Maria Gloria Rando

Dear Readers,  July jottings with an Italian Connection: Army General Peter Chiarelli said, ” I dropped the d word.” The general, when  explaining why the military prefers to use the term post traumatic stress rather than post traumatic stress disorder, arguing that disorder unnecessarily stigmatizes soldiers’ natural response to the emotional …

Dear Readers, Labor Day will be celebrated in  the US on Monday, September 6th 2021. In Italy, on August 8, Italy celebrated the Giornata Nazionale del Sacrificio del Lavoro Italiano nel Mondo, a national day to remember the sacrifices of …

Dear Readers, July jottings with an Italian connection: Giuseppe Garibaldi was born on July 4th, 1807. Many people know that California’s State flower is the golden poppy and the State bird is the quail. But few know that the State fish is the “Garibaldi.” …

Dear Readers, An August assortment of Italian connections for you: *** August was named to honor the first Roman emperor (and grandnephew of Julius Caesar), Augustus Caesar (63BC-AD14). *** August is the month of figs. The first plant mentioned in the Bible is the …

Dear Readers, McCloud California in Siskiyou County, at the foot of Mount Shasta is often featured on television or in print as an ideal spot for Bay Area weekend get aways. I was unaware of any Italian connections in McCloud California, …

Dear Readers, June jottings with an Italian Connection: Astronaut Michael Collins (1930-2021), pilot of the Apollo 11 spacecraft Columbia  who, along with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic first steps on July 20, 1969 passed away recently. He was …

Dear Readers, August is a good month to remind you that St. Rocco and his dog, always pictured together on religious picture cards distributed on his feast day, August 16, was heaven’s first animal rights activist, if the stories we believe, in a …

Dear Readers, Opera Season, after a long shutdown, opened recently in San Francisco with Puccini’s Tosca, to a fully vaccinated and masked audience of two thousand. This was the S.F. Opera’s 99th season, but without my friend Joe Brucia’s father …

Dear Readers, September dates with Italian American connections for you: World War II began on Sep. 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. The Treasury Department of the United States was established Sep. 2, 1789. Mike Piazza, an Italian-American baseball player …

Dear Readers,  Rome was liberated by the Allies in June 1944.  The next day, King Victor Emmanuel III resigned and his son Crown Prince Umberto became the acting head of state. In June 1946,  King Umberto II abdicated in favor of a …