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Big news! Some of it great, some of it…not so good. When I was at the Rootstech conference in Salt Lake City in 2024, Familysearch was making a big deal about using “AI” technology to transcribe genealogy documents into searchable data. They gave us a taste by indexing words from wills and probate records which are typed on a typewriter rather than handwritten. My genealogy colleagues who need wills and probate records were all excited, and rightly so. My Italian genealogy colleagues were expectedly disappointed. I’ll try to explain this for people who are not tech nerds like me. The …

  By the time I met Giorgio Pandone he was a very old man, but he was still chugging up the staircases to visit his paesani and sell jewelry and insurance. Tall, bald, paunchy and stately in his gray three-piece suit, with a gold watch chain spanning his ample vest, he looked like an Italian Alfred Hitchcock. He had lost a fortune in the crash of ‘29 and worked the rest of his long life to pay back what he owed and make a comfortable home for his daughter and himself after his wife died. Zi’ Giorgio (as my parents …

  For the July issue, there’s no better setting than a postcard-perfect Positano. Picture this: you’ve just arrived on the Amalfi Coast. The sun is blazing brightly, painting everything in dazzling shades of white, yellow and Mediterranean blue. The scent of lemons drifts through the air, carried by the breeze from a nearby terrazza. You step into your boutique hotel where the lobby smells faintly of old stone and fresh coffee. Your sandals tap against hand-painted tiles worn smooth by decades of guests. Paolo at the front desk greets you with a warm “Benvenuta,” and hands over a heavy brass …

Fourteen contemporary Italian films took center stage at the 24th annual Open Roads: New Italian Cinema series, hosted by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà from May 29 to June 5. The event featured several North American premieres along with a delegation of filmmakers who introduced their works and engage in discussions. The series kicked off at the Walter Reade Theatre with Francesca Comencini’s “The Time it Takes,” a film that explores her experiences growing up with her father, Luigi Comencini, a prominent director of the commedia all’italiana genre. Following the screening, the film’s star, Fabrizio Gifuni, participated in a …

A tough kid from the Taylor Street neighborhood, Louis Grippo ended up sparring under the tutelage of a world champion while training at Ft. Riley during World War II. This is a story about Pfc. Louis Grippo and his travels during World War II. But a little background first. I grew up in my father’s family building on West Taylor Street in one of the Italian enclaves of Chicago. My mom’s family lived on South May Street, two blocks away. In my early years, we went over there almost every day. When I was in grammar school, I was there …

  Let’s Talk About…  Enjoying the Beach in Italy Whether your Italian vacation takes you to a stunning seaside resort or simply one of the many public beaches along the crystal clear Mediterranean sea, knowing Italian beach etiquette and some basic Italian phrases will allow for a day of relaxation and fun.  The  more Italian you know, the easier it will be to enjoy “la dolce vita” this summer! Which Italian region has the Best Beaches in Italy? A quick search of the approximately 7,600 miles of coastline along the Italian peninsula and its islands yields at least one beach …

I have a lot of very distant cousins. They are so distant that I never met them, yet they are in my family tree. I have closer cousins that I do not hear from, and there are people who have left our family due to divorce. Roughly once a year, I search to see if any of these people have passed away, so I can update my tree, and visit the grave or crypt if possible. Among all the sources we use, the death notice (sometimes called “obituary”) is a common resource and relatively inexpensive. Today, more notices are posted …

Do you remember the lyrics, “Summertime and the living is easy?” When we were young, we didn’t realize just how easy we had it. We didn’t have to worry about jobs bills or mortgage payments. Summers in were spent going to the show at the State or Roseland theaters free passes from the merchants. Or playing ball on the Little League diamonds or in the school yards. Or going to the beach where the guys and gals would have a great time swimming together. And who could forget swimming at the parks? There was Palmer Park, with its 3-foot depth …

The 2025 Cannes Festival has concluded, leaving a buzz around the Italian biopic “Fuori,” directed by Mario Martone. The film, which premiered at the festival, delves into a pivotal period in the life of the late Italian writer and actress Goliarda Sapienza. “Fuori” recounts Sapienza’s brief incarceration at Rome’s Rebibbia prison in 1980 for stealing jewelry after falling on hard times. The film speaks to her life following her release from prison, focusing on her friendship with two young women, including Roberta, a habitual criminal and political activist. Through this bond, Sapienza experiences a personal rebirth and resumes writing, which …

My great-uncle Tony (we called him Zi’ Toni) had little use for fripperies of any kind. After losing all his teeth, he never bothered getting dentures, but his hardened gums attacked all foods with impunity, including steak and hot cherry peppers. I remember once he reached down into his big jar of peppers and gave me one to bite into as a joke. After failing to put out the fire in my mouth with a glass of water and chunks of bread, I had to resort to scraping the inside of my cheek with a wet dishrag. Always decked out …