Dear Readers,
A March “minestrone” of Italian connections: America’s Armed Services, especially in W.W.II, had an “abbondanza” of Italian Americans serving their country. To make sure that the sacrifices of these men and women would not be forgotten a small Italian American Veterans Museum was opened (380 Division Street, Stone Park, Illinois 60165, tel. 708-338-0696). Many veterans, including former longtime “fra noi” columnist Mario Avigione have donated their wartime memorabilia to the museum.
Now, under the auspices of the Italian American Veterans Museum, a DVD called “5,000 Miles from Home” has been made available to the general public. I have already ordered my copies and think some of our Italian American organizations should also order it to show at their events, especially those around Patriotic Holidays, like Fourth of July, Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day. To order your DVD, make your $18.00 check, which includes postage and handling, payable to the “Italian American Veterans Museum”, and mail it to the above address. Y ou can also visit for some interesting online clips.
Back in the U.S.A. is Fr. Augusto Feccia, after serving 12 years as pastor of St. Angela Merici Parish in Windsor Cana- da. Fr. August Feccia, as some of you may recall, served as the Director of Villa Scalabrini and editor of our “L’Italo-Americano” in the 1990’s. Born in the village of Chiavenna di Lugagnano, province of Piacenza, in Northern Italy in April 1935, Fr. Feccia was ordained a priest in his native city on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1962.
In August of that same year, he was assigned to the Scalabrinian missions in North America and landed in Chicago. He attended first Roosevelt University and later Loyola University, while serving as assistant pastor in the churches of Saint Maria Addolorata and Saint Michael. He graduated with an M.ED. from Loyola University in 1965. In September of that year, he was invited to serve as the missionary chaplain of the I.C.F., Italian Catholic Federation, first in California for two years and later in the Chicago area. As he learned about the special and pressing needs of the younger generations, he came to the decision of devising a new manner of apostolate: in 1970, in a vacant building, badly in need of repairs, he founded the Italian Cultural Center of Stone Park, on the outskirts of Chicago.
The center has since brought Italo- Americans of all ages together and has become the focal point for the older and younger generations in the Italian community as educational, artistic, artisan, religious and social programs were carried out. Friends of Fr. Feccia can contact him there at the Italian Cultural Center in Stone Park, Ill. now that he is back in his U.S.A. hometown of Chicago.
Calzolaio means shoemaker in English and because my father, Vincenzo was a “calzolaio” both in the U.S.A. and Italy, anything with a positive “calzolaio” connection continues to be of interest to me. The recent news from Rome is that Tod’s Italian shoe king Diego Della Valle said he would fund the entire multi-million-euro cleanup and restoration of the Colosseum. According to Italian media, Rome’s bid to muster enough private sponsors behind a project to refurbish the world-famous site and make it safe had flopped, and Della Valle is gearing up for a solo 23-million-euro sponsorship bid.
Diego Della Valle is the head of the Tod’s footwear empire. All members of the Della Valle family were born in the Marche region and many of them continue to reside there. Dorino Della Valle started the shoemaking business out of a basement in the late 1920’s. Diego Della Valle, Dorino’s elder son, expanded the work- shop and turned it into a factory that started manufacturing shoes for American department stores in the 1970’s. Diego brought in innovative marketing strate- gies in the early 1980’s, kept the handmade manufacturing process and went on to create brands of lifestyle named Tods, Hogan and Fay.
Roger Vivier, maker of high luxury shoes was acquired in the mid-1990’s and developed starting the beginning of this millenium. In 2003, Italian designer Bruno Frisoni was hired as Creative Director. Tod’s has numerous stores around the world, including Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu and Las Vegas. The complete restoration of the almost 13,000 square meters of exterior walls is expected to start next year.
Deeds of My Father, how my grandfather and father built New York and created the tabloid “World of Today”,is the title of a book authored by Paul David Pope. It is a “must read”, especially for Italo-Americans who grew up in New York, in the days when to our immigrant parents, the name Generoso Pope was one of the impersonifications of the Italian immigrant’s dream. Generoso Pope Sr. was 15 years old when he landed in New York, in 1906. When he died in 1950, at age fifty-nine he left his widow Catherine and three sons, Fortunato, Anthony and Generoso, a $5 million dollar estate that he had built through his ownership of “Colonial Sand and Stone”, “Il Progresso” and various newspapers and radio stations in New York City.
Not bad for a young boy from the province of Benevento who had come to America from Italy with only a few “lira” in his pocket and not a word of English in his vocabulary. The author Paul David Pope, isthe son of Generoso Pope Jr. and his third wife Lois, who lived with him in Lantana, Florida where he had located his “National Enquirer” from New York.
Eyesight often deteriorates as one ages. I was recently lamenting to my friend “Signor” J.V. that several people I know have developed a condition known as “macular degeneration” and can no longer drive.
He reminded me that Dr. Lawrence Yannuzzi, a physician, opthalmologist and vitreo-retinal surgeon he met years ago, through the doctor’s mother-in-law, was a pioneer in the field of research and is now an Internationally recognized retinal specialist. Since there is an “Italian Connection”, I will share with you, some info on Dr. Lawrence Yannuzzi, in case someone in your family has some form of macular degeneration and you want to learn more about the subject. Lawrence A. Yannuzzi, MD, is the founder and chairman of VRMNY (VITREUS-RETINA- MACULA) of New York, with offices in New York City, Brooklyn and White Plains, tel. 212-861-9797.
Dr. Yannuzzi is a graduate of Harvard College and Boston University Medical School, where he was honored as a distinguished alumnus. He is a professor of clinical ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical School, vice-chairman and direc- tor of “The Retinal Research Center of the Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital”, and founder and president of the The Macula Foundation, Inc.
He is a world renowned retinal specialist who has published more than 300 scientific papers and 11 text- books, with particular interest in diseases of the macula, such as diabetic retinopathy and age- related macular degeneration. He has also been given awards in his field for con- tributions on retinal imaging drug development, ophthalmic laser, and the diagnosis and treatment of macular and retinal diseases. His achievements have gained worldwide respect and admiration. Most recently, he was given an honorary doctorate at the University of Ancona, the Alcon Research Institution Award, a distinguished alumnus award at Boston University, and a lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Opthalmololgy. He is on the Board of Directors for Lighthouse International, a non-profit organization that does work in vision rehabilitation services, education, research, prevention and advocacy.
Federico Fellini, Italian writer and film director once said “Life is a combination of magic and pasta”.
Germanotta is her Italian surname but you probably have heard of the current pop superstar as Lady GaGa.
Gourmet or not, the late great Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti once said, “One of the nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever we are doing and devote our atten- tion to eating”. Hug Dr., Leo Buscaglia once said “Immortality lies only in the LOVE we have left behind in others.”
