che sembrava una fascia di nozze. Ho detto, “pazzienca moi,” significa sposami, che, a mio avviso, sembrava più francese che fantasioso, ma a volte è accaduto con il mio linguaggio inventato. Matteo si allontanò, dicendo, “Ma, che sei grullo.” Ho guardato anche quello. Un’altra versione di “che è idiota.” In Italia, il nostro amore non sembra promettente. Ma nel mio paese, il paese che ho sognato nella mia infanzia, siamo ancora insieme e siamo innamorati. Jeanne Jones is a writer and writing teacher from Hyattsville, Maryland, and the granddaughter of Italian immigrants from Bari. Her fiction has been published online and in print, most recently in SmokeLong Quarterly and American Short Fiction. Maria Goffman is a retired teacher and the daughter of Italian immigrants from Calabria. She enjoys traveling to Italy and spending time with her family.
To read the English version, visit www.osia.org and sign in to access the digital copy of Italian America. FALL 2017
8
ITALIAN AMERICA
Pagina Italiana
Per chi studia la nostra lingua
In Reality, Dante and Beatrice Probably Only Spoke to Each Other One or Two Times by Jeanne Jones
When I was younger, I had this idea that any sound I uttered in mimic of conversation actually meant something in another language. My father told me this, though he denied it. “That’s idiotic,” he said after I had spit out a few nonsense syllables and wondered what they meant to someone out there in the world. A few of life’s possibilities disappeared after that, but I marched on with my basic English, trying hard to make myself understood. It wasn’t until I met Matteo on a brief vacation to Florence that I remembered this magical idea. At first, I searched in vain for a way to communicate with him, my Italian limited to various ways of saying excuse me. His English was not much better. We spoke mostly using gestures, but gestures can get you in trouble. We gestured a lot together and within hours, I fell in love. I was convinced he was my soulmate. To prove my love, I took the time to memorize, in Italian no less, words from Dante: Tu lascerai ogne cosa diletta piu caramente. I assumed he was coming home with me and that this statement would be of some comfort to him. When he wasn’t packing his bag, I became confused. I went back to Dante, but it was useless. “This is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first,” I think I said in memorized Italian. He looked confused and used gestures to take off my clothes. That’s when I remembered the secret language I had tapped into as a child, the nonsense syllables, and my father’s insistence that I was mistaken. Emboldened by a renewed belief in my powers (and angered once again by my father’s obvious desire to hold me down), I said, “kay fico pun esco casi.” It may have sounded funny, but to me it meant, “We are perfect for each other. Let’s move in together.” And I knew a soulmate
would understand. But poor Matteo looked just as confused as when I had lamented Dante’s exile. I said, “You try it. Say anything.” He said nothing. I pointed at myself and said, “vaffinbango carramush,” meaning I speak the language of love. In response, he, too, pointed at me and said, “sei pazzo,” which I interpreted as “let’s speak it together,” but I later learned what it actually means in Italian. I tried a few more imaginative utterances, becoming less convinced with each one that I was communicating with Matteo. He kept repeating “sei pazzo,” which I realized couldn’t possibly mean “let’s speak it together,” since that was exactly what he refused to do. I returned to gestures. I showed him my suitcase, my passport. I put a ring on my left hand and turned it around so that it looked like a wedding band. I said, “pazzienca moi,” to mean marry me, which admittedly sounded more French than imaginative, but sometimes that happened with my created language. Matteo walked away, saying “Ma, che sei grullo.” I have looked that one up as well. Another version of “that’s idiotic.” In Italy, our love does not look promising. But in my country, the country I dreamed of in my childhood, we are still together and we are in love.
Bulletin Board
What’s new: discounts, services and events
Sons and Daughters of Italy Scholarships
Do You Know Your Italian Roots?
Applications Available in November!
In honor of Italian American Heritage Month, the Sons and Daughters of Italy is holding a contest to win a My Italian Family genealogy research project valued at approximately $2,000. Throughout the entire month of October, individuals who join, renew or gift their Sons and Daughters of Italy national at-large membership (ALM) online will be entered for a chance to win one of two available research projects. The two projects are:
Every year, The Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF) awards scholarships that assist outstanding Italian-American students with their college and graduate studies. The grants range from $5,000 to $10,000. Each applicant will also receive a one-year membership to the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America®, which includes a one-year subscription to Italian America® magazine. ®
Scholarship information and application can be found on http://www.osia.org/students/scholarships.php starting in mid-to-late-November. Contact scholarships@osia. org for questions or assistance.
If not, here’s your chance to win and find out more!
1. Discover your family history all the way to the late 1700s! The winner of the “5 Generations Back” Research Project will learn his or her ancestors’ names, occupations, where they grew up, and many more amazing historical details. 2. Reconnect to your living relatives! The “Living Relatives” Research Project will research the winner’s Ancestor’s descendants in his or her town of origin in Italy. A great opportunity to discover potential Italian cousins. Complete research results will be provided in both printed and electronic versions.
The 2017 SIF scholarship recipients.
Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America® GOLD MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM Become a Gold Member! The Gold Membership Program was created to help maintain our heritage, culture, and pride in our Order, and to keep the memory alive of our loved ones who worked so hard for OSIA. It is the dedication and passion of members like you that have kept OSIA going for 112 years. Gold Members will receive a Certificate of Recognition, Official Gold Membership Pin, and an Official Gold Membership Card.
Call or e-mail the National Office to learn more and join today! 202-547-2900 • NationalOffice@osia.org FALL 2017 9 ITALIAN AMERICA
The contest will run from 12:00 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2017, through 11:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31, 2017. Individuals who renew their ALM, purchase an ALM for themselves, or purchase the gift of ALM for someone else online through www.osia.org will automatically be entered to win*. The winner will be drawn at random on Nov. 3 and will be contacted by the Sons and Daughters of Italy National Office shortly thereafter. We extend very special thanks to Bianca Ottone, owner of My Italian Family, LLC, for generously donating the research project for this contest. Not the winner of the contest? Visit the Members Only community of osia.org for details about a special discount on research and other services from My Italian Family for Sons and Daughters of Italy members. Also visit www.myitalianfamily.com for more information. *RULES: Only ALM transactions (new, renewed, or gift) processed online through osia.org between 12:00 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1, 2017, and 11:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31, 2017, are eligible. No mail, fax or phone ALM transactions are eligible for this contest. Individuals who give (purchase) an ALM gift membership are eligible to be entered, but the gift recipient will not be entered. There is no limit to the number of memberships an individual may purchase in accordance with the rules above; each membership purchased during contest period earns one automatic entry. Additional rules apply; see osia.org, our Facebook page, or check your inbox for complete rules.
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 9
Fish has suffered from an undeservedly lowly reputation. Today we know that fish is likely responsible for the longevity of life in coastal communities across the world. The small fishing village of Acciaroli—allegedly the inspiration for Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea—boasts one of the highest percentages of centenarians in the world. Sure, they have olive oil and other staples, but fish is their main source of protein.
to dive under water, and put fishes that had been already taken upon his hooks; and these he drew so fast that the Egyptian perceived it.” Cleopatra feigned “great admiration” and invited her Roman suitor to fish with her the next day. The following morning when Antony threw out his line, Cleopatra’s servants secretly dove down and “fixed upon his hook a salted fish….” Mark Antony knew the game was up.
bol, especially after Jesus’s famous statement, “I will make you fishers of men.” Some assumed a sort of conspiratorial papal pact between the Holy See and the fishermen so that the Church could influence this market. Brian Fagan, author of Fish on Friday, denounced this theory on National Public Radio. “Many people have searched the Vatican archives on this,” he said, “but they have found nothing.”
