Some of you may know Rossella Rago from
her on-line/social-media cooking videos in which she cooks alongside
an Italian or Italian-American grandmother (nonna). This book is an
accompaniment to that series, featuring 100+ of the basic Italian and
Italian-American recipes she's gleaned from various grandmothers who
have been featured on her show.
The recipes cover meals from appetizers
to desserts, with step by step instructions on how to make the dish,
preparation times, cooking times and yields. Photos illustrate many
important techniques, and show many of the finished dishes.
A few of the dishes may challenge
experienced cooks, but this is really a basic to intermediate book.
I expect that the sequel will feature advanced dishes. Each recipe
is prefaced by a short and entertaining introduction by the author.
The filtered images take on a nostalgic
feel, which is intentional, and helps to blend the down-to-earth
grandmothers with Rossella's at times too-Hollywood style. The
author hopes to create nostalgia for the traditional Sunday dinners
she grew up with.
If you didn't grow up with that
tradition, the stories from the various grandmothers may inspire you
to create the tradition for your own family. The one page life
stories about each grandmother are fascinating slices of immigrant
life, in which home-cooked meals equate directly with love. One
grandmother insists:
You've got love the food like you
love your boyfriend.
From the book's description:
Now you can cook classic Italian meals
with the long-awaited debut cookbook from the popular web TV series
Cooking with Nonna!
For Rossella Rago, creator and host of Cooking with Nonna TV,
Italian cooking was never just about the amazing food or Sunday
dinner. It was also about family, community, and tradition. Rossella
grew up cooking with her Nonna Romana every Sunday and on holidays,
learning the traditional recipes of the Italian region of Puglia,
like focaccia, braciole, zucchine alla poverella,
and pizza rustica. And in her popular web TV series, Rossella
invites Italian-American grandmothers (the unsung heroes of the
culinary world) to cook with her, learning the classic dishes and
flavors of each region of Italy and sharing them with eager fans all
over the world.
Now you can take a culinary journey through Italy with Rossella
and her debut cookbook, Cooking with Nonna, featuring over 100
classic Italian recipes, along with advice and stories from 25
beloved Italian grandmothers. Learn to make fresh homemade pasta,
handcrafted Spaghetti with Meatballs, and decadent Four-Cheese
Lasagna that will have everyone coming back for seconds! With
easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions and mouthwatering photos,
Cooking with Nonna covers appetizers, soups, salads, pasta,
meats, breads, cookies, and desserts, and features favorites such as
Sicilian Rice Balls, Fried Calamari, Stuffed Artichokes, Orecchiette
with Broccoli Rabe, Veal Stew in a Polenta Bowl, Struffoli, Ricotta
Cookies, and more! So if you are ready to bring back Sunday dinner
and learn how to make Italian food just like nonna, then look
no further!
Lou Del Bianco's first-person account
of his grandfather's work on the Mr. Rushmore presidential carvings,
as Chief Carver, is entertaining, personable and very interesting.
The conversational tone and lightly self-deprecating humor, combined
with family photos, made this reader feel like I was an audience of
one, enjoying a command performance by the author.
The story of Italian immigrant Luigi
Del Bianco's work on Mt. Rushmore takes up roughly two-thirds of the
book. The other third is the frustrating and heartbreaking struggle
the Del Bianco family (mainly Lou and his aunt and uncle) waged for
25+ years (YES! Sadly, it took that long!) to get the U.S. Parks
Service to recognize the Chief Carver's role in the creation of the
Mr. Rushmore presidential monument, and to commemorate that at Mt.
Rushmore.
For those who don't know, Gutzon
Borglum, a master-carver (and amazing self-promoter), artist and
engineer, designed the memorial in South Dakota and convinced the
U.S. government to foot the bill. He brought to the project expert
carvers from his studio, all accomplished artists in their own right,
to do the most delicate parts of the work. Chief among those artists
was Luigi Del Bianco.
Luigi Del Bianco was designated the
Chief Carver by Borglum, and was tasked with not only training the
unskilled miners who were hired locally, but with finishing the
granite faces of the presidents so they came to life with rich
expressions and amazing likenesses to the former presidents. Del
Bianco was the only carver Borglum, who was too old to hang for long
periods of time off the side of a mountain, trusted to do this
delicate work in his stead, and entrusted to make the delicate
repairs needed periodically in the friable mountain face.
