Profiles

Accountant Lisa Perkins has stepped up to the presidency of the Calabresi in America Organization. A member for 18 years, she joined to re-establish ties to her Italian roots. “My Calabrese grandparents passed away several years ago, and the Italian experience was no longer a part of my life,” she explains. “Joining a group whose members share the same heritage filled that void in my life.” Perkins likens CIAO to an extended family of unique individuals with shared interests. “I like how so many varied personalities come together to accomplish great things,” she says. “Just like a family, we are …

Financial planner Jack P. Cannata has ascended to the presidency of the Columbian Club of Chicago. Cannata joined the club in 1995. “I found out about the organization through longtime members Peter Fazio and Anthony Morizzo, and I was impressed with the caliber of the membership and the depth of the charitable work that they do,” he recalls. “The lasting friendships we’ve all made and the belief that we can truly make a difference in the community are the best attributes of the club.” Cannata has worked his way up through the ranks of the officers to the presidency, and …

After 25 years of hosting an Italian radio show in Chicago, Pasquale “Pat” Capriati was ready to shake things up a little. Capriati, who also performs with the Chicago-area Italian band Diamanti, decided to double the length of his show, Domenica Insieme, from one hour to two, add John Conenna as co-host and sprinkle more English-language conversation into the mix. The show airs Sundays from 9 to 11 a.m. on WCKG 1530 AM radio. “John was a guest on the show, and I told him he had an open invitation to come back,” Capriati says. “He’s been coming every week for the …

It only seems like Casa Italia’s popular language and cuisine instructor, Giovanna “Jackie” Dimetros, is leading a double life. Some people know her as Giovanna and others as Jackie, she has inexplicably English and Greek surnames, and people aren’t certain whether she’s a cooking or Italian teacher or both. But she is in fact one delightful Italian-born Chicagoan who integrates all these identities. The story begins during World War II. An American Army officer, Major Jack Spears, a Chicago native stationed in Tuscany, fell in love with his future wife Miranda in the town of Livorno. After they married, they …

A trip to Ghana in the summer of 2011 was a wakeup call for Tori Hagerty, serving as a catalyst for a project that now encompasses hundreds of interviews, two books and a nonprofit foundation that aids the orphanage where she volunteered for a month-and-a-half. “It changed my entire worldview and made me appreciate all the luxury that we have here in America,” Hagerty says of her trip. It also inspired her to combine a longstanding passion for storytelling with her desire to make the world a better place. While volunteering in Ghana in 2011, Hagerty met Amara, a young …

Growing up blind and with a variety of medical conditions, 27-year-old Cory Bolletino of Mount Prospect attended mainly special needs schools, and occasionally had to sit out of school for medical reasons. He didn’t have much of a chance to make childhood friends, he says, so his world centered around his mother Veronica, father Rick, and music. “The way I used to relax was through music. Music was my best friend,” says Bolletino. “It will always be my best friend.” He has spent years listening to singers like Andrea Bocelli, Julio Iglesias, Marco Antonio Solis and Camilo Sesto, and likes …

Dominic (Nay) Mautone celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept. 23. He was born in 1917 in Chicago to Raphael and Antoinette (Trotta) Mautone, and baptized at Guardian Angel Church. His Mom and Dad owned a building on Forker Street and the family lived upstairs. On the ground floor was the Ralph Mautone Grocery Store, where his mother and father worked. In addition to Italian, his mother spoke Yiddish to accommodate the Jewish customers. After selling the store, Ralphael and Antoinette bought a building at 912 S. Ashland Boulevard between Taylor and Polk streets. Dominic was one of eight siblings. In order …

  Nobody puts on a show quite like an Italian. And when the showman is Riccardo Muti, leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a concert of Italian opera masterworks, you know you’re in for a treat. My wife and I leapt at the opportunity to attend after learning about the program in the June installment of Artbeat. But mere words on paper couldn’t possibly prepare us for the operatic thrill ride to come. Our seats were on the fringe of the first balcony, where it hovers above the left side of the stage. From that vantage point, we …

Dr. Corinne Benedetto has been named interim dean of DePaul University’s School for New Learning. Benedetto joined the School for New Learning in 1998, previously serving as associate dean for operations and enrollment management and as associate dean of undergraduate programs. Last academic year, she also served as a member of the Office of the Provost’s SNL & Adult Learning Task Force. “As a task force member, Corinne played a key role in developing pathways to address the ongoing evolution of adult higher education and how DePaul can continue to lead in this competitive field,” DePaul Provost Marten denBoer says. …

In only three years, Antonio “Tony” Fiasche has led the effort to pluck nduja, a spreadable salume, from the obscurity of a small Calabrian town and make it something of a sensation in the gourmet world. The Wall Street Journal and foodie magazines have been salivating over it, and chefs worldwide are inventing ways to use it in pizza, vinaigrette, aioli, arrabiata, marinara, hollandaise and more. The skyrocketing acclaim of Fiasche’s company, Nduja Artisans, has engendered plans to open a gourmet deli just west of the Loop in the near future. But like many success stories, Fiasche’s began decades earlier. …