Before the Christian tradition of The Romans viewed fishing as Fish became a favorite religious sym- meatless Fridays, the Greeks indulged a lowly trade, so the noble in a Friday feast day in honor Mark Antony didn’t have the of the fish-goddess Aphrodite piscatorial skills he needed to Salacia (from whom the word impress Cleopatra, an avid “salacious” is derived). As the fisherwoman. They trolled the Romans adopted many Greek Bay of Alexandria, according customs, the Church likely to the Greek historian Plucontinued this tradition of eattarch, who wrote in 75 A.D. ing fish on Friday. The exact that Antony “went out one origin, however, is difficult to day to angle with Cleopatra, confirm, leaving some to claim and, being so unfortunate as that the Norse namesake for the to catch nothing in the presday—either the goddess Freya ence of his mistress, he gave or Frigg—also had her feast day Antony and Cleopatra (1883) by Lawrence secret orders to the fishermen Alma-Tadema portrays their meeting in 41 BC. on Friday. FALL 2017
10
ITALIAN AMERICA
Regardless, the church in Rome had several reasons to recognize fish as holy. According to Genesis, God created fish on the fifth day, which would be Friday if Monday is the start of the week. The fish in the sea are constantly baptized, so eating them is a reminder of baptism. Because fish have no eyelids, some claim that their never-closing eyes are a metaphor for God who watches over us. Others discuss how Jesus is represented through the symbol of a fish, and therefore, this could be viewed as another form of transubstantiation of literally eating the body of Christ. What’s more, Jesus fed the multitude with loaves and fish, not steak and fries. Despite no secret accord between the Church and fishermen to forever guarantee sales, the Vatican did set down the guidelines to avoid eating warm-blooded mammals on Wednesday, Friday, Advent, and Lent. The assumption is that the devout would eat
fish, though technically speaking, turtles, lizards, and alligators could be on the list to fry up on Friday. Snake could be included as well, but that symbolism is too loaded. To save on money, the church urged monks to eat fish. To discourage all the decadent meat-eating in the monasteries, “in 1336 Pope Benedict XII decreed that at least half the monks in a community must eat in the refectory The Feast of Seven Fishes, an Italian-American daily,” according to tradition. historian Brian Fagan. The papal decree was, however, Only Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday watered down in Britain when Henry could they eat “irregular foods” like VIII broke away from the Vatican in meat. the early 1500s. The English diet was
Acciaroli, the fishing village in the Province of Salerno (Campania region) where Hemingway resided that inspired his final work of fiction The Old Man and the Sea. (aaventura) FALL 2017 11 ITALIAN AMERICA
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 11
full of fish and recommended days for consuming it, but suddenly it became viewed with skepticism as “popish” flesh. Even William Shakespeare makes reference in King Lear to these times when eating fish was viewed as a political act. In Act 1, Scene 4, the character Kent tries to convince King Lear to hire and trust him. Kent promises to “serve him truly that will put me in trust, to love him that is honest…to fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.” In other words, he was not a Catholic. In the United States during World War I, eating fish became a patriotic act. “Eat More Fish!” trumpeted the campaign by the United States government. The idea was to “SAVE the MEAT for our Soldiers and Allies” since fish would spoil more readily, and the troops needed the protein. After the war, the fishing industry took advantage of Lent to launch a National Fish Day in March, advising in verse, “Eat what you wish, but eat some fish. The national fish day in honor of the
Franchise owner, Lou Groen, who had his hamburger stand in a Roman Catholic neighborhood of Cincinnati, complained that his sales slumped on Fridays. McDonald’s owner Ray Croc offered him an alternative: a slice of pineapple on a bun. Groen rightly predicted that Croc’s pineapple burger would be a disaster and started offering the first “Filet-O-Fish” in 1962. His original recipe called for halibut, but economics forced him to use Atlantic cod. Four years later, Pope Paul VI relaxed restrictions for Catholics about eating fish (or at least not meat) on Fridays, but McDonald’s had already struck gold and would eventually sell The World War I poster encouraging 300 million Filet-O-Fish a year … most U.S. civilians to eat more fish so that of them on Fridays. meat would be more available for the soldiers. Meanwhile, the Italian-American fishermen who daily risk their lives to tradition of fish on Fridays persists furnish us with fish, which is a whole- and culminates in the Feast of Seven some dish.” Fishes on Christmas Eve to fast from Even McDonald’s jumped on the meat in preparation for the arrival of fish-on-Friday bandwagon as well. baby Jesus. In Italy, this tradition is referred to as La Vigilia (The Vigil) and celebrated mainly in the south. While it usually incorporates seven different seafood dishes, some only eat three kinds of fish in reverence to the Holy Trinity, or perhaps for the Three Magi. Others include a feast of many kinds of frutti di mare totaling twelve for the number of apostles. In any case, Italy’s fishing industry—Europe’s fourth largest—doesn’t mind selling the catch of the day. Now that we know how healthy fish truly is, perhaps fish on Friday was good advice all along—even if it didn’t originally come straight from God. Eric Dregni is the author of Never Trust a Thin Cook about his experiences in Modena, You’re Sending Me Where? his memoir about running the Italian summer camp Lago del Bosco, and Let’s Go Fishing. All are published by the University of Minnesota Press.
FALL 2017
12
ITALIAN AMERICA
Speakers Bureau
learn more about your culture & history
Speakers Bureau Need a speaker for your club meeting or a special event? Contact these experts directly. Some may require travel expenses and/or honorariums. For more speakers see: www.osia.org at “Culture & History.” To apply as a speaker, contact Miles Fisher at mfisher@osia.org • ANYWHERE Writer and Filmmaker Mark K. Spano offers screenings of his documentary Sicily: Land of Love and Strife. He has over thirty years of experience in film and television production, performing arts, arts management, and fundraising. Recently, he published an award-winning, critically-acclaimed novel entitled Midland Club. He speaks on Sicily’s culture and economics. Film screening and book signing. Contact: (919) 933-6173 (North Carolina) Email: mark@ markspano.com Website: www.markspano.com • ANYWHERE USA Author Mark Sullivan speaks on World War II in Italy and the true story of Pino Lella, a teenager who guided Jews over the winter Alps to escape the Nazis and became a spy inside the German High Command. His recent novel—Beneath the Scarlet Sky—was based on this story and is an Amazon Charts bestseller. He is the author of 18 novels. Multimedia presentation and book signing. If interested, Pino’s son, Michael, is available via Skype or in-person. Contact: (406) 579-5207 (Montana) Email: mtsulvan@yahoo.com Website: www.marksullivanbooks.com • ANYWHERE USA Author Joe Giordano speaks on his two novels as well as on the process of getting published. His discusses his first novel—Birds of Passage: An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story—which is on late 19th century and early 20th century Italian and New York history; and his second novel—Appointment with ISIL—which is on the Islamic State in the Levant. Read the first chapter of Birds of Passage on his website! Book reading and signings. Can present outside of Texas via Facetime. Contact: (512) 565-2229 (Texas) Email: jagintx@austin.rr.com Website: http://joe-giordano.com • NORTHEAST/MIDATLANTIC/OHIO Author Joseph C. Sciarillo speaks on his novel—Gifts for Ugo—describing the plot and setting, how he came to write it, and what he learned about his ancestors
FALL 2017 13 ITALIAN AMERICA
while researching the story. He will discuss the importance of memorializing stories from family lore and how collecting these stories can be an interesting Lodge project. Book signing. Contact: (401) 596-1328 (Rhode Island) Email: jsciarillo@cox.net • NORTHEAST Writer/Humorist Celeste LaTassa Behe shares stories of her upbringing in the Bronx’s “Little Italy,” where she lived until 1985. Her award-winning talks center on food, faith, and family as they were experienced in a bygone era. In 2014 and 2016, she won first place in Toastmasters D38, Area 52/53 Humorous Speech Contest for “Espresso: My Performance Enhancing Drug” and “Being LaTassa,” respectively. Contact: (h) 610-838-7151; (c) 484-554-2022 (Pennsylvania) Email: Celeste.L.Behe@gmail.com Website: http://celestebehe.com • NORTHERN CALIFONIA Author Jeffrey Gilliland with Cino Chegia speaks on Cino’s biography Four Dollars and a Dream. A survivor of World War II in Italy, Cino immigrated to the United States, worked his way up in the Bay Area’s garbage collection industry, and founded a youth soccer club. Book signing. Contact: (510) 701-1404 (California) Email: jeffreysgilliland@gmail.com • FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST Professor Giuseppe Albanese speaks on all aspects of opera. He has a dynamic educational program—entitled The Joy of Opera—that is an introduction to Bel-Canto. He currently presents opera courses at Florida Atlantic University’s Lifelong Learning Society and has received their Excellence in Teaching Award. Contact: (561) 624-3245 (Florida) Email: jalbaneseopera@ webtv.net Website: www.thejoyofopera.com
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 13
The Sons of Italy®
Book Club
BECOMING LEONARDO: An Exploded View of the Life of Leonardo Da Vinci By Mike Lankford
An original take on one of the most famous artists in history, Becoming Leonardo debunks much of what other biographers have written and the historical claims they’ve made. Rather than viewing Da Vinci as a born genius, author Mike Lankford chooses to step beyond that supposition and start with Da Vinci’s beginnings as an uneducated, uninstitutionalized boy who would write left-handed his entire life, something not permitted in that day (he also wrote his sentences from right to left). In the late 15th century, a time when images were rare, it was Da Vinci’s drawing ability that gave him great power. He used his drawings to conceive inventions and articulate ideas—and also to deceive. His fame, however, didn’t come until age forty-five when he painted The Last Supper (the age expectancy at that time was forty). An artist notorious for his inability to complete projects, Da Vinci lived as a stark contrast to one of his bitter rivals: Michelangelo, a prodigy who was exceptionally efficient in his work. Meanwhile, Da Vinci was the odd individual, living largely outside of society. For much of his life, he existed in ambiguity and was subsequently forgotten after his death.