Luigi Del Biano working on Mt. Rushmore.
The really amazing part of the story
is that for decades Luigi Del Bianco was written out of the Mt.
Rushmore monument's story, at least by the official historians. His
community in Port Chester, New York, knew of their local son's
talents and accomplishments, and regularly honored him in their
press. But for the world at large, the Italian immigrant with the
broken English was “officially” just one of the four hundred or
so “workers” who did Borglum's bidding.
Part of the reason for this was likely
the out-sized ego of Borglum who saw the monument as his claim to
fame. He died during its creation, and biographers liked to focus
solely on the larger than life artist when discussing the larger than
life presidential carvings.
Luigi Del Bianco worked on the marble fireplaces in Kykuit, John D. Rochafeller's Pocantico Hills home in New York, some pictured here.
Another part of the reason for Luigi
Del Bianco's being kept in the shadows was certainly the contempt
that immigrants were held in during the 1920s and 1930s, the time of
the monument's creation, especially immigrants from Italy, who were
also unfortunately Catholics arriving in a predominantly Protestant
country. That bigotry was so intense in the U.S. at the time that it
brought the Klan back to life in the Southern states, and gave it
fresh ground to grow in the Western states. Oddly, Borglum was a
supporter of the new Klan.
Luigi Del Bianco suffered from that
bigotry during the project, with docked wages, disrespect,
shunning... all sorts of indignities, and was repeatedly defended by
Borglum. The grandson doesn't go into the details in this book
because he tries to focus on his grandfather's accomplishments rather
than paint the man as a victim. Luigi Del Bianco didn't see himself
as a victim; of all the hard work he did in his adopted country, he
was proudest of his work creating a truly American iconic monument:
I'd do it again even knowing all
the hardships involved.
Luigi Del Bianco made plinths for monuments in and around his New York area. Here is one he made, with one of his three sons and late-life-gift daughter seated before it.
That's how this book becomes
more than a biography of one Italian immigrant who helped create a
modern masterpiece of monumental patriotic art. It becomes an iconic
story of how an immigrant to America contributed to the country with
his unique skills, hark work, and determination to succeed, supported
by a community of immigrants who helped pull each other up, and by
those open-minded Americans who recognized the rich talent that
immigrants could contribute to the country.
I suspect that for Luigi Del Bianco's
New York community, a monument as great as Mt. Rushmore was certainly
their local cemetery, decorated with over five hundred memorials to
loved ones, carved with skill, talent and heart by their local,
celebrated artisan. Immigrant, son, daughter and grandson join
together in this book to tell a timeless tale of familial love, pride
and the life of newcomers and their descendants. I highly recommend
this book.
From the book's description:
Sometimes history does not tell
you the whole story. When 8-year-old Lou Del Bianco finds out
that his Grandpa Luigi was the Chief Carver on Mount Rushmore, his
young life is instantly changed. Follow Lou’s journey as he and his
Uncle Caesar make the painful discovery that Luigi is not even
mentioned in the most definitive book on Rushmore. Cheer them on as
you read the historic documents they unearth from the Library of
Congress that not only tell Luigi’s story but also prove his great
importance. Finally, ride the roller-coaster of the 25 year journey
to get Luigi the recognition he deserves. Out of Rushmore’s
Shadow is the dramatic and touching story of Luigi’s legacy and
the immigrant’s struggle.
Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com where it is available in paperback and as an e-book:
The Black Hills monument in South Dakota during the work, which involved blasters removing initial layers of rock, pointers marking the carving parameters based on the scale model in a nearby studio, drillers removing more stone, and carvers doing the final work to get the faces just right under the guidance of the Chief Carver, Luigi Del Bianco, who did the most delicate work himself.
The lives of three British ex-patriots
in Verona, Italy, change over the course of one year, in this
episodic novel. It might have especial appeal for fans of English
mini-series or evening soap-operas. The same attention to detail and
colloquial dialogue is on show here, dosed with a strong ring of
truth (the author is a British ex-pat living not far from Verona).
The three women represent three phases
of an immigrant's life: the long-term emigrant who has adapted to
life as the perennial outsider, the immigrant of a few years who is
still struggling to find her place and some peace of mind, the
newcomer who struggles with even the basics in a foreign culture.
Each comes head-on with cultural differences, and deals with
homesickness and isolation, which is softened by their shared
friendship.
