Columns

Our family histories play a crucial role in shaping who we are today. They serve as a powerful reminder of our roots, the hardships our ancestors overcame and the resilience that defines a community. By embracing these rich legacies, we not only pay tribute to their struggles but also commit to keeping their stories alive for future generations. At precisely 1 p.m. on Nov. 30, 1896, a devastating tragedy unfolded at the Gilorma grain mill, just a few kilometers from the town of Alessandria del Carretto along the Saraceno River in the province of Cosenza. A sudden landslide had blocked …

Recently I was driving through the Beverly community when I saw this sign “CAUTION STAIRS AHEAD” on a light post over a sidewalk heading to Longwood Drive. The sidewalk heading downhill turned into steps to ease the downhill walk. My mind immediately wandered back to when I was 7 years old. I recall walking down the sidewalk steps from Michigan Avenue to Edbrooke Avenue holding hands with my mother and grandmother. We were heading to the auditorium at St. Willibrord School for my kindergarten graduation because our St. Anthony School never had an auditorium or gymnasium. As we were walking …

I was almost 11 years old when I first saw the announcement of the election of a new Pope. I didn’t know of any of the Cardinals except Cardinal Cody of Chicago, so the announcement of Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was not a surprise or shock. The media did not pick him, so they were shocked and surprised. The real surprise and shock came 33 days later when my father tried to get me up to go to school and I didn’t want to get up, and he told me that the Pope had died and I probably swore …

Not too many Italian restaurants in this country offer snails in tomato sauce these days, but if they did, they’d probably try to gussy up their appeal — and justify an exorbitant charge — with a menu description something like this: Succulent twin-horned free-range escargots, humanely hand-harvested, smothered to perfection by ebullition in eau de pluie, served en coquille in a talented duet with a golden shower of dulcet ragù to create a symphonic ravage transfigured by gagas of sliced garlic and frissons of cheekily fresh basilicum leaves, the ensemble providing an artisanal dipping sauce nonpareil. Of course, the reality …

You will remember in my article some months ago of the possible changes in obtaining Italian citizenship for the Italian-American community. Now, a major change to Italian citizenship law is here — and it’s official. On May 23, Italy’s Gazzetta Ufficiale published Law No. 74, converting Decree-Law No. 36 into law, with immediate effect starting May 24. What does this mean? For many Italian Americans dreaming of reclaiming their ancestral roots through jure sanguinis (literally, by right of blood), the landscape has just shifted — dramatically. The new law introduces a generational limit on the transmission of Italian citizenship for …

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 and …

Welcome to the July Petals from Roseland. After reading through my book, “Petals from Roseland. Fond memories of Chicago’s Roseland, Pullman, and Kensington neighborhoods,” I’ve decided to revisit one of my columns because it got so much attention from my readers. Published in July 2011, “Roseland wasn’t just Italian” was written in response to the many non-Italian residents of Kensington, Pullman and Roseland who weren’t happy about being left out of my columns. They had so much to do with growing up in Roseland. I decided to go ahead and include them in the column, which I present to you …

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 key. You reach your room, fling open the shutters and take in that …

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 …