FALL 2017 Selections
MA SPEAKS UP: And a FirstGeneration Daughter Talks Back By Marianne Leone
Sometimes Italian mothers have sharp words. And sometimes Italian daughters fire right back. Author and actress Marianne Leone tells of her upbringing in Newton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb). She brings to life the Northeast Italian-American experience of the 1960s and 70s, where “only in my grandmother’s house … on the poor side of Newton could a bookie, a priest, a police officer, and a bank robber eat at the same table and love each other.” Raised as one of three by her widowed Abruzzese mother, Leone experiences a strained relationship with her mother as she tries to assimilate into American culture and wishes her mother would do the same. In a memoir that ranges from humor to heartbreak, Leone explores the struggles of a first-generation teenager who is trying to understand the world around her. Ma Speaks Up touches upon many bygone realities. It talks of times when Italy wasn’t the paradise that it is today and when it was sacrilegious to disregard the Church (her mother having completely devoted Sundays to making pasta). It also touches upon something much deeper: family history. Leone tries to uncover her parents’ past, one that wasn’t spoken about and was very much a product of the times in which they lived.
It is from this vantage point that Becoming Leonardo seeks to know Da Vinci. While we now regard him as one of the most iconic artists in history, Da Vinci was, in all actuality, an abstruse individual who lived much of his life in destitution and abandoned most of his projects. Becoming Leonardo seeks to find Da Vinci’s brilliance in an individual so difficult to comprehend.
To Leone’s credit (and true to her Italian roots), she leaves nothing on the table. She divulges all of her thoughts and feelings—many times unkind and resentful—that she had when she was younger. However, in time, you will see her develop a deeper understanding of her mother and a greater appreciation for the struggles her mother endured. For they inevitably resurfaced when she would became a mother, herself.
DID YOU KNOW? Da Vinci had a close relationship with Machiavelli, who was responsible for getting him commissioned to paint one of his most famous works (which has been lost): The Battle of Anghiari.
DID YOU KNOW? Saint Maria Goretti from Southern Italy is the youngest to be cannonized. She was stabbed fourteen times when she was eleven years old and offered her assailant forgiveness while dying.
FALL 2017
14
ITALIAN AMERICA
On The Bookshelf Books by and about Italian Americans
Say Buon Natale with La Befana! Award-Winning Storyteller Diana Pishner Walker brings children the story of La Befana
Available on Headlinebooks.Com and Amazon.Com
A Sweeping Series Set in Stunning Tuscany
An epic narrative spanning each decade from WWII to the 1990s by award-winning author
PAUL SALSINI www.ATuscanSeries.com
www.amazon.com
*Advertisements FALL 2017 15 ITALIAN AMERICA
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 15
By Miles Ryan Fisher
Nobody knows her real name. Her face. Where she lives or the places she frequents. If individuals are fortunate enough to cross paths with her, they do so without knowing. Over the past five years, Italy’s novelist Elena Ferrante has experienced a burgeoning international popularity. Her stories, all of which have women narrators and a certain autobiographical quality to them, have intrigued readers across the world—and particularly in the United States. Ferrante, however, is no overnight sensation. Her first novel, Troubling Love, debuted back in 1991. It’s only recently that Elena Ferrante has become a household name—without being her actual name. From the outset of her writing career, Elena Ferrante adopted the pseudonym that—unlike those of Mark Twain or George Orwell—was meant to completely erase the person behind it. In fact, before her first novel was in print, Ferrante told her publisher—Edizioni E/O—that writing was the only role she would play. She would not participate in discussion panels, writer conferences, or FALL 2017
16
book tours. She would not accept any awards should she receive them. She would not grant in-person interviews, although she would—“to the indispensable minimum”—conduct written interviews through her publisher.
“I believe that books, once they are written, have no need of their authors. If they have something to say, they will sooner or later find readers; if not, they won’t.” Elena Ferrante in the letter she sent to her publisher prior to her debut novel in 1991
It wasn’t until more than a decade later, in 2002, that she released her second novel, The Days of Abandonment. Until recently, that novel—a viscerally written story about a woman whose husband suddenly leaves her after fifteen years of marriage—was her most celebrated work. In 2005, it became her first novel to be translated into English (a year later, Troubling Love was also translated into English).
However, it wasn’t until the first of her Neapolitan Novels, a series of four books, was released in 2011 that her popularity exploded. The first book of the series, My Brilliant Friend, is narrated by a young girl—aptly named Elena (nicknamed “Lena” in the story)—and focuses on her friendship with another girl her age, Lila, in a coming of age story set in 1950s postwar Naples. Unlike her early novels, the Neapolitan Novels are written with less raw emotion. But as with all of her writing, the novels are poignant and the stories are very close to her, seeking, as she put it, “to bridge the distance, to feel physically the impact of the material to be narrated ….”
Dancing on the streets of 1950s Italy. ITALIAN AMERICA
Ferrante followed My Brilliant Friend with The Story of a New Name (2013), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2014), and The Story of the Lost Child (2015). With the completion of her Neapolitan Novels series, Ferrante’s fame soared. Her novels appeared in bookstores across the United States as her name gained recognition. In 2016, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People. Still, nobody knew who she was. Holding steadfast to her own prerequisite, Ferrante maintained strict anonymity. With her books being read the world over, with her name appearing on the 100 Most Influential People list, whoever walked by her on the street, whoever talked to her in a store, whoever interacted with her at any point, had no idea who she was. They still don’t. With the rise of her fame, investigations naturally ensued, aiming to uncover the identity of this mysterious writer. Based on the written interviews that she’d granted, letters that she’d written, and content that
she included in her novels, pieces of Ferrante were assembled. She grew up in Naples. She lived outside of Italy for a period of her life. She holds a classics degree. She is a mother. She is not currently married. In March 2016, Marco Santagata, an Italian novelist and philologist1 and professor at the University of Pisa, published his theory on Ferrante’s identity. Using his analysis of Ferrante’s writing, the details she presents about the city of Pisa, and the knowledge she has of modern Italian politics, Santagata determined that Ferrante had lived in Pisa, but left by
1966. This fell in line with a Neapolitan professor, who studied in Pisa from 1964 and 1966. She, Santagata concluded, is Elena Ferrante. But just seven months later, Claudio Gatti, an investigative reporter, determined it was someone else entirely. In what became a very con-
1 The study of literary texts and of written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. FALL 2017 17 ITALIAN AMERICA
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 17
troversial tactic, Gatti consulted financial records, which he’d obtained from a secret source. They were related to royalty payments from the publisher (Edizioni E/O) to an individual. The payments had increased substantially in recent years, ostensibly reflecting Ferrante’s sky-rocketing success. They were made to a Romebased translator. She, Gatti concluded, is Elena Ferrante. The only problem was that the Rome-based translator’s background didn’t coincide with what Ferrante wrote about, particularly in Frantumaglia, her book of autobiographical fragments that was published in 2003. In it, Ferrante stated that she grew up in post-war Naples— something that is directly reflected in her writing—and that her mother was a local seamstress. Meanwhile, the Rome-based translator had grown up in Rome, and her mother was a teacher. What Gatti’s sleuthing did accomplish, however, was that it created a fierce backlash, one that wasn’t simply seeking to protect Ferrante’s desire for privacy, but to preserve what was pure—Ferrante’s writing. As British novelist Matt Hait conveyed, “the pursuit to discover the ‘real’ Elena Ferrante is a disgrace and also pointless. A writer’s truest self is the books they write.” Maybe Hait is right—it’s not what lies in the writer, but what lies in the writing itself that is true. But perhaps it goes even further than FALL 2017
18
ITALIAN AMERICA
that. In maintaining the anonymity of Ferrante’s writing, nothing remains but the story itself, its words having no actual persona to be connected to them. There is no Samuel Clemens, whose adventurous tales led him to create Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. There is no Eric Blair, whose experience growing up in India and witnessing British subjugation led him to create Winston Smith. W ith Elena Ferrante, there are only words, ones that leave the reader in the dark about exactly where they came from, exactly who they came from. Of course, Elena Ferrante recognized this long before her writing became known, long before her novels crossed oceans and landed on other continents. In her original letter to her publisher, the one she’d written back in 1991 prior to the debut of her first novel, she expressed this sentiment more eloquently than any other writer could.