Of course, she realized that like
many people who have lived abroad for a long time, she would forever
be a foreigner.
Verona is described with love and
frustration, just as I imagine a local would describe it. There are
vivid descriptions of her beauty and history, combined with the
practical complaints of a resident. The same can be said of the
description of Italians, too! The lust for life, hospitality, and
rich cultural history is laid out alongside the horrendous traffic,
the high cost of living, the too high a value placed on superficial
appearances, and the unhealthy attachment between many sons and
mothers.
The centuries long love affair between
the British and Italy is explained along the way to a certain extent:
We love Italians because they are
loud and friendly and hospitable.
The climate had been one of the
chief reasons for her decision to move to Italy...
There is lots of gentle humor in this
pleasant read. It feels like the reader is keeping up with three
friends who have moved to Italy, with accounts of their small and
large adventures explained via long mails. The third-person limited
narration moves between the three protagonists, so we get to see
their points of view clearly, one by one.
“Worlds Within Verona's Walls” (an
awkward title in my humble opinion) is written in clear and educated
English that is well-edited. For any Italophile curious about what
it would be like to move to Italy, this light, clean read by a woman
who emigrated to Italy is an informative and entertaining place to
start.
From the book's description:
Part romance, part engaging commentary on life in Italy: a lively and at
times hilarious account of the lives, loves and interweaving stories of
three English teachers at the same school whose friendship develops
over the course of the academic year.
The novel is set in a
city inextricably linked to romance and famous for its star-crossed
lovers, but also packed with history and dominated by the magnificent
Roman amphitheatre. Against this backdrop, the three women, at very
different stages in their lives, have to come to terms with the reality
of living and working in a country renowned for its culture, cuisine and
sunny climes, but at the same time beset by bureaucracy and hampered by
ingrained cultural attitudes.
An Italo-Canadian recalls his life in Calabria before his
family emigrated to Canada.His advanced
education in Canada, along with several return visits to his family's home town
of Capistrano, have given him a perspective that is rich with insights about
Calabria of the past and present.
I believe that Indie publishing really comes into its own
with these sorts of accounts, so I'm more than willing to overlook the handful
of typos that come with them (hopefully they will be weeded out soon in this
quality book).
The description of the book is overly negative, in my
opinion.Most of the author's recollections
are positive.Like every life, there are
bad remembrances too, but not much that is out of character for a small
agricultural community in the 50s and 60s, in an area with depleted soil and a
baking sun.They were not wealthy, but:
simple joys made life in Calabria worth living
The author covers the area's traditions and way of life in
great detail, including the food, festivals and superstitions.He also presents vignettes of local bigwigs,
interesting people, and his family members.
Like all emigrants to other lands, his remembrances of food
and tastes are the strongest, and luckily they can be renewed in visits to
Italy, and even in some delicatessens in Canada.
The overly negative description is deceptive.Agricultural societies in the 50s and 60s in
Calabria and Canada suffered from rural accidents, violent quarrels,
preventable deaths, and untreated mental illness.
The unique elements in Calabria were the criminal sociopaths
who thrived in an area with weak governmental institutions compounded by a
passive fate-believing populace, and the lack of jobs that encouraged friends to
help friends to jobs while excluding talented people from the workforce, and
the paternalism that excluded women from societal decision-making and jobs.Those three elements continue to hamper
economic development in Calabria, where the author admits:
the civil rules of life do not always apply
One custom in particular is described briefly in the book,
and I know that it continues to this day in many towns in Southern Italy:the public slaughter of the family pig and
the festival that surrounds it.The
slaughter is gruesome and prolonged, causing suffering to the animal, and
untold psychological suffering to those who witness it and participate in it.
Those kinds of rituals are not the norm in civilized
societies because they make citizens too familiar with how to take life, and
they destroy compassion for the suffering of other living beings.
In Northern Europe, they have never been the norm.Families would signal the local butcher with
a special flag flown outside their home when it was time to butcher an animal.The butcher travelled the local roads
regularly, and stopped where a slaughter was needed.He did it quietly in the barn, minimizing the
suffering of the animal as much as possible, and sparing the family from
suffering seeing the killing of an animal that was often more of a pet by then.
The governments in Muslim countries are trying to stop
people from the ritual slaughter of lambs for a religious festival because they
recognize the psychological harm it does to people.The arrogant superiority shown by those who
find killing easy, is reason enough to ban those sorts of festivals, in my
opinion.
