Culture

  There are many traditions inspired by the joining of two people in matrimony, traditions which have passed from generation to generation.  They have endured over centuries and, though we continue practicing them today, many of us do not know …

  Rome is thought of as the imperial city as well as the great center of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican. It is certainly that in the minds of many. Yet, Rome is the city of Saint Francis …

Bologna: la grassa, la dotta, la rossa. Apt nicknames for the capital of Emilia-Romagna, which boasts a rich culinary tradition (grassa meaning fat), the oldest university in the Western world (hence dotta: learned), red roofs and left-leaning politics (as in …

  In popular culture King Arthur is usually depicted as sovereign of some medieval never-never land, where Knights  of the Round Table and their ladies speak perfect English and live by an idyllic code of chivalry, troubled by little more …

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, 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 …

  While driving on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in New York City, I was listening to a local radio station playing Alice Cooper’s hit song, School’s Out written in 1972. Although most students today are removed from the song, I imagined …

  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, 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 …

  Before Americans knew what a caffé macchiato or a cappuccino with its delicate froth was or had the pleasure of experiencing a true espresso, we cared little about our coffee and thought of it only in terms of that …