“I very much love those mysterious volumes, both ancient and modern, that have no definite author but have had and continue to have an intense life of their own. They seem to me a sort of night-time miracle, like the gifts of the Befana (the Befana is an old woman who brings gifts to good children—somewhat in the manner of Santa Claus—on the eve of Epiphany, 6 January), which I waited for as a child. I went to bed in great excitement and in the morning I woke up and the gifts FALL 2017 19 ITALIAN AMERICA
were there, but no one had seen the Befana. True miracles are the ones whose makers will never be known; they are the very small miracles of the secret spirits of the home or the great miracles that leave us truly astonished. I still have this childish wish for marvels, large or small, I still believe in them.” Miles Ryan Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Italian America magazine. Contact him at mfisher@osia.org
HBO to Bring Ferrante to Film
Last summer, HBO began production on “My Brilliant Friend,” an eight-episode drama series adapted from Elena Ferrante’s first novel of the Neapolitan Novels. The network intends to continue this series so that it covers all four of Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, producing thirty-two episodes in total. The series will be filmed in Italian and air with English subtitles.
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 19
facebook.com/ColavitaOliveOil ColavitaOil youtube.com/ColavitaOliveOil @ColavitaOil ColavitaOliveOil Colavita Olive Oil
FALL 2017
20
ITALIAN AMERICA
JOIN OUR
EXPLORE OUR RECIPES on COLAVITARECIPES.COM
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 21
FALL 2017 21 ITALIAN AMERICA
The 55th Biennial Convention OSDIA Elects Second Woman President August 14-20, 2017 In its 112th year, the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America® (OSDIA) officers gathered in Sarasota, Florida, to elect the leaders who will forge the future of the oldest and largest national organization for people of Italian heritage. Vera Ferrara Girolami of California was elected as OSDIA’s 36th National President and sworn in on August 19. She will assume leadership from Immediate Past President Daniel J. Longo.
OSDIA’s New National Officers
Joining OSDIA National President Girolami are the following officers: • Nancy Di Fiore Quinn of New York, National First Vice President • Robert A. Bianchi, Esq. of New Jersey, National Second Vice President
• Joseph A. Boncore, Esq. of Massachusetts, National Third Vice President • Michael G. Polo of Connecticut, National Fourth Vice President • Richard R. Della Croce, Esq. of Illinois/Wisconsin, National Fifth Vice President And • Michael P. Creedon, Esq. of Pennsylvania, National Orator • Philip J. Privitera, Esq. of Massachusetts, National Recording Secretary • Tony Bisceglia Anderson of Northwest, National Financial Secretary
(L. to R.) OSDIA National Past Presidents Paul S. Polo; Philip R. Boncore, Esq.; Joanne L. Strollo; Joseph J. DiTrapani; National President Vera Ferrara Girolami; National Immediate Past President Daniel J. Longo; and National Past President Joseph Sciame. FALL 2017
22
ITALIAN AMERICA
• Thom A. Lupo of New York, National Treasurer • Carolyn Reres of New York, National Historian • Rev. R. Adam Forno of Florida, National Chaplain National Past President Joseph J. DiTrapani of New York was appointed to serve a third straight term as President of the Sons of Italy Foundation® (SIF), OSDIA’s philanthropic arm. Established in 1959, the SIF has contributed more than $165 million to scholarships, medical research, disaster relief efforts, cultural projects, veterans’ causes and other special projects. Kevin A. Caira of Massachusetts was appointed to serve a second straight term as National President of the
OSDIA 36th National President Vera Ferrara Girolami (left) with National Past President Joanne L. Strollo. (Arlene Nunziati)
L. Strollo (1993-1995). “It is with great happiness that I relinquish the word ‘only’ to my sister Vera,” Joanne said. “She has the attributes to be President, and she just happened to be a woman.”
Dino DiLiberti and Maria Fassio Pignati sing “That’s Amore” at the Guglielmo Marconi Award Gala. (Vincenza DiLiberti)
Commission for Social Justice (CSJ), OSDIA’s antidefamation arm. The CSJ fights the stereotyping of Italian Americans. For the past few years, it has focused on preserving Columbus Day. ®
Convention Highlights
With about 135 OSDIA national officers, trustees, state presidents, national delegates, and their guests in attendance, voting members elected Vera Girolami as the second woman OSDIA National President. There to install her as President on this momentous occasion was OSDIA’s first woman National President, Joanne FALL 2017 23 ITALIAN AMERICA
This also marks the first time in OSDIA history that women hold the two top positions in the organization, which fittingly coincided with the formal announcement that the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) is now doing business as (dba) the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA). To find out more about this historic moment, see the article on page 4. During the convention, leaders and delegates announced they raised $321,439 for OSDIA’s national charities: Alzheimer’s Association ($107,673) Cooley’s Anemia Foundation ($142,483) Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism ($71,283) There was also $65,135 in donations made to: Central Italy earthquake relief fund ($58,720) Help Our Military Heroes ($4,315) Garibaldi-Meucci Museum ($2,100) These funds were raised by members and their lodges over the past two years, and the additional contribution to ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 23
2017 Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro Award recipient, Bill Zuppa (third from left), standing behind his wife, Chiyoko. With them are (Front Row, L. to R.) Eva Mottola, Lucy Smith, Chiyoko, Carolyn Cianciotta, Vincenza DiLiberti, Mary Bianchini, and Joyce Bollenbacher; (Back Row, L. to R.) Dr. Mark DeNunzio, Edward Mottola, Jr., Bill, Thomas Bollenbacher, Anthony Cianciotta, Gene Valentino, Dino DiLiberti, and Gregory Bianchini. (Carly Jerome)
2017 OSDIA Sports Award recipient, Joan Bonvicini (in blue), with (L. to R.) Rosetta Beyersdorf, Vera Ferrara Girolami, Joanne Spino Marchese, Dorothy Miori Whitney, Tony Bisceglia Anderson, Joan, Frank Panessa, Diane Scillo, and Mary Jane Maglione.
the Central Italy earthquake relief fund brought OSDIA’s total donation to more than $210,000.
Award is named after Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro, who founded the Order in 1905.
Convention attendees also reviewed the last two years of OSDIA’s activities and set the administrative, philanthropic, and cultural agendas for 2017-2019. One of the significant ongoing developments will include the launching of OSDIA’s new website, which will allow members across the country to connect with each other and explore networking opportunities.
Joan Bonvicini, one of the winningest coaches in women’s college basketball history, received the 2017 OSDIA National Sports Award. Having become just the 17th coach to reach 700 career wins, Joan coached Long Beach State University (1979 – 1991), University of Arizona (1991 – 2008), and Seattle University (2009 – 2016). She led Long Beach State to back-to-back NCAA Final Four appearances, as well as ten NCAA tourna-
Convention Awards
(Carly Jerome)
Three distinguished Italian Americans received honors at the convention for their exemplary contributions to both their Italian-American heritage and their respective communities.
William Zuppa, or “Bill” as he is known to his OSDIA brothers and sisters, received the 2017 Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro Award for his commitment to the growth of OSDIA. A Charter member of the Joseph B. Franzalia Lodge #2422 for thirty-nine years, he was the founder of three OSDIA lodges, all located in Northwest Florida—Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835 in Pensacola (2006), William Zuppa Lodge #2845 in Panama City (2008), and Richard A. Capozzola Lodge #2865 in Crestview (2010). Bill served twenty years in the United States Air Force (1953 – 1973), receiving numerous distinctions, including the Bronze Star, Korean Service Medal, and Vietnam Service Medal. The Sellaro
FALL 2017
24
2017 OSDIA Guglielmo Marconi Award recipient Senator Maria Lorts Sachs (center) with her daughter, Natasha, and husband, Peter.