The author succeeds in giving the reader a good idea of what
life was like in the 50s and 60s in a small Calabrian town, and telling why a
few hundred Capistranesi moved to Canada in those decades.They were in search of greater prosperity and
a better future for their children, like migrants today.
But the first-world's culture has moved forward since then,
and the rural communities of many of today's migrants are very similar to what
the author left behind in the 50s and 60s.That growing cultural gap does not bode well for the integration of new poor
rural immigrants into the societies of first-world nations.The importance of understanding the life a
newcomer left behind, in order to help them adapt to their new home, is made
all the more clear by this book written by an earlier immigrant.
From the book's description:
Join the author on a journey back through time to his
beloved town in Calabria, in Southern Italy. Accompany him through a painful mental journey
to the fifties and sixties, as he was growing up in a location which could be
simultaneously a blissful heaven and a brutal hell.
In this book you will meet very loving people whose whole existence
was self-sacrifice, and others who had no conscience and did the unthinkable,
without a hint of guilt. The author will
also dissect and expose beliefs, customs and traits which both ennoble and
limit the very energetic and intelligent people of Calabria.
This book is especially of interest to people whose roots
are in that special region of Italy. Anyone whose interest is anthropology will
find this work very enlightening as well.
"...this book is not just an autobiography by someone
who wants to share a joyful past; this is the autobiography of someone who
witnessed the most wonderful acts of kindness from people who justly deserved
the title of saints, juxtaposed with incomprehensible acts of violence by
people who acted like devils and left behind incomprehensible pain."` (M.
Caputo)
This entertaining memoirs documents some of the highlights
of the author's ex-pat life in northern Italy over the past forty years.An English woman married to an Italian man,
the couple have made a living in Italy and reared two children together.That may not sound like a big deal, but it
is, when one considers how difficult it is for ex-pats to make a successful
life in Italy.
The author describes some of the difficulties, like getting
one's educational qualifications recognized, a lack of jobs, making friends,
dealing with an entrenched mono-culture, handling separation from family and
friends and conveniences that one took for granted, and speaking a language
other than Italian to one's children to the disapproval of pretty much
everyone.Add to that the fact that they
live in a village, and she had many, many things to overcome.
Humor helped, and that is evident in the book.A pleasant character comes from behind the
words, and it is fun to spend the time reading her anecdotes.That she was so close to the south of
England, where she was from, helped enormously.Her family was able to visit.She
often spent the summers in England with her children "re-charging"
to be able to face more life in Italy.There
were even doctor visits and shopping in England that helped save her from
Italian dentists and the high prices in small Italian shops.
The life of an immigrant is the same everywhere, only
differing in the details.Feelings of
isolation, loneliness, depression and regrets come with the life.Having friends who understand one's
frustrations helps, so we hear much about her English friends in Italy.They certainly made her life there possible,
just as she certainly helped them.The author's strong character comes through too, as a reason for her
remaining in Italy.
The story begins in the early '80s and continues through to
the present.Much change comes to Italy
and the village during that time.The
Internet has connected the world, the European Union has made it easier for
Europeans to work and live outside of their birth country within the
Union.As the author says:
"Very subtly, the antiquated hamlet had become a modern
day village or so it seemed."
I found this book to be an entertaining read.If you are someone who had a "what
if" moment with Italy, considering attempting to make a life there, you
should enjoy this woman's account of moments from her forty-year "what
if" that came true.
From the book's description:
A light-hearted look at life in a sleepy Italian village
which slowly awakes to the twenty-first century.
In 1977, Valerie Barona made the decision to join her husband in Piussogno, a
small mountain village in northern Italy. An English teacher born and raised in Dorset,
she told of her early years in Piussogno in That’s Amore!, (Matador, 2013) and
now revisits her life as a mother and housewife in the 1980s, trying to give
her two children an English upbringing thousands of miles from home.
Both children, Alex and Elisa, were bilingual by the age of two and enjoyed
annual wet summers in Poole while their friends visited the Adriatic coast. Valerie herself took an active part in village
life, singing in the church choir and giving English lessons, not to mention
shooing the occasional stray cow from the garden.
She takes a light-hearted look at her attempts to recreate
English cooking and her gradual adjustment to a rural way of life which no
longer exists in Italy. As the book draws closer to 2015 and Valerie becomes a
grandmother, she marvels at how Piussogno has changed and how quickly her
children have grown up. As the title of
the book says, Mamma Mia... That’s Life!
