Dear Readers,
January is the month when we look back at the year or years past and look forward to what the future will bring. With that in mind I will do a bit of both: Attenzione Magazine, made its debut back in 1979 bankrolled by Jeno Paulucci of Chung King Foods and N.I.A.F. Fame, after IAM and Identity Magazines had hit the dust. Leda Giovannetti Sanford was Jeno’s inspired choice as Attenzione’s editor and Leda did a terrific job while Attenzione lasted. Leda then went on to publish “On the Go” for a U.S. auto manufacturer and then dropped off my radar.
Recently Leda resurfaced as the author of Pure Moxie (Universe, $13.95). My “marito” found it on Amazon. com for less than $5.00 and ordered it. I enjoyed it very much and I think you will too, however, knowing some of the key players in her life drama I said to myself “non è oro tutto quel che luccica”, but nonetheless, Leda Sanford has lived several lives, and this memoir chronicles her flight from suburbia to her entry into the all-male world of publishing in the 1960s Manhattan. Success, private planes, five-star hotels, daytime drinking, trysts, and a state dinner at the White House ensue.
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Bernini, Giovanni Lorenzo (1598-1680), Italian Sculptor and architect, jokingly dubbed by Herb Caen, an early Roman Columnist, for his masterpiece, the colonnade of St. Peter’s in Rome, is the subject of J. Capece’s Book All Roads Lead to Rome (Neville Publishing Ltd., $17.99). Author, artist, and former resident of Rome Jojo Capece explores sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s personal life, professional challenges, and shows how his genius still dominates the Eternal City.
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Cultural Connections Italiano can be found in “abbondanza” by readers living in the Santa Rosa, California area at the North Bay Italian Cultural Foundation, Italian Cultural Center, 64 Brookwood Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95404, tel. (707) 591-9696. The N.B.I.C.F. was founded in 1984 to bring people together in the interest of sharing things Italian. Activities include language classes, history exhibits, musical performances, dinners and programs at the Italian Cultural Center.
I personally have been attending their annual Festa Italiana held in October, for over 20 years. If you live in the area, do yourself and your family a favor and make an Italian Connection with all the nice people at N.B.I.C.F. soon. You can also visit their website www.nbicf.org
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Cultural Connection Italiano seekers in the Sacramento and Carmichael, California areas are really fortunate to have The Italian Cultural Society in their midst. They have ongoing activities in both their Sacramento and newer Carmichael campus, which is a jewel, thanks to planning and building oversight by President Bill Cerruti. The Italian Cultural Society also has an excellent monthly newsletter “Altre Voce” and their website is www.italiancenter.net. For the less wired among us: Italian Cultural Society, Box 189427, Sacramento, CA 95818, tel. (916) 482-5900.
In Carmichael, CA, the Italian Center is located at 6821 Fair Oaks Blvd., 95608, and is staffed by volunteers and open Sundays from noon to 3pm, so drop in for a tour of the center. They also have Italian classes for travelers, Italian classes for kids: a Ciao Piccoli, Preschool (2-5 yrs) and a Ciao Italia weekend class (5-12yrs) on Saturdays.
They have a Springtime in Sicily, Sorrento and Pompeii 11-day tour departing in mid-March and a 12 day Grand Tour, leaving June 12, 2012 for Tuscany, Cinque Terre, Rome and Venice. If you are interested visit www.italiancenter.net for a complete brochure or by “telefono”, just call (916) 482-5900. For those of us staying stateside, they have an excellent Italian Film Series with “Macaroni”, Jack Lemon and Marcello Mastroianni are two World War II buddies reunited in modern day Naples.
But this is no simple reunion. A funny, romantic comedy- in English- scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17th and a Bobby Darin documentary on Feb. 26th. Also of interest may be: ITALIAN RADIO SHOW- Tune in every Sunday for the Italian Radio Show “Sacramento Italian Style” for the best of Italian and Italian American Music. Hosted by Phyllis Cupparo, you can request a song by calling her at (916) 852-6429 or pcuppero@comcast.net
This show is broadcast on Access Cable Ch. 18 and on the net at www.accesssacramento.org. GIOVENTÙ ITALIANA- The Society group for young adults in the 20s and 30s meets at the Italian Center on the first Saturday of the month. Visit gioventusacramento.com to sign up for their newsletter or find out more. SISKIYOU COUNTY ITALIANS- Copies of the book Siskiyou County Italians: Sharing Our History, are available from author Mary Salanti Silva at (530) 673-6414 or email: Marys@stix.com.