ITALIAN AMERICA
ment appearances, nine Sweet Sixteen appearances, and six Elite Eight appearances. In 1981, she was named the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year, and in 1996, she led Arizona to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship title. Senator Maria Lorts Sachs received the convention’s highest honor, the 2017 Guglielmo Marconi Award, named for the great Italian physicist responsible for wire-
less telegraphy. Maria was elected to the Florida House of Representatives and served two terms until she was elected to the Florida Senate in 2010. As a member of the house, she helped pass legislation that allows the Italian language to be a part of Florida’s high school curriculum. As a member of the senate, she helped pass legislation that recognizes the month of October as Italian and Italian American Heritage Month in Florida.
OSDIA’s 36th National President
Vera Ferrara Girolami Vera has been a member of OSDIA for over thirty years, joining the Modesto Lodge #2021 in California. She has served in many positions, including Local Lodge President for three terms and Grand Lodge of California Convention Chair for two years. She founded and, for twenty-two years, chaired the Central Valley OSDIA Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that has raised more than $350,000 for communities and charities. In 2005, Vera became the first woman to be elected President of the Grand Lodge of California. Vera has also served in multiple positions at the National Level, including National Delegate, Supreme Council, Youth Summit, Future Good of The Order, and Ritual and Protocol Handbook. In the past six years, she has served as Fifth, Fourth, and First National Vice President. Vera’s parents, Salvatore and Palma Ferrara, met in Ohio after each having emigrated from the same village in Sicily (Rodì Milici). There, Salvatore worked as a OSDIA National President Vera Ferrara Girolami (right) with her husband—and OSDIA First shoemaker, and it was in Ohio that Vera was born. Her Gentleman—Judge Al Girolami. (Arlene Nunziati) parents then moved the family to California and stressed the importance of education to Vera and her two sisters. “My father made us promise to go to college,” Vera said. “And I was the first in my family to attend college.” After Vera graduated from Notre Dame High School, she attended O’Connor Hospital School of Nursing. She was then one of the fourteen first women to attend Santa Clara University, where she met her husband, Judge Al Girolami. Vera worked as a nurse, retiring from Emergency Room Nursing in 1989. She began a new career as Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for the Modesto Community Bank until she retired in 2007. Vera and Al have been married for 56 ½ years and live in San Jose, California. They have two daughters—Catherine and Carol—and five grandchildren—Foster, Gavin, Amelia, Nella, and Eva.
FALL 2017 25 ITALIAN AMERICA
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 25
OSDIA Nation
OSDIA LODGES AT WORK
rhode island
north carolina
In May, the Vince Lombardi Lodge #2357 distributed OSIA pins to local West Warwick High School seniors who completed at least four years of Italian language study. Rhode Island Grand Lodge Past President Joseph Florio, Jr. presided over the annual ceremony, which also grants the students a one-year honorary membership.
The Triangle Sons of Italy Lodge #2817 of Raleigh hosted best-selling novelist Adriana Trigiani, who was on tour to promote her most recent novel, Kiss Carlo. Thirty lodge members met with Adriana before she spoke to the hundreds of readers who gathered at a local bookstore to hear about her latest work. She spoke to lodge members about the accomplishments of Italian-American women in literature and film as well as the importance that Italians place on family and hard work.
Joseph Florio, Jr. (center) with the eight students who completed four years of Italian and the two teachers who instructed them.
maryland “Master quilters” Susanne Spinnato Walmsley and Joanne Stelmack, sisters of Baltimore’s Little Italy Lodge #2286 Past President, Salvatore Spinnato, display their hand-sewn quilt. Upon Sal’s untimely death in September 2016, Sue and Joanne decided to honor Sal by creating a quilt comprised of t-shirts he had collected over the years that reflected significant events and passions in his life. Prominent in the display is Sal’s affection for the Sons of Italy, for his Italian heritage and, of course, for his favorite sports teams! The quilt now has a permanent home with his “favorite nephew,” Tony Walmsley. The quilt is displayed frequently at Little FALL 2017
26
Italy Lodge events as a reminder of the affection and respect lodge members continue to hold for Sal.
“Adriana is passionate about the Sons of Italy and her Italian heritage,” said Fran Giannuzzi, former Triangle Sons of Italy Lodge President and current Vice President. “And all fellow Sons of Italy members get to see her every time they pick up a copy of Italian America magazine and see her on the back cover.”
(A Trustee of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, Tony also managed to “inherit” Sal’s automobile license plate—“SICILY”—so it that it still graces the lodge’s parking lot!)
Fran Giannuzzi (left) and Adriana Trigiani, who met seventeen years ago at a book signing for Adriana’s debut novel Big Stone Gap.
Tony Walmsley (left) holds the quilt with fellow Little Italy Lodge member, Fran Blattermann. ITALIAN AMERICA
OSDIA Nation
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
south carolina
virginia
Last June, the Myrtle Beach Lodge #2662 celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Gala Event in North Myrtle Beach. One hundred and sixty-five members and guests enjoyed a lavish cocktail party and dinner. Brothers and sisters from Bella Italia Lodge #2808 of Columbia (SC) and Roma Lodge #254 of Vi`vrginia Beach (VA) were also on hand to join the festivities.
The Grand Lodge of Virginia held its 35th Biennial Convention last June at the Hilton Hotel and Spa/ Short Pump in Richmond. There, the Grand Lodge presented Linwood Sykes, Jr. with the Walter Junger Humanitarian Award, an award that the Grand Lodge established in 2003 in tribute to Walter Junger’s longstanding dedication to OSDIA, his generosity to charity, and his sense of duty to community and country.
Proclamations and letters of congratulations from South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes, and North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley were read. Italian tenor Jesse Bastiano serenaded those in attendance with beautiful arias and Broadway favorites. Larry Tanelli & Claudette provided the lively dance music to keep the party going into the night. Brother Domenico Santoro from the Bella Italia Lodge even joined in singing “That’s Amore.” The evening was topped off with homemade cookie trays prepared by lodge members and a coffee cordial featuring many Italian liqueurs.
Linwood, who is known by his brothers and sisters for his “behind the scenes” work, was honored for his “I will do what I can for whomever I can” attitude that he has lent to his lodge brothers and sisters, many charities, and his church. He is a member of the Giuseppe Verdi Lodge #315 of Mechanicsville—whose lodge members were proud to see him honored with the prestigious award.
Members of Myrtle Beach Lodge #2662 celebrate their 25th anniversary with the help of lodge members from Columbia and Virginia Beach.
rhode island In June, the Salvatore Mancini Lodge #2440 of North Providence proudly presented a check for $500.00 to Director Ernest Spaziano of the Holy Family Home for Women and Children. The Holy Family Home for Women and Children operates a donation-based homeless shelter “to serve the most vulnerable segment of society, namely mothers with children who have become homeless due to various financial difficulties and hardships.” They provide home-style living where residents have time to develop the necessary tools and resources that FALL 2017 27 ITALIAN AMERICA
will enable them to be self-sufficient with permanent housing. Their facility houses up to twelve women and their children in what was once a Catholic Elementary School.
Humanitarian Award Chairperson John Gossner presents the award to Linwood Sykes, Jr. GOT A GOOD STORY?
The Salvatore Mancini Lodge #2440 and Lodge President Anthony N. Monti present their donation to the Holy Family Home for Women and Children.
Have you or your lodge done something remarkable that makes a difference to your community or promotes our heritage and Italian studies? If so, send details including your lodge’s name/ number, a brief write-up, and digital photos of 300 dpi to Editor Miles Fisher at mfisher@osia.org
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 27
Turning Wine into Welch How Missouri’s Grape Growers Persevered During Prohibition
One of the different labels used for grapes shipped from Knobview/Roasati in the late 1920s and 1930s. (rosati-mi.com) By David McCormick
When the Dry’s defeated the Wet’s in 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified and Prohibition became law, leaving many vineyards that were cultivated for generations abandoned. Many grape growers in Missouri, as well as those across the country, saw an abrupt end to the wine industry and turned to other means to make their living. But during the dry fourteen years of Prohibition, Italians in Knobview, Missouri (Phelps County), continued to tend their vineyards. While other communities saw their grape-growing acreage decrease dramatically during the era of forced sobriety, vineyards in Phelps and adjacent counties increased theirs.