Valerie’s writing is light and peppered with very English humour. It’s a book to pick up and flick through to
relax, and picture an Italian village as it was over thirty years ago. It will
appeal to fans of travel writing, particularly lovers of Italy.
The subtitle of this non-fiction book is The Untold Story of
Luigi Del Bianco.The journalist-author
sets out to "correct an egregious injustice" and to get for the
Italian-American stonemason/sculptor, who was the Chief Carver on the Mt.
Rushmore project from 1933-40, the "kudos" which he "rightfully
and richly" deserves.
It is a commendable goal, and the story of that struggle by
the author and the man's family continues beyond this book, with progress being
made each day.
The author presents his case well, with help from the Del
Bianco family's research among the papers of Gutzon Borglum, the Master
Sculptor of the Mr. Rushmore project, in the Library of Congress, where Borglum
praises his Chief Carver above all the other people on the project, stressing
Luigi Del Bianco's importance to the project's artistic success.
Many fascinating interviews, correspondence, facts and
varied background information collected by the author provide a broad picture
for the reader of who Luigi Del Bianco was, what he did, and why he and other Chief
Carvers have not been included in the story of Mr. Rushmore written by other
authors and the park service, which manages the site.
Luigi Del Bianco
Like many Italian immigrants who contributed significantly
to their new countries, Luigi Del Bianco is recognized in his hometown in
Italy.The story of Italian stonemasons
and sculptors who emigrated to America could fill a whole book by itself.
The author does a good job telling the reader about where those
men came from in Italy, where they often went to in America, and what they
accomplished in their new country.An
immigrant journey to a new life is, as always, a fascinating one.
"History has not treated Luigi Del Bianco very kindly."
No, it hasn't.
So, why have the Chief Carvers of Mt. Rushmore been put in
the back seat very far behind the Master Carver Gutzon Borglum?There are many reasons, mainly valid ones,
for that, since the Master (Maestro) Artisan always takes full credit for art
created with the help of apprentices.
Why has Luigi Del Bianco been written out of the history of
Mt. Rushmore, even in books purporting to be about the team behind the Master
Carver?There are more complex reasons
for that, into which the author bravely delves.
Luigi Del Bianco on Mt. Rushmore
Real history is usually ugly, and for that reason people
tend to clean it up for modern consumption, through the romanticization of it,
the editing of it, and even the obliteration of it.There is much ugliness in the real history of
the Mt. Rushmore project.The
romanticization, editing and erasure of history has happened there by the wagon-load.
The carved mountain face was conceived by the Ku Klux Klan
leader Borglum to be a piece of monumental art dedicated to the Manifest Destiny
nonsense U.S. politicians and businessmen invented to validate their greedy
push to take all the territory between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Borglum fought to have Teddy Roosevelt included on the rock
face, because Roosevelt was a hero for many greedy businessmen, who saw
President Roosevelt as a man who would extend U.S. Manifest Destiny to lands
beyond the North American continent, to create a U.S. Empire.
Gutzon Borglum
The Mt. Rushmore project began in South Dakota just when the
Klan, which had been revived to fight immigration, especially of Catholics, and
even more specifically of Italian Catholics, had been elected to offices
throughout the western states.
Luigi Del Bianco, a U.S. citizen since 1928, and his family,
moved there at precisely that time, and they suffered bigotry and ostracism
from the white local residents and many of the local workmen on the Mt.
Rushmore project.
As you can imagine, many locals wouldn't want to wash their
dirty linen in public, especially when that linen contained a pointed
hood.If they were to give Luigi Del
Bianco his due in the project, the evil, bullying treatment he and his family
received would have to be recognized as well, along with the Klan's history in
South Dakota.
The Del Biancos found friends in the local Native Americans,
who welcomed the family who was ostracized just as they were.That too would have to be recognized if Luigi
Del Bianco were written back into the history of Mt. Rushmore.
Of course, that would bring up the upsetting history of Mt.
Rushmore being a holy site for the Natives, that was cruelly defaced with the
representations of four people who symbolically represented the centuries long
massacre of Native Americans.
From the late 1400s to the late 1800s, 20 million Native Americans
died from disease, war and starvation.If that were put in modern terms, in relation to the population at the
time of the massacre, it would be as if 92 million people were killed today to
free up land.
