Profiles

Financial professional Franco La Marca learned his life lessons well. He traces his Italian roots to Alta Villa Milicia, the small town outside Palermo where his parents, Mario and Marianna, were born. They currently live in Glenview and visit family and friends in Sicily yearly. “My parents always emphasized to give back the blessings that they had instilled in me through affording me an education in college and law school, to get involved in philanthropy.” La Marca put those lessons to good use when he took a leadership position as founder of the Associate Board and as co-chair of the …

Gulia Huertas is not your average “yogi.” In fact, the owner/operator of P.S. Yoga in Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood (psyogachicago.com) is the quintessential role model for aspiring yoga instructors and entrepreneurs. Huertas, who is petite but very strong both mentally and physically, started her yoga journey in high school as a result of an injury she suffered as a cheerleader. Ten concussions, three auto accidents, two cycling accidents and a handful of unfortunate events later, “The only thing that has made me heal and feel better was yoga,” she explains. While taking yoga classes at a local gym, she worked part-time …

That an Italian-American musician might master violin, accordion, piano or guitar should never come as a surprise. But the sitar? In the wrong hands, that’s the cultural equivalent of pouring curry sauce over a plate of meatballs. But Clar Monaco tackled the instrument with a diligence and intensity that has made him one of the area’s best sitar players. As for what drew him to Indian music, Monaco, 57, says it began about 20 years ago; he started studying under Mushtaq Hussain Khan of Mumbai, India. “He was giving concerts around the U.S. but Chicago was his base for a …

Allow me to introduce you to Joseph P. Matty, executive director of alumni relations and alumni association at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Many prominent folks from our ethnicity and our community have significant leadership roles at NIU along with Joe Matty. For example, the newest dean at the law school, Jennifer Rosato, is the first ever Italian-American female dean of any American law school. Judge Anthony Iosco serves as president of the Alumni Association Board, with Judge Rod Equi serving as president of the Alumni Association Board of the law school. Anthony D’Andrea, whose career was previously highlighted in …

My wonderful editor, Paul Basile, who recommends subjects for this column from time to time, faxed me an article from an old edition of the Washington Post with the headline “The ‘Last American Tourist’ Flees Beijing.” The article, dated June 13, 1989, identifies this month’s subject, Daniel Nardini, as “the last American tourist,” a dedicated educator and journalist. The article describes Nardini’s misfortune to arrive in Beijing on June 3, 1989, the night tanks and troops smashed into Tiananmen Square to recapture it from student demonstrators, as we vividly recall only too well. Nardini’s adventures and travels to the Far …

Dominic Missimi is retired — officially, unquestionably retired — from Northwestern University, where he spent 30-plus years as a theater professor. Beloved by his students (many of whom went on to Broadway), the founder of the honored as Donald Robertson Endowed Chair in Music Theatre, and the skipper of some 80 university productions, Missimi hung up this hat a year ago. But at 69, Missimi is active to the point of putting men a third his age to shame. He spoke to Fra Noi between frantic paces in Brunswick, Maine, where he was directing a production of “Gypsy.” “Lots of …

As Westchester’s new police chief, John Carpino comes from successful stints helping law enforcement departments in Oak Brook, Worth and Willow Springs. Yet he’s by no means a stereotypical law enforcement officer. How many officers can claim they foiled a robbery while off duty? Or started a successful website long before high-tech was in vogue? Carpino’s done both, and much more. He also teaches in the Criminal Justice Department at Lewis University. But when it comes to Westchester, that’s job one. “I treat Westchester like it’s my neighborhood,” Carpino says. “This is not my department. It’s everyone’s department. We’re shipmates …

In her fourth year at Maine East and Maine West High Schools in District 207, Toni Campisciano Ungaro has both the academic and ethnic credentials to make her a leader in language instruction. The child of Sicilian parents, Campsciano Ungaro has a refreshing approach to teaching Italian: “Learning a language has to be fun, relevant and engaging,” she says. “My teaching methods are varied in order to reach all students. Whether it’s cooperative learning, a CRISS strategy or a fun learning game, students do many different things in my classroom to practice their language skills and show me what they …

For those fortunate enough to grow up in America speaking Italian, it often becomes a mission to share the language with kids in your own backyard. Just ask Cristina Modica, who teaches Italian at Main South High School District 207 in Park Ridge. “My parents were both born in Italy in a small town, Castel San Vincenzo in the region of Molise,” says Modica, whose maiden name is Marzullo. “My mother was 27 when she moved here and didn’t speak English; I learned Italian before English. I’ve always spoken Italian and was raised in the Italian culture. It’s an integral …

When Dolores Pigoni-Miller steps into class at Ridgewood High School in Norridge, she’s not just teaching Italian, but honoring her own bloodline. “My parents, Anna and Romolo Pigoni, came from the same town in northwest Toscana,” she says. “I think Ceserano is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s an ancient town that sits at the foot of the Apennines.” And from there, you can see the slopes, not far from the Cinque Terre, where Michelangelo quarried marble for his masterpieces. It’s only fitting, then, that Pigoni-Miller teaches Italian to her 120 students as though it were …