The Italian Connection

Dear Readers, Festa della Repubblica, simply stated, commemorates June 2, 1946, the date the Italian people were asked to VOTE in a referendum and choose between a Republican form of government or a return to the Monarchy.  Here is a …

Dear Readers, during the month of February when we traditionally pause to celebrate lovers (Valentine’s Day) and Presidents’ Day. Once Lincoln (February 12) and Washington (February 22) were honored individually; now they are collectively celebrated on Presidents’ Day, February 17. …

Dear Readers, March brings shamrocks and my annual “St. Patrick was Italian” column: A “St. Patrick was Italian” remark, tossed into your March conversations, can make boring talk into boiling talk if you have some conversational fodder, to buttress your …

Dear Readers, Rosaria Restaurant, in Saugus, Massachusetts, named after owner Joe Pace’s mother, Rosaria, who hailed from Abruzzo, the region known for its “forte ma gentile popolo” was the site of a “Ciao Italia Mary Ann Esposito Foundation Benefit Dinner” …

Dear Readers, My South Bay friend Ken Borelli, author, president emeritus and longtime cultural chair of the Italian American Heritage Foundation (I.A.H.F.) based in San Jose, California, shared with me this fascinating bit ofCalifornia history. Ken recently was vacationing in …

Dear Readers, A May mix of Italian connections: Aldo Colombini (1951-2014) left us recently and the world of magic lost one of its greatest contributors. Aldo was my husband’s favorite magician and when we celebrated fifty years of matrimonial magic …

Dear Readers, The San Francisco 49ers’ quest for their first Super Bowl title in nearly two decades evaporated a few Sundays ago when they came up 18 yards short, in a 23-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC …

Dear Readers, San Francisco’s Marina District has many Italian connections. The neighborhood known as the Marina District did not exist one hundred years ago. Much of the land where homes, stores and streets were built had been either salt marshes …

Dear Readers, When Shirley Jane Temple was born April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California, little did her parents George and Gertrude dream that their little “bambina” would influence the next decade more than any other child in the century. …

Dear Readers, Looking back “Anniversario numero 36” coming up for the Museo ItaloAmericano in San Francisco, reminds me that actor Charlton Heston and his wife Lydia Heston were Charter Members of the Museo ItaloAmericano when it first opened its doors …