As a side note, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which
occurred over the same period, took 18 million lives, which in today's terms
would be 83 million lives.That is an
awful lot of death for one nation to have on its conscience, so it is no wonder
that the ugly truths of that history have so often been romanticized, edited,
and obliterated.
Some strides have been taken very recently to put the real
history back into the flag-waving, rah-rah monument, the so-called Shrine to
Democracy, that Mt. Rushmore was made into for the modern car-tourism era,
obliterating some ugly history so the locals and the Federal Government could
earn some money.That is
commendable.
The author of this book aims to have more strides made, more
quickly, and that is commendable too.With the family's help, and the help of many Italian-American
organizations, and with some politicians, and some park service employees, it
may come to happen.This book is part of
that effort.
On another level, the book presents an intelligent study of
the three forms of human response to threats of change to their romanticized,
edited and obliterated histories:
wonderfully enlightened cooperation,
self-serving co-opting of the issue, and
dogged obstructionism involving passive ostracism and active
hostility.
Three Books
Here are the descriptions and Amazon links for three books
that together present an intelligent image of Mt. Rushmore and Luigi Del Bianco,
with as little historical romanticization, editing and obliteration as possible.
Carving a Niche for Himself by Douglas J. Gladstone
Luigi Del Bianco may not be a household name to many historians, but he should be. He played an integral role in the creation of Mount Rushmore, specifically, that of chief carver. Was Del Bianco slighted due to his Italian heritage? Gladstone more than suggests he was. This book will be an inspiration to Italian Americans everywhere, and sheds new light on the role of Italians in America's history.
In the Shadow of the Mountain: Luigi's Story by Lou Del Bianco and Camille Cribari-Linen
The year is 1935. Italian immigrant Luigi Del Bianco, a classically trained artist, is the chief carver on Mount Rushmore. Luigi brings his wife Nicoletta and his three small sons out to South Dakota to live with him while he assists sculptor Gutzon Borglum do what has never been done before: carve a mountain. As “Bianco” climbs 500 feet in the air to bring “refinement of expression” to the faces, he is met with nothing but resistance and resentment from the powers that be on the project.
His pay is withheld for weeks and in the words of Borglum, Luigi has had “chronic sabotage” directed against him by the office staff in Rapid City. When Luigi quits the work, all carving on the faces comes to a halt. Borglum persuades Luigi to stay because “he is worth more than any 3 men in America for this kind of work”. Luigi’s family fares no better. His sons are ridiculed for being “greaseballs” by the local bullies and Nicoletta finds herself a stranger in the far reaches of her own country.
“In the Shadow of the Mountain” gives Luigi Del Bianco long overdue recognition for his invaluable contribution to our nation’s most iconic memorial. Co- authors Lou Del Bianco (Luigi's grandson) and Camille Cribari-Linen tell a story about fulfilling a dream; dealing with intolerance; forming unlikely friendships and family connections. It’s a story emerging from of the shadow of the mountain …Luigi’s story.
Great White Fathers by John Tagliaferro
Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, hoped
that ten thousand years from now, when archaeologists came upon the four
sixty-foot presidential heads carved in the Black Hills of South
Dakota, they would have a clear and graphic understanding of American
civilization.
Borglum, the child of Mormon polygamists, had an
almost Ahab-like obsession with Colossalism--a scale that matched his
ego and the era. He learned how to be a celebrity from Auguste Rodin;
how to be a political bully from Teddy Roosevelt. He ran with the Ku
Klux Klan and mingled with the rich and famous from Wall Street to
Washington. Mount Rushmore was to be his crowning achievement, the
newest wonder of the world, the greatest piece of public art since
Phidias carved the Parthenon.
But like so many episodes in the
saga of the American West, what began as a personal dream had to be
bailed out by the federal government, a compromise that nearly drove
Borglum mad. Nor in the end could he control how his masterpiece would
be received. Nor its devastating impact on the Lakota Sioux and the
remote Black Hills of South Dakota.
Great White Fathers is at
once the biography of a man and the biography of a place, told through
travelogue, interviews, and investigation of the unusual records that
one odd American visionary left behind. It proves that the best American
stories are not simple; they are complex and contradictory, at times
humorous, at other times tragic.
Some Interesting Links
Luigi Del Bianco's family has a wonderful website dedicated
to their relative.