The Ozark region’s Italians proved to be industrious. Arriving in the United States just two decades before the Eighteenth Amendment was enacted, they helped prevent Missouri’s vineyards from disappearing completely. Their efforts then proved a strong keystone for the state’s wine industry after the amendment was reversed. It was a long, meandering trek for the small number of Italians who settled in Missouri. An American millionaire named Austin Corbin was driven to “colonize the idle land of the south,” seeing great promise in growing cotton on land that had been vacant since the Reconstruction period. Corbin contacted Prince Emanuele Ruspoli, the Sindaco di Roma (Mayor of Rome), seeking his aid for manpower. In 1897, the Italian pioneers arrived at what would become Sunnyside Settlement in Arkansas. But problems soon arose. Italians knew nothing of growing cotton, and coming from the alpine region of Veneto, they found the heavy, humid air of the Mississippi River bottomland unbearable. The swampy wetlands in the area were a breeding ground for Malaria-carrying mosquitos. Over one hundred settlers died in a two-month span.
Emil Piazza harvesting grapes. (rosati-mi.com) FALL 2017
28
The Italian colonists finally had enough. One of the founders of the St. Raphael Italian Benevolent Society, Father Pietro Bandini, heard of their plight, but believed the idea of an agricultural community was still possible. The immigrants, however, were split on which direction ITALIAN AMERICA
to take. Father Bandini led half of them from Sunnyside to land located on the edge of northwestern Arkansas. They named their new settlement Tontitown. The remaining group, wanting nothing more to do with Arkansas, forged ahead to Phelps County on the northern edge of the Missouri Ozarks. There, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company, known as the Frisco Line, was selling right-of-way acreage, land that sat adjacent to the tracks. A man named Antonio M. Piazza negotiated with the railway on behalf of his fellow Italian immigrants, about forty families in all. Piazza assessed the brush-covered knobs of land, remarking that it was “so barren even a crow had to carry his own lunch when flying over.” People living in the area shook their heads, wondering why anyone would want land not worth a straw. Piazza and his fellow Italians bought the land for $1.00 to $3.00 per acre.
The Antonio Piazza Family harvesting grapes. (rosati-mi.com)
The weary band arrived in Knobview in the dead of winter and scrambled to find shelter—empty boxcars and abandoned outbuildings serving as refuge from the cold. In the spring of 1899, with lumber provided by the Frisco Railway Company, the Italian immigrants set to work building housing. Luckily for them, John Sutton, an area merchant, provided credit while Piazza distributed his entire wealth of $195.00 among his companions. In spite of its arid appearance, the land was finely suited for growing grapes. Viticulture had flourished in German communities in the middle of the state since the 1850s. By 1870, Concord and Catawba grapes grew in Rolla, just fifteen miles from Knobview. The natural terraced slopes of Phelps County, with elevations around 1,000 feet, protected vineyards and orchards from unseasonable frosts. FALL 2017 29 ITALIAN AMERICA
Antonio Piazza’s store and real estate office, ca 1906.(rosati-mi.com)
No strangers to viticulture, the Italian immigrants were fortunate that a nearby French colony shared cuttings from their Concord vines. In 1903, an immigrant named Louis Zulpo planted the first vineyard in Knobview. The Italian immigrants set down roots, constructing a simple wood church in 1904 and christening it St. Anthony’s, the patron saint of voyagers. Within the first decade, in addition to St. Anthony’s church (which would be destroyed by fire twice and rebuilt both times), the community constructed homes, stores, a school, real estate office, post office, and a train depot as well as a tomato canning plant. For the first two decades, dairy products were an important product in the Italian immigrants’ economy. Milk and cheese were carried to St. Louis via the Frisco Line. Tomatoes were a common crop, and almost every family tended at least one acre of grapes for winemaking. But tomatoes and grapes came to harvest almost simultaneously, making labor tight. With a lack of manpower to harvest both fruits, the tomato canning plant closed in 1913 and grapes became the primary crop. Then Prohibition struck. Undaunted, the Italian immigrants increased the size of their vineyards rather than abandoning them. In the year following Prohibition, area farmers formed the Knobview Fruit Growers Association. Under this Association, workers harvested the grapes starting around Labor Day. For six weeks, the grape-stained fingers of men, women, and children picked day and night, traveling from one farm to the next. With the Frisco Line depot right there in Knobview, the grapes were loaded into refrigerated cars and sent to major cities like Chicago, Denver, and Minneapolis. (rosati-mi.com)
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 29
However, with Prohibition being the law, the grapes could no longer be grown for wine. So the Knobview Fruit Growers Association marketed their Concord grapes to the Welch Grape Juice Company. The move worked. In late fall of 1922, the Welch Company laid the foundation A label from the Bonded #80, Rosati Winery. (rosati-mi.com)
Processing grapes behind Richard Cardetti’s store. (rosati-mi.com) )
for a plant in Springdale, Arkansas, and Knobview’s grape industry thrived. By 1926, the harvest from Phelps County was filling sixty-two boxcars, and by 1930, Knobview had 1,000 acres of vineyards. A year later, because of the overwhelming influence Italian immigrants had on the town, Knobview had its name changed to Rosati, honoring Bishop Joseph Rosati, who had immigrated from Italy and served the St. Louis Diocese a century earlier. With the repeal of prohibition on December 5, 1933, Rosati’s grape growers wasted no time returning to what they knew best: making wine. They opened the Rosati
Winery, the first bonded winery in Missouri. Although this venture went bankrupt in just three years, the Richard M. Cardetti family acquired the winery, and from there, it began to flourish. By 1940, the winery produced about thirty thousand gallons of wine. Then World War II happened. Young men joined the military, depleting the winery’s workforce and forcing the Cardetti family to sell its vineyards to the Welch Grape Juice Company. When the war ended, it was back to the vineyards. GRAPES! GRAPES! read the 1945 headline of the local St. James Journal. That year, Italian growers from Rosati shipped a harvest of 250 tons of grapes to Welch’s. By the mid-sixties, the one thousand acres of vines in the Rosati area yielded a harvest of two thousand tons of Concord and Catawba grapes. A new generation of winemakers emerged, and Rosati grape growers were happy to supply them with fruit (as well as their wine-making expertise). Today, Rosati—a land that was once described as “….so barren that even a crow had to carry his lunch when flying over”—continues to produce tons of grapes annually. While some of the hands picking those grapes may no longer be Italian, it was the hands of Italian immigrants who turned wine into Welch in order to preserve Missouri’s grape vines and, ultimately, its wine industry. With a master’s degree in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts David McCormick was employed by the City of Springfield, MA for several years. Now retired he works as a freelance writer. His articles have appeared in Naval History, Wild West, and Army Magazine. Contact him at dmccormick86@comcast.net
FALL 2017
30
ITALIAN AMERICA
From the National
WHAT NATIONAL DOES FOR YOU
OSDIA’s 36th National President Acceptance Speech Vera Ferrara Girolami A Chinese proverb begins: ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’
humbling. I promise to never forget my family’s beginnings nor my father’s words to always give back to this amazing country we are so fortunate to live in.
This was my Father, Salvatore Ferrara, when at the age of 18 he took that single step, left this tiny Sicilian village called Rodi-Milici, in the Province of Messina, above Taormina, and began his arduous journey to America. And look what that one step accomplished!
Together with this incredible team, this administration will emphasize communication, transparency, and fraternalism. This is not a one-person job. We are a team working toward common goals. Our goals will include: growth of OSDIA through marketing and branding, promotion of our heritage and culture, including, and I emphasize, keeping and celebrating Columbus Day! We will also continue using social media to promote OSDIA, emphasizing our philanthropic deeds, hosting NELA with amazing honorees, and honoring our scholars and wounded warriors. We will be inclusive, not exclusive!
