From shoeshine boy to chatting with a president: the charmed life of George Romano
Turning 92 on Friday, George Romano has lived a varied life as the child of immigrants, a man who has worked since he was 8 years old, a World War II vet and the adored baby brother of a large Italian family. And, following a wartime journey that found him on Iwo Jima when the famous flag-raising photo was taken, Romano also has the distinction of...
Italy by the Bay 2017 – a retrospective
2017 has been a stellar year for San Francisco, Italy, so much so that I’ve coined the phrases, “Italy by the Bay” and “Bay Area, Italy.” This past year offered the Bay Area Italian community a continuous, sparkling and varied array of events highlighting all facets of Italian culture. In spring of this year, I sat down with San Francisco Italian C...
Italian rights: property, inheritance, and citizenship
Wednesday, January 17 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm. Amici House, Little Italy, 250 W. Date Street (Date and Union Streets, at Amici Park). Please get your FREE ticket by January 9. Seating is limited, so reserve your spot today! Italian Rights: Property, Inheritance, and Citizenship. Presented by Sonia and Anthony Alioto of Italian Legal Language Services. Le...
La Befana Visits Little Italy
La Befana is an Italian holiday tradition taking place on the Epiphany Eve (January 5). Legend has it that La Befana is on a quest to find baby Jesus, so she visits every child's home and leaves small gifts in good children's stockings and fills naughty children's stockings with coal.La Befana will be traveling to Little Italy SJ, and your children...
Sonny Bono: 20 years later, his last ski run feels 'as if it was yesterday'
Twenty years ago this week, Sonny Bono went missing. He was a Palm Springs icon, born Salvatore Phillip Bono to a Sicilian peasant and a second generation Italian-American whose marriage was arranged when his mother was 14. In Washington D.C., he was the Honorable Sonny Bono, Republican member of the House of Representative for California’s 44th Di...
Amadeo Giannini, l’italiano che investiva nei sogni della gente
Il nome di Amadeo Peter Giannini campeggia sulla piazza a lui intitolata nei pressi del Financial District di San Francisco, la città che deve la sua rinascita proprio a questo gigante di origine italiana, quasi del tutto sconosciuto in Italia e meno famoso ahimé, di Vito Corleone! Eppure basterebbe da solo il simbolo della città di San Francisco,...
It’s a Wonderful (Italian-American) Life: The American Tale of the Italian Banker
From the beginning, Amadeo P. Giannini was one of the little guys. He dropped out of school at 14 years old to work in his stepfather’s produce company, saving every dollar he earned and working his way up until he took over the business. Bit by bit, he sold pieces of it to employees, again saving every dollar he made. By age 31, he’d saved up enou...
Gatta Cenerentola-Cinderella the Cat: an “animated” and artistic view of Naples
The Italian animated feature film Gatta Cenerentola - Cinderella the Cat was screened at the TLC Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on November 27th. The movie was chosen by the Academy for the category of Best Animated Feature (a first, for Italy, notwithstanding her long and successful tradition in the production of animated movies) and, therefore, it...
An Artist Who Made Her Personal Life Central to Her Art
Anna Maria Maiolino was displaced twice in her life: first from fascist Italy, where she was born in 1942, and then from the military dictatorship of Brazil, the country where she has resided most of her life. These seismic shifts had an impact on her largely autobiographical art, as she seemingly spent years waiting to finally settle in one place....
“Trasferirsi in California”: all’IIC di Los Angeles l’incontro organizzato dal COMITES
“Trasferirsi in California” è il tema dell’incontro che si terrà mercoledì prossimo, 20 dicembre, presso l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Los Angeles. L’iniziativa è organizzata dal Comites di Los Angeles, in collaborazione con l’Istituto e sotto gli auspici del Consolato Generale d'Italia, ed intende offrire una occasione di discussione e consigl...
It’s Still Spaghetti Hill, But the Place Has Changed
We recently attended a housewarming for our newest neighbor. It was a casual thing, barbecue in the back yard, a potluck, wine in plastic cups. First impression: they will be an agreeable addition to the neighborhood. A restored VW Beetle is his pride and joy. She’s a retired schoolteacher. They’re from somewhere else. We were all from somewhere el...
One and No-one: A Pirandello Extravaganza
Tuesday, December 12, 2017 | 6:30pm - 8:30pm. Italian Cultural Institute - 601 Van Ness Ave, Suite F - San Francisco. Free Admission | RSVP One and No-one: A Pirandello Extravaganza. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Pirandello's birthJoin us for an evening of revelry to celebrate 150 years from the birth of Nobel laureate Luigi Pirandello...