The Italian Connection

  Dear Readers, ITALIAN AMERICANS IN THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY, the exciting exhibit at the Martin Luther King Jr. main public library, located at San Jose University, in partnership with San Jose State University (150 E. San Fernando Street), has …

  Dear Readers, Memorial day, originally called Declaration Day, is a day of Remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day will be observed on May 27th this year, the last Monday in May, as per …

  Dear Readers, Father’s Day was last Sunday, so Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers, grandfathers, uncles, big brothers and father figures out there, and may happy memories bring a small measure of comfort to readers whose fathers are …

Dear Readers, On July 4th let me refresh your memory and mine on the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776 (in Philadelphia) and learn about Italian and Italian American contributions to the American Revolutionary War.   Although the colonists …

Dear Readers, June jottings with an Italian Connection: Domenico Ghirlandaio (c. 1449-1494) was a Florentine painter of the early Renaissance, whose birth name was Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi. His father was a silk merchant and goldsmith – which likely gave …

  Dear Readers, My mailbag has been the source of many Italian Connections through the years. “Grazie” to Signor J.M. (John Mancini, Executive Director of the Italic Institute of America, PO Box 818, Floral Park, NY 11002) and other Readers …

Dear Readers, May has many Italian connections.   Mother’s Day was Sunday, May 12th this year and since St. Monica, mother of the late blooming “Saint” Augustine is also the patroness of wives and mothers, I will share some info on …

Dear Readers, May is the month we celebrate Mother’s Day and since many of us had mothers (and fathers too) who were born in Italy and spent their early years there, when Fascism was in full flower, I thought I …

Dear Readers, More April dates with an Italian connection:   Rome was founded April 21, 753 BC. According to legend, a shepherd found the twins Romulus and Remus under a fig tree. The twin boys, sons of Mars and Rhea …

Dear Readers, Francis Albert Sinatra, born December 12, 1915, left us on May 14 1998, but for fans the memories and the melodies linger on, hence my Sinatra column encore.   Thanks to the tabloids, the devil side of Sinatra …