Dad got a job—he was a shoemaker—went to night school, and became a citizen. His journey led him to Ohio, where he met my mother, Paolina Ferrara, whose family came from that same tiny village of Rodi-Milici. After the Bishop declared they were not related, they were married on Thanksgiving Day 1938. My sister and I were born in Ohio and our journey led our family to California, where another daughter was born. Family, Italian customs, traditions, and food were central in our upbringing. Dad drilled in us the importance of faith, family, education, remembering our Italian roots, and giving back to our community. He instilled in us traditions and values we will remember and treasure. He made us promise never to forget what he went through to get to America. And so recalling our roots, I must give thanks to those who assisted me on this journey. Of course my grandparents and parents, my husband—Judge Al Girolami—who has stood by me for over 59 years. Our children: Catherine, husband Rob, and grandsons Foster and Gavin; and Carol, husband Tony, and granddaughters Amelia, Nella, and Eva. Although I am the second woman to be elected to the position of National President, Past National President Joanne Strollo served as the first woman in 1993. Judge Al Girolami will be the first First Gentleman of the National Sons & Daughters of Italy! Special thanks to the Grand Lodge of California officers, members, and friends for their support, and those National Officers and Past National Presidents who were constantly encouraging me.
My personal goal, aside from keeping everything in order and everyone happy, is to try to visit as many Grand Lodges as I can. Every invitation received, either in the National Office or at my home, will be acted on. So, if you would please put me on your newsletter list and advise me of your important functions and events, I will try to attend, or send someone in my stead. And so here I stand, ninety-two years after my dad took that single step, and look where it has led! I am sure he would be proud of what I have accomplished. God Bless the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy and God Bless and Protect America. Thank you for this incredible honor. Fraternally and with love,
In Memoriam 1949 – 2017
Anthony J. Baratta OSDIA National President (2013 – 2015)
Now I stand before you, a daughter of immigrants, as your National President. It is such an honor and so FALL 2017 31 ITALIAN AMERICA
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 31
®
The Sons of Italy Foundation
®
HELPING THOSE IN NEED
A Tribute to All
By Joseph DiTrapani, President Let me start by thanking our newly elected National President, Vera Ferrara Girolami, for nominating me to the position of Sons of Italy Foundation President. I truly appreciate her confidence and look forward to the next two years. You’ll notice in the article about our 55 Biennial Convention that the SIF will be donating substantial sums to a variety of charities. These donations would not be possible without the support and generosity of all of our Grand Lodges and all of our Filial Lodges. This is something I cannot stress enough—the SIF’s contributions are an accumulation of individual efforts. th
Of course, there’s no better example of this than the overwhelming support OSIA members and lodges showed for the Central Italy earthquake relief efforts. With additional contributions made at the Convention, our total donation toward relief efforts now exceeds $200,000! In the
coming year, the SIF will be deciding on a specific project to support—just as it did in supporting construction of a school of autism after the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake. However, it wasn’t just the earthquake that lodge members put their efforts toward. Incredible amounts were raised for causes like the Alzheimer’s Association, Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, Help Our Military Heroes, and the GaribaldiMeucci Museum (a personalized Museum brick makes a great Christmas gift!). With so much exceptional effort coming from all across the country, the SIF will continue to make the most of this positive energy. I hope you are as excited as I am to be a part of the projects and individuals we help in 2018.
Design the SIF 2018 T-Shirt! How would you like a chance for your artwork to appear on thousands of t-shirts that are distributed to help a great cause? Through its direct mail program, the Sons of Italy Foundation® (SIF) will send t-shirts in 2018 as gifts to individuals who support the SIF’s charitable initiatives. Skilled graphic designers are encouraged to submit artwork to be considered for the shirt’s final design. Entry requirements: • Original design (containing no copyrighted material) must include “Sons of Italy®” and “2018” and reflect Italian-American heritage and pride. • Design should be created for use on a black t-shirt. • No entries will be accepted by mail. • A low-resolution preview version of the design file must be submitted to sif@osia.org by December 8, 2017. (Winning designer will be asked to submit a final high-resolution design file according to specs below.) • Final artwork resolution must be 300 dpi designed at minimum dimensions of 8” wide X 10” high, and submitted as a .jpg, .tif, .psd, .eps or vector art file. FALL 2017
32
The 2017 SIF t-shirt designed for the third straight year by Anthony Massa. ITALIAN AMERICA
®
The Commission for Social Justice
The CSJ Perspective By Kevin Caira, President
Since my column in the summer issue, much attention and effort to preserve Columbus Day in Los Angeles was undertaken. Unfortunately, the outcome was not what we had envisioned. My thanks to California CSJ Chairman Tony Ricevuto, Grand Lodge of California State President John Costa, Rosemarie Vanderhaar, Ann Potenza, Annette Porter, Lydia Liberio, Esq., the Knights of Columbus, and many other organizations and individuals too numerous to mention, as space will not allow. As you have read, watched, and listened to in the media, a rash of disturbing destruction has become the trend throughout our country. It has occurred in Baltimore, in Binghamton, in Buffalo, in Peoria—even in Central Park. No doubt that this destruction is at the hands of few. For so many of us, our ancestors worked hard to make this country what it is. They even contributed what they could of their hard-earned wages to erect Columbus monuments. Yet now there are nameless, faceless individuals bent on defacing these statues. Worst of all, it seems that many politicians refrain from condemning such destruction—the destruction of public property nonetheless!
fighting defamation
The Commission for Social Justice has been working hard on both national and state levels not simply to preserve Columbus Day, but to now save our Columbus statues from destruction and removal. We have taken part in interviews by NPR and the Baltimore Sun. We have written letters to officials in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and other states across the country. We have continued adding names to our “Save Columbus Day” petition. However, in order for this battle to be won, everyone must engage. We need every individual to be a part of this mission—whether that means attending a rally in your area, writing a letter to a public official, or making a contribution to the CSJ. This is not a battle that will be won if we rely on others to do it for us. We all must be a part of preserving history if we do not want it rewritten. Let us take Columbus Day back from those who seek to destroy it and the public officials who refuse to stand up for what is right. If they cannot do that, then they don’t deserve to represent us—and we must represent ourselves!
YES! I would like to help preserve Columbus Day and save Columbus statues across the country. Please accept my tax-deductible donation to support the Commission for Social Justice’s mission. Charge my credit card for the total amount of: Type: AMEX / MC / VISA
$10
Expiration
$25
$50
$100
$
CVV
Card number Name on card Billing Address My check for the total amount of $ is enclosed. (Please make check payable to the “Commission for Social Justice”) Mail to:
FALL 2017 33 ITALIAN AMERICA
Commission for Social Justice 219 E Street NE Washington, DC 20002 ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 33
Italian America Magazine … The Perfect Christmas Gift! The Perfect Gift Looking for a unique present for family or friends? Give the gift of your rich Italian American heritage with a one-year subscription to Italian America magazine, the most widely read publication in the U.S. for people of Italian descent. We will contact your gift recipient telling him or her (or them) of your present. Fill out the form below and return to us ASAP.
Please give this gift subscription to: NAME:
[Please print]
Address:
®
City
State
Zip Code
State
Zip Code
Please say it is from: NAME:
[Please print]
Address: City
E-Mail: Telephone: (
)
Send your check for $20.00 payable to OSDIA SUPREME LODGE to: GIFT SUBSCRIPTION Italian America® Magazine 219 E Street NE Washington, DC 20002
Letters to the Editor Dear Mr. Fisher: I found the article written by Jennifer Newell very interesting along with other articles in the Summer 2017 Publication of OSDIA. I am just curious as to why Jennifer Newell did not mention the names of Joe Garagiola, and Yogi Berra who were both from “The Hill”? Bill LePore Hi Bill: Thanks for the message. I can’t speak on Jennifer’s behalf, but the story does mention Yogi and Joe in a caption (along with the origin of one of Yogi’s famous quotes). In the last year or so, we’ve run some really excellent articles that honor Yogi and Joe—especially since they both passed away. So from an editor’s perspective, I felt it was fine to allow the article to focus more on the culture of The Hill and some of the individuals who contributed to that without making it about Yogi and Joe. (but I did feel the need to at least mention that they’d grown up there – so that’s why I wrote up the caption) And I love the quote from Joe … “Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues, I wasn’t even the best catcher on my street!” Miles FALL 2017
34
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (required by Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code). ITALIAN AMERICA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1089-5043) is published quarterly at 219 E Street, NE; Washington, DC 20002. The annual subscription price is $20. The complete mailing address of Known Office of Publication is located at 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. The general business offices of the publisher and the editor are at same address as above. Publisher: Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America, same address as above. Editor: Miles Ryan Fisher, same address as above. Owner full name is Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America, 219 E Street, NE; Washington, DC 20002. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees and other Security Holders Owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. Tax status: has not changed during preceding 12 months. Publication Title: Italian America. Issue Date for Circulation Data below: SUMMER 2017. The extent and nature of circulation is: A. Total Number of Copies (Net press run). Average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,750. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 31,100. B. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,237. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 30,537. C. Total Paid Distribution. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,237. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 30,537. D. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County. distribution by mail, carrier or other means. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 386. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 275. E. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 386. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 275. F. Total Distribution. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,623. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 30,812. G. Copies not Distributed. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months 127. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date 288. H. Total. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,750. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 31,100. I. Percent Paid. Average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months: 98.78%. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 99.10%. I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. Filed September 6, 2017. Miles Ryan Fisher, Editor-in-Chief.
