Columns

It’s taken a long time to get here, but you are now reading the 205th Petals from Roseland column that I’ve written! I took over writing this column from Mario Avignone when Fra Noi was still a tabloid-sized newspaper. That was when you were able to read all the publication’s content in print. But when the switch was made to a more manageable magazine format, the community columns appeared in whole on Fra Noi’s website, with teaser articles and e-blast links driving traffic to the online version. The transition ended up being a blessing in disguise. With the full-length version …

Gianfranco Rosi premiered his much-anticipated documentary at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September. “Sotto le nuvole” (“Below the Clouds”) takes a deep dive into the rich history and culture of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. The film focuses on the inhabitants of the region over the millennia and their coexistence with the land and the volcano. The synopsis reads, “The land around Vesuvius is a vast palimpsest. On the surface, underground and even beneath the sea of the modern city of Naples and its surroundings, the memory of history is etched into tunnels, walls and fissures, …

Legend says there were no poor people in Prester John’s vast empire, but there were quite a few in our Italian enclave of the South Bronx in the ’50s. In those days, Italian immigrants who didn’t want to stay poor were thrifty with the few dollars left in their pockets after the monthly bills were paid. Humble as their dwellings in Italy might have been, they considered apartment living in America a distasteful expedient, especially since the apartments they could afford were often located in tenements. Almost all our Italian neighbors were saving to buy their own homes and, given …

Say “Some” in Italian with “Qualche” and “Alcuni” To speak fluently in another language, it is important to know how to describe a group of things in a general way. When describing a part of a whole, or an undetermined number of things, we are using the partitive. This idea is rendered in English with the words “some” or “any,” as in “some of the” or “any of the.” Let’s continue to talk about the ways Italians say, “some” by focusing on how to use the adjectives qualche and alcuni in essential, every day phrases to describe a group of …

In memoriam, Virginia Ciavolella D’Epiro (1926-2025) “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days,” said Ben Franklin, but one of the qualities I admired most in my parents was their unstinting hospitality toward family members. Some didn’t yet have a place of their own in the U.S. or needed to save money by staying with us awhile, or were just passing through on their way to somewhere else. The most colorful of our many guests arrived periodically not from Italy but Lock Haven, Pennsylvania — the various members of a clan headed by my great-uncle Ernesto, who had emigrated …

Imagine waking up to the sound of church bells in a Tuscany hill town, sipping espresso on your balcony, and knowing your global income is neatly covered under a flat, predictable tax. For many who dream of moving to (or back to) Italy, that fantasy is now backed by something very real: a tax regime that rewards long-term planning and international mobility. October in Italy marks the return to full rhythm after the summer holidays. The end of the year is still a distant blur, but plans begin to take shape — new routines, future moves, long-term decisions. And for …

The Modal Verb “Could” Meaning and Uses Three important modal verbs in English are “should,” “could” and “would.” In general, modal verbs, also called “helping verbs,” convey information about the verb that follows.  The focus in this blog will be the English modal verb “could,” although the general rules for all English modal verbs are the same. When discussing options that arise in the different stages of life — for instance, where to go to college, what profession to choose, where to raise a family — the modal verb “could” comes into play.  There are  usually several possibilities to consider …

The theme for most of my columns this year has been “some of this is great, and some of this is bad and needs very thorough review.” This month is no exception! After attending a conference in McHenry recently, I was asked about my experience with “THE Family Tree. … Not “My Family Tree,” but “THE Family Tree.” Well, my favorite website, familysearch.org, has been asking everyone to contribute their research to something called “THE Family Tree.” I will be the first to admit that I do not know all that much about how “the” family tree functions. I have …

The 82nd Venice International Film Festival is upon us and as usual, offers a diverse lineup, embracing many genres of film with dozens of Italian works spanning across the festival’s programs and five in the main competition. Paolo Sorrentino’s “La grazia” starring Toni Servillo and Anna Ferzetti opens the festival on August 27. “I am very happy that the 82nd Venice International Film Festival will open with the new and highly anticipated film by Paolo Sorrentino,” stated the festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, on the festival’s website. Sorrentino has a long history with the festival having made his debut there …

As summer draws to a close, we can look back and see just what has been happening in Pullman. This has been a very busy summer for Pullman, and there will be no letting up as we head for the highlight of the events season.  Of course, I’m talking about 52nd annual Pullman House Tour, slated as always for the second weekend in October. As always there will be several houses on the tour and four or five Pullman public buildings for visitors to admire. The Pullman Historical National Park will also be open for visitors. Pullman has long been …