A man in South Dakota did find a pointed hood in the family
linen, literally, and that led to his digging up some of the buried ugly
history in his state about the Klan and his family and his neighbors' families
involvement with it.Here is an article about that man.
Gutzon Borglum was a brown-nosing, fame-seeking, ego-driven
man, who associated with some very nasty types to get his name in the history
books.His other attempt at a monumental
piece of art carved into the side of a mountain, was in Atlanta, Georgia, to
commemorate the Confederate leaders who fought to keep slavery, and to commemorate
the Klan who succeeded in keeping the freed slaves subservient during
Reconstruction.The Klan was resurrected
again during the Civil Rights Era when their Reconstruction Era efforts were
overturned.Here is an article of interest about the Klan's involvement in the Stone Mountain Monument.
Stephen Pinker, of Harvard University, is the author of the
study comparing deathly events from history in terms of the population at the
time of the deaths.Here is an interesting article.
Mt. Rushmore is the subject of quite a few documentaries and
books.Here is a link to the PBS documentary
that you can view on-line.
An Italian with Europol deals with crime and women is the tagline for a romantic-crime
novel, a Rom-Crime as I like to call it, that I have recently published.It is for fans of European
crime fiction, especially A.C. Baantjer's Inspector DeKok Series, which is set in The Netherlands, as is The Hague.And it should hold appeal for fans of cozy mysteries, who enjoy
clean mysteries with light romance.
In The Hague Europol Intelligence Officer Tony Sampaoli weaves together solutions
to European crime puzzles with the help of four law enforcement friends and a
consulting psychologist-graphologist.Italian Tony
takes on ripped-from-the-headlines cases set in Europe in the year 2000, while
working to unify European Union policing practices. Tony and his friends are mature characters at the top of their respective fields.
Europol's Original HQ in The Hague, The Netherlands
Europol, The European Police Office, an agency of the
European Union, is based in The Hague in The Netherlands.Contrary to popular-culture representations,
Europol is not a police force like the F.B.I. that can conduct investigations
and arrest suspects.Europol is a
bureaucratic entity, that collects data and offers training, while it assists
with cooperation between police forces.Tony is bored by his paper-pushing, meeting-chairing,
training-coordinating job.
Tony relies on his law enforcement friends to provide him with
interesting crime puzzles to keep his investigative skills honed, and to keep
him sane.Cases that Tony tackles include (stop here if you don't want to know until you read the book!) a body that mysteriously appears in the middle of
a milk cow paddock, another body that's found in a cement mixer, four students and
their sailboat disappearing while sailing from Holland to England, and an American
professor who dies at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
Europol's Old Offices in The Hague
Psychologist-graphologist Jennifer Eastman uses the study
and practice of handwriting as a therapy tool, graphotherapy, to help troubled
children.She also works as a
graphologist, a handwriting analyst, with clients in business and law
enforcement, a common practice in many European countries.One of her clients is Tony Sampaoli, a man
who has captured her interest from day one.
At Europol he was much more subdued, restrained and professional. Socially he was lively, warm, spontaneous. He was wonderful.
The Dutch Polder Landscape
Tony's friends don't need a psychological report to know
that Tony Sampaoli has a problem with women.Despite his interest in Jennifer since day one, he's yet to make a move,
even when the opportunities are dropped in his lap.
Her short blond hair was cut in a style similar the late Princess Diana's. Her hazel eyes stood out against her pearly skin. Her high cheek bones set off her small nose and well formed lips. Her conservative, professional-looking clothing couldn't hide her womanly curves.
While Tony works to weave together solutions
to the criminal cases, his friends work to help Tony weave together his damaged
love-life, but there are forces stronger than Tony at work in his subconscious. The 3rd-person omniscient narration lets us into the minds of many of the characters.
The Flat Dutch Landscape
The Hague is clean fiction, which means the book has no vulgarities, no explicit sex scenes, and no in-scene violence. This doesn't mean this is a book for children, it just means there is nothing offensive in the book. The focus is on engaging the reader with interesting stories from Europe, partly stories of the efforts to integrate the various countries into the European Union experiment, and partly stories from the crime world.
The reader can also gain an insight on what it is like to work as an ex-patriot in Europe, and especially as an Italian ex-patriot working in a Northern European country. The most difficult things for the ex-pat are also the most mundane, the things most people take for granted like food, company, the weather, and language.
