Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
You know what they say about the best-laid plans. The transformation of Fra Noi has been more arduous than we imagined. With new technologies to embrace, new talent to rally and a new design to usher in, a January launch has evaporated in a mist of wishful thinking. We’ve reset our sights on the spring.
That additional leeway buys us time to celebrate the remarkably large and diverse cast of characters who play parts in conjuring the monthly magic that is Fra Noi. More than 40 strong and hailing from all walks of life, they pour themselves heart and soul into their roles.
Judith Anne Testa spent her professional career as an award-winning art history professor at Northern Illinois University specializing in Italian and Northern European Renaissance art. As she approached retirement, she started writing for Fra Noi, which she saw as a natural extension of her teaching. She loves making the infinite riches of Italy’s art accessible to our readers.
Book reviewer and Associate Editor Fred Gardaphe has been with Fra Noi since the mid-’80s, when he served as the arts and culture editor. A Distinguished Professor of Italian and American Studies at Queens College, City University of New York, he is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on Italian-American literature.
While we’re talking about foremost authorities, Fra Noi boasts another in cinema correspondent Jeannine Guilyard. A veteran print and TV journalist, Jeannine is the writer and editor of “Italian Cinema Today,” a publication and blog she founded in 2005 as a cultural bridge between New York and Italy.
Fra Noi Managing Editor Nina Albano Vidmer has written an advice column under the pseudonym Cara Zia for Fra Noi for more than a quarter century, having previously served as a reporter for the Suburban Life News. She recently sold her consulting firm, and currently pursues her passion for the fine arts.
Cav. Don Fiore is the academic equivalent of a superhero. A mild-mannered HVAC shop manager by day, he is a lifelong student of Italian history, anti-defamation activist and prolific writer on a range of topics. He wrote the book on Italo Balbo’s flight to Chicago and he’s six years into a riveting series on the Risorgimento for Fra Noi.
Cav. Ron Onesti started writing a youth-oriented column for Fra Noi in the mid-’80s, when he and his brother operated Onesti’s Softball City in Chicago. Now president of the JCCIA, National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, and Onesti Entertainment, Ron regularly profiles some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment for the magazine.
A retired high school teacher and semi-professional musician, David Witter has written for Fra Noi since 1988, initially covering community events and eventually landing as our music reviewer. He is the co-author of “Be-Bop, Swing and Bella Musica: Jazz and the Italian American Experience.”
Linda Grisolia was working as the secretary for Immaculate Conception Church in Elmhurst and writing profiles of veterans for a local newspaper when our paths crossed. I invited her to spotlight Italian-American veterans for Fra Noi in May 2005, and since then she has penned hundreds of compelling tales of those who have served.
Husband and wife Lionel Bottari and Jean Parisi have been tag-teaming Fra Noi’s “Folk Tales” feature since August 1995, with Lionel combing the folkloric archives for Italian fables to showcase and Jean intricately illustrating them. Each has worn countless hats in their long and illustrious careers. The co-founder of a community-based arts organization, Jean creates site-specific installations, teaches art in schools, clowns, performs commedia dell’arte, and spreads peace and love to all the children as La Befana during the holiday season. Lionel has been a labor organizer, affordable-housing activist, street clown, actor, writer, artist, theater producer, director, puppeteer, zampognaro, set builder, historical costume maker, and circus ringmaster.
Stay tuned. There’s so much more to come.
The above article appears in the December 2026 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.
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