The Italian Connection

Dear Readers, November Notes with an Italian Connection: Auto Aficionados were saddened by the recent loss of Martin Swig (1934-2012), “”the guy who invented automotive enthusiasm”.  Swig was the co-founder of California’s “Mille Miglia” and every year the day before departing …

Dear Readers, More April Italian connections for you:   Aviation Pioneer Francesco de Pinedo (1890-1933), who piloted the first foreign aircraft to land in the United States, saw his dream seaplane, the Santa Maria (a double-hulled Savoia-Marchetti S-55) go up in …

Dear Readers,   Another August assortment of Italian Connections for you:   Avanti con Allegria: an elderly “Signore” had serious hearing problems for many years. Finalmente he visited a “dottore” who fitted him with a set of hearing aids that …

Dear Readers, The Simon Rodia State Historic Park is located at 1765 E. 107 Street in Los Angeles, California.   The park’s centerpiece, aka Watt’s Towers, are the steel-reinforced tall columns tied with wire, covered in concrete and embedded with …

Dear Readers,  Abruzzo’s regional capital L’Aquila, suffered a major earthquake, a few hours past midnight on April 6, 2009 and with a devastating force caused major destruction in L’Aquila and surrounding communities. The loss of lives exceeded 300 people and …

Dear Readers, More November Notes with an Italian Connection: Thanksgiving Greetings to all my Italo-American Friends and Readers. There is nothing in life finer than friendships warm and true and Thanksgiving finds me grateful for every one of you… * …

Dear Readers,   Roland Bianchi, author of “Tales from a Tuscan Guitar”, the “Migration of Moro”, “ReCal lections of a Bear” and “Delivery Boy Recollections of Life and Love in San Francisco”,  recently shared his short history about “bonding” with …

Dear Readers, October, official or not, will always be Italian Heritage Month in the heart of Italo-Americans throughout the United States of America.   In the 500 years since “Columbus discovered America”, thousands of Italo-Americans had made remarkable contributions to …

Dear Readers, November is the month that begins with All Saints Day (Nov. 1), a feast which had its beginnings in the Christian churches of the fifth and sixth centuries where we celebrate and remember all saints canonized or not …

Dear Readers, Beautification of Australia’s Populace, in my biased opinion, took place when Australia experienced an unprecedented inflow of Italians and Mediterranean Europeans in the aftermath of World War II.     If you were not an Italian war bride …