Tony checked that the radiators under the windows were working and were on high. During the fall, spring and winter months, he tended to check them several times a day, sure that the cold he felt in the marrow of his bones was because the radiators had stopped working. To date, they had not broken down; the building was just old and drafty, the heating too weak, the windows poorly insulated, and Tony was from Rome, Italy.
The European Union Flag
The Hague is a book for those who wish to have a glimpse into another world, and a glimpse into the life of an Italian ex-pat policeman in The Netherlands. It is also a realistic mature romance.
Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:
Here is a two-minute introduction to the city of Den Haag, The Hague:
The Violet Strange Mysteries are nine detective stories for tweens, teeens and adults, each
story a major case for Violet Strange, a debutante and secret high-society
detective, living and working in New York City in 1899, The Gilded-Age.
The protagonist is Violet Strange.
Violet is seventeen years old when the first book begins, in March of the year
1899, and Violet is set to debut into New York City's high-society. The nine books in the series follow Violet's
detecting career and life through the rest of the year, ending on New Year's
Day 1900.
Book 1: Violet's Problem
Violet Strange, a Gilded Age debutante, searches for her disgraced sister,
risking losing everything, in the hope of saving her sister from a life of
poverty and despair. Why was her sister disgraced and disowned by their father? She married an Italian immigrant. That was all it took back then! The first book in the series is offered at a special low price of .99 cents, a $2.00 discount.
There is a short flashback to Violet's childhood at the beginning of the first
book in the series. There we see Violet
as a child in March of the year 1889, when her beautiful older sister, Theresa
Strange, is set to debut into New York City's high-society. The events that take place on that fateful day
will change the lives of all three Strange children forever.
Never Enough Books
Darling adventures! --This
is a wonderful beginning to a charming mystery series. It's set in a time period that doesn't get
covered too much, The Gilded Age, a little later than the Regency but a time
when women were still hedged about with stringent societal expectations.
Tiny Violet Strange defies convention to find her missing
sister and shows extraordinary perseverance in the face of multiple setbacks. Like all good mysteries, this one ends well,
but not for long as Violet's just beginning on her detective career!
Amazon Reader
A scent of Violet.--Delightful is the best way to describe this
book. Written in a simple and precise voice it starts out slowly then steadily
builds, and I found myself getting sucked into little Violet's life and
struggles.
This would make a perfect gift for a young girl. And as a
plus, you'll learn about languages and Italian culture...give it a try, you'll
love it and will end up buying the next, and the next...
A 1-minute Book Series Trailer
Jonna Turek (J.B. Hawker author of The Bunny Elder
Adventures)
Lively glimpse into the lives of young ladies of an earlier
era--This first book in the series gives a seemingly authentic view into
historical New York.Promoted as a young
adult series, the story was entertaining to this not-so-young adult, as well.
Written in the present tense, with descriptions similar to stage directions, it
is easy for the reader to picture the action and atmosphere as spunky,
diminutive Violet goes about her many adventures, pushing the boundaries of her
social class.I can easily imagine this
series becoming a favorite with a whole generation of readers.
Julie L. Sarff (Author of the Sweet Delicious Madness
Series)
Pleased to meet you, Violet Strange --This
story is set in a very charming time period of the Gilded Age in New York. Debutante Violet Strange has a problem, her
father has disowned her sister for marrying the man she loved. Ten years later, Violet decides to track down
sister Theresa, only problem is Theresa does not want to be found.
A beguiling glimpse into the world of the very wealthy as
well as the very poor, I have to admit I am a fan and will be reading more.
The Complete Series
The Violet Strange Mysteries are available as individual paperback books and as Kindle e-books via Amazon.com. The complete e-book bundle is available for $8.99, offering a savings of nearly $16.00.
The stories are based on A.K. Green's 1914 short stories, but Candida Martinelli has completely re-imagined and re-written the stories for tweens, teens and adults today. The original stories were less
fleshed-out, and were written in stilted, Victorian English.Candida Martinelli's series of tween length novels, or adult novellas, is written in simple,
clear prose that is accessible to all readers, young and old.
The nine books in the series are about the highlights of Violet's detecting
career, but it is not only Violet's
life-experience that grows during the course of her work. Violet's heart grows
too, to encompass friends she never imagined she would have befriended, and to
discover the love of her life in a man she could never have imagined would
return that love.