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Dedicated in 1997, the “Lonatese Garden” Patio and Bocce Ball Courts adjacent to the San Rafael Community Center, 618 B St., San Rafael, CA 94901 (Lonatese Garden Patio capacity 100 to rent for events), tel. (415) 485-3333, continues to enrich life for the citizens of San Rafael and Marin County visitors. The Lonatese Garden project was a five year volunteer effort by the Gruppo Lonatese and their friends who contributed time, money and labor to enrich their city and pay honor to their Italian Heritage.
The Garden was a home-grown project that evolved with a lot of heart and soul. The “Lonatese” and now we can sit in the garden patio, gaze at the olive trees while listening to the “fontana” and say “che bello!”. The “Gruppo Lonatese” was founded in 1986, by descendents of some 100 families of Italians who at the turn of the 20th century, immigrated from Lonate Pozzolo, a rural village outside Milan, and settled in San Rafael’s Gerstle Park, bringing their culture and traditions to what became known as Marin’s Little Italy.
Some of the early arrivals were dairy farmers or shopkeepers, but most found work at McNear’s Brick Yard, where mattones (bricks) have been manufactured on San Rafael’s Point San Pedro since 1868. The Gruppo Lonatese helped establish a sister city relationship between San Rafael and Lonate Pozzolo. As part of the affiliation, dirt from the Italian town was mixed into the soil of the Lonatese Gardens, an oasis of trees and flowers beside the San Rafael Recreation Center. For more info, write Lonatese, PO Box 150495, San Rafael, CA 94915.
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Elections this year remind me that Alfred E. Smith (1873- 1944) was the first Roman Catholic to run for President of the United States. Smith’s parents were both immigrants- his mother was Irish and his father was German and Italian. Alfred E. Smith rose from poverty to become the popular Governor of New York State for four terms- he was elected in 1919, and again in 1923, 1925 and 1927. His friend and fellow New Yorker, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, nominated Alfred E. Smith for President of the United States in 1928 on the Democratic ticket. FDR called Smith “The Happy Warrior”, and the name stuck.
Two emotional issues decided the hotly contested presidential election. First, in 1928, anti-Catholic sentiment in America was rampant. In fact, the vicious anti-Catholicism attacks amazed and disgusted Smith, who naively believed that religious bigotry was dead in America. The second killer was the “wets versus dries” situation. Hoover supported prohibition, while Smith was against it. The Church even campaigned against Smith.
Bishop James Cannon bellowed: “Shall dry America elect a ‘cocktail’ President?”.
After his massive defeat at the hands of the conservative Herbert Hoover, Smith reassessed his political views but remained a statesman all his life. In a speech he made in 1933, Smith summed up his political philosophy, and gave an insight into his persona. “All the ills of democracy”, Smith said, “can be cured with more democracy”.
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Fiat-Chrysler Corp paid its debt to the United States and Canada six years ahead of sched- ule. The important event took place in the USA when the new Italian-American multinational refunded both Canada and the United States $7.5 billion to clear the debt it had with the two countries. The CEO of the Italian American combine, Sergio Marchionne, now also the president of the corporation, signed the checks to cancel the debts, in a ceremony taking place at the assembly plant of Sterling Heights, near Detroit.
The US was represented by President Obama’s personal envoy, Ron Bloom, while Canada was represented by Brian Deese, of the National Economic Council, Canada. FIAT has taken control (53% of stocks) of Chrysler and Sergio Marchionne has become the corporation’s president.
Eventually FIAT will control a much larger chunk of Chrysler.
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It might be worth noting that Marchionne’s willingness to show Chrysler’s people, who felt unloved by their former German masters at Daimler, that he valued them, helped infuse all with renewed energy at Fiat- Chrysler Corp.
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Sergio Marchionne, 59, was born in Chieti, Italy, but moved to Toronto as a teenager and got business and law degrees in Canada. He is also a jazz freak and has been known to rip around Fiat’s test tracks at 150- plus m.p.h. Marchionne began his career as an accountant for Deloitte & Touche in Toronto.
Fiat came calling in 2004. He was running Societe General de Surveillance (SGS), a Swiss industrial testing and monitoring firm whose specialty was estab- lishing standards. SGS is the second largest investment of the Agnelli Family, the powerful Italian dynasty that founded and still controls Fiat. After a dinner in Geneva with Fiat chairman John Elkann (grandson of Giovanni Agnelli), Marchionne agreed to the Fiat job...
