The Italian Connection

Dear Readers,  “Toot! Toot!” — that’s me, tooting my own horn! I began writing for L’Italo-Americano in mid-1977, forty-plus years ago. As 2024 begins, let me pass on some good advice and January jottings to you!  ** Advice for the New Year: …

Dear Readers,  Looking back, I noted that it was in December 1915 that one world-renowned singer-entertainer entered this world, and it was on December 25th, 1995, that another world-renowned singer-entertainer made his exit.  Since December is a month when presents play an …

Dear readers,  November 2nd is All Souls Day. The early Christians, like their pagan ancestors, remembered their dead on certain days of the year. ** An assassin’s bullet ended the life of our 35th President, John F. Kennedy, on November 22, 1963, …

Dear readers,  as Valentine’s Day approaches, I thought about the 1940s, when Cupid’s arrows easily bit their marks across the dining room tables and, for hundreds of Italian-American girls, “war grooms” became the silver lining to the clouds of war …

Dear readers, in February, we traditionally pause to celebrate Lovers, (Valentine’s Day) and Presidents. Once, Abe Lincoln (February 12th) and George Washington (February 22nd) were honored individually. Now they are collectively celebrated on President’s Day, February 19th, this year. *** …


Dear Readers,  March 8, Women’s Day, honors the world’s women. It was first proclaimed on March 8, 1910, to commemorate a protest by female garment workers in New York City in 1857, and is a holiday born out of women’s …

Dear Readers, More January jottings with an Italian connection.  Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) our third President, had repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the low caliber of the US Marine Band. And so, in 1805, John Hall, a Marine Corps captain, was sent …

Dear Readers,  The Giovanni da Verrazzano‘s namesake’s double-decker suspension bridge, which lost a “Z” in the translation, turned 59 this month. Then-New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. The upper level of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, …

Dear Readers,  Just in time for your end-of-year parties, here comes the lyrics of one of Italy’s 1950s favorites, Volare, so you, or any of your senior citizens’ relatives and friends, can sing along, or at least reminisce! ** The best-known …

Dear readers,  November 11th we celebrated Veterans Day, formerly called Armistice Day. Armistice: suspension of military hostilities between warring factions, usually a forerunner of peace, proclaimed by the governments or by the commanders-in-chief of the armies. World War I ended with the signing of …


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