ITALIAN AMERICA
Italian America®
Italian America Magazine is produced by the national headquarters of the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America®, 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 202/547-2900. Email: nationaloffice@osia.org Editor-in-Chief Miles Ryan Fisher Bookkeeper/Administrative Assistant Adam Jacobs Director of Programming & Operations Carly Jerome Project Coordinator Katie Vivian Italian America® is the official publication of the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America® (OSDIA), the largest and longest-established organization of American men and women of Italian heritage. Italian America provides timely information about OSDIA, while reporting on individuals, institutions, issues, and events of current or historical significance in the Italian-American community nationwide. Italian America (ISSN: 1089-5043, USPS: 015-735) is published quarterly in the winter, spring, summer and fall by OSDIA, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. ©2015 Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any method without permission of the editor is prohibited. Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily imply an opinion on the part of the officers, employees, or members of OSDIA. Mention of a product or service in advertisements or text does not mean that it has been tested, approved or endorsed by OSDIA, the Commission for Social Justice, or the Sons of Italy Foundation. Italian America accepts query letters and letters to the editor. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. Italian America assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Annual subscriptions are $20, which are included in dues for OSDIA members. Single copies are $4.95 each.OSDIA MEMBERS: Please send address changes to your local lodge. Do not contact the OSDIA National Office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Italian America, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Subscriptions are available through the OSDIA National Office, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. OSDIA membership information is available at (800) 552-OSDIA or at www. OSDIA.org. Archives are maintained at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn. Printing by Printing Solutions Inc., Sterling, Va. To advertise: Contact Dave Bayard at dave@boja.com (973) 822-9274 or Laura Lemos at laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274. Also see www.osia.org for advertising rates, specs, demographics, etc. FALL 2017 35 ITALIAN AMERICA
By Miles Ryan Fisher Editor-in-Chief, Italian America Magazine
The story of Elena Ferrante’s anonymity reminds me of the reason I’d chosen my Confirmation name: Nicholas. When I was young, I’d heard a tale of Saint Nicholas, and it stayed with me enough that I remembered it when it was time to decide on a name for my Confirmation. The story I’d heard was about three young sisters who came from an impoverished family that didn’t have enough wealth to pay their dowries. So it was decided that the sisters would draw straws and that the sister who ended up with the shortest straw would sell herself into slavery to raise what was necessary to pay the dowries of the other two sisters. The youngest sister drew the shortest straw. On the night before she was to sell herself into slavery, legend has it that Saint Nicholas climbed onto the roof of the family’s home and dropped three bags of gold coins down their chimney. When the family awoke in the morning, they found the bags sitting there—each one filled with enough gold to cover each sister’s dowry. No note accompanied the bags to let the family know who they were from. I remember that what resonated with me about this story was the idea of anonymity—someone doing something without desiring credit in return. There was something magical about Saint Nicholas’s act, as magical as Santa Claus is to kids. It wasn’t until I grew older that I started considering whether or not the story was actually true. Perhaps it was a cynicism that came with age, but I decided to search for the story and couldn’t manage to find a single account of it. During my search, it occurred to me that the reason I chose my Confirmation name wasn’t based on the story’s truth—it was based on what the story represents. It represents the pureness of goodwill, a pureness that anonymity can produce. Saint Nicholas’s anonymity in the story allows his role to be played by anyone—by you, by me, by a stranger we pass on the street. I remember it was that element of the story that resonated with me. So in the end, my Confirmation name wasn’t about a name at all. It was about imagining that one day each one of us could be do something generous for another—without so much as leaving a note.
ITALIAN AMERICA FALL 2017 35
Piacere!
PLEASED TO MEET YOU,valerie
Valerie Bertinelli Interview by Felicia Marianna Naoum Fans came to know and love Valerie when she was just fifteen years old, starring in her role as Barbara on CBS’s One Day at A Time, which aired for nine years (1975– 1984). But America’s love affair with her didn’t end there. Valerie continued her acting career into adulthood, including roles on Touched By an Angel (2001–2003) and Hot in Cleveland (2010–2015) with the legendary Betty White. Valerie has won two Golden Globes, both for Best Supporting Actress on One Day at a Time. Today, she hosts Valerie’s Home Cooking, which airs on the Food Network. She celebrates her Italian roots and shares her love for cooking with her audience. Valerie was born in Wilmington, Delaware. Her father’s ancestors came from Lanzo Torinese (Piedmont), San Remo (Liguria), Perugia (Umbria), and Ancona (Marche).
(John Russo)
What was it like preparing lunch for Betty White on your Food Network show? It was very nerve-wracking! Betty’s not a big eater. She likes hot dogs… so I was very nervous. She likes her tuna super-duper plain. I know she loves ribs. So, I definitely thought that’s what I’m going to make for her. She loved it. But it was still nerve-wracking. Not just regular ribs but short-ribs!
Growing up, you lived in many places. Do you have a favorite? I loved Delaware because we could sled in the front yard and down the front Now Available! drive. I loved Michigan because we could ski there—my dad was a ski patrolman. Oklahoma had such a beautiful countryside. California because it’s so beautiful. Louisiana was fun because I fell in love with football out there. Each one had its own fun memories. I don’t think I’d be able to pick a favorite. What brought you into acting? I have no idea! [chuckles] We came here (California) because my father moved here to work at the GM plant. I don’t know what got me into acting—it just looked interesting to me. Was a cooking show ever on your list of career aspirations? [chuckles] No not at all. I had no idea that this is where it would all lead me, and I’m quite pleased. I’m super happy that it has. What are some of your favorite Italian dishes to cook and why? I love making lasagna. I love making the Sicilian Love Cakes. I have them in so many different flavors now. I made them in chocolate, strawberry, butterscotch, lemon. I’m going to come up with a chocolate mint one this season. FALL 2017
36
What is your advice for those aspiring to be in the entertainment industry? It takes a lot of work and a lot of luck. You have to put the work in and then when the luck happens, you can follow through with it. It’s not an easy business. You have to get a thick skin, but yet you still have to keep your heart open. It’s a really odd business.
Lastly, what was it like learning of your Italian family history on “Who Do You Think You Are?” It was exciting for me to find out a woman I never met—my great-grandmother—she made a living cooking. She made a living being a chef in a summer house. She put together her own gelato cart and sold that so she could come to America. It made me feel like it’s in my blood. Would you say your cooking show is an ode to your great-grandmother? Yes. She, my mom, my Noni, my aunts, absolutely. And all the women whom I’ve enjoyed cooking with and learning from. Felicia Marianna Naoum lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Her background is celebrity feature writing and she loves pasta. ITALIAN AMERICA
FALL 2017
37
ITALIAN AMERICA
F R O M B E S T S E L L I N G AU T H O R
ADRIANA TRIGIANI W I T H M A R Y YO L A N D A T R I G I A N I
Cooking with My Sisters “The best Italian cookbook ever written by women from the American South.” — PAT CONR OY NEWLY REISSUED WITH ALL-NEW RECIPES & PHOTOS AL S O AVAI LABL E :
For a signed bookplate, email AdrianaAsst@aol.com @AdrianaTrigiani FALL 2017
38
DISCOVER G REAT AU T H O R S , E XC LU S I V E O FFE RS , AND MO RE AT H C.CO M
ITALIAN AMERICA