Angelo Calise, 78
Angelo Calise of Weston, a former Westport resident, died Dec. 4 at Norwalk Hospital. He was 78. He was the husband of Carol Goodfellow Calise. He was born Oct. 15, 1940 in Ischia, Italy, the son of the late Vito and Rosa Castaldi, and emigrated to the United States in 1953. He was the hard working and proud owner of Sowesco Distibutors. He was a m...
Obituary: Antoinette Mattioli Blazek, 98, of Milford
Antoinette Mattioli Blazek, 98, of Milford, beloved wife of the late Thomas Blazek, passed away peacefully at her home on December 3, 2018. She was born on August 30, 1920 in Bridgeport, CT to the late Frank and Nancy Arciuolo. Antoinette or Nonni was a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Material things held little value to her, but h...
Framingham’s Gina Galvani ready to celebrate 111th birthday
John Mancini attributes his grandmother’s longevity to more than good genes and a healthy diet. Gina Ravazzola Galvani, an Italian immigrant who moved to Framingham in the 1930s and raised a family here, had a vibrant social life. Kids and grandkids were always nearby, and Galvani and her husband, John, were surrounded by friends in their home in T...
IAWA Boston Literary Series Presents December 2018
IAWA in Boston at I AM Books (189 NORTH STREET, BOSTON MA) Saturday December 8, 2018; 6pm to 8pm. Open mic signup 5:45! Featuring Lisa DeSiro and Camilla Trinchieri. Lisa DeSiro is the author of Labor (Nixes Mate, 2018) and Grief Dreams (White Knuckle Press, 2017). Her poems have appeared in various journals and anthologies, and have been set to mu...
Life on the Corner: A Shave and a Shine
When the Southern Italian immigrants first arrived in Boston at the end of the nineteenth century, one of the few professions open to them was being a barber, and the North End had scores of barber shops. My maternal grandfather had a barber shop on Haverhill Street near North Station, and my cousin’s son has a barber shop today on Salem Street. It...
Joseph Edward Mariano: il figlio del calzolaio divenuto esperto gioielliere nel Rhode Island. Fu tra i fondatori, nel 1910, dei “Rhode Island Boys Scouts d’America”
Joseph Edward (Giuseppe) Mariano nacque a Montagano (CB), il 19 novembre del 1887, da Giuseppantonio (diciannovenne “calzolaio” figlio di Domenico e Filomena Gallo) e Maria Carmela Cristinziano (ventunenne “cucitrice” figlia di Giuseppe e Mariagiovanna Jannaccio). I genitori di Joseph si erano sposati il 7 agosto del 1886. Per la famiglia Mariano l...
Cranston welcomes mayor of ‘sister city’ in Italy
A Rhode Island city welcomed the mayor of its Italian sister city over the weekend for a reception. Itri Mayor Antonio Fargiorgio was at St. Mary's Feast Society in Cranston for a reception Sunday. WPRI-TV reports Cranston and Itri first agreed in 2000 to form an official sister city relationship, citing the many Italian immigrants from the Itri ar...
Stefano Miceli performing at Bruce Museum, Greenwich
The American Society of Friends of La Scala presents pianist Stefano Miceli at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut on Sunday December 16th. Miceli performs works from a variety of world renowned composers, including Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert and Schuman. This performance is the Society’s first performance in Greenwich. Miceli is considered...
How An Italian Prog-Rock Band Laid The Integral Eeriness Of Horror Film 'Suspiria'
Let’s go back in time for a moment, rewinding to what many would argue were the glory days of horror films — the 1970s. That decade gave us “The Exorcist,” “Halloween,” “Last House on the Left,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Eraserhead” and “Carrie,” to name just a handful. And then there was this little low-budget Italian film, “...
Eric Dregni - You're Sending Me Where?
Saturday December 1 2018 from 18:00 to 19:30 EST. I Am Books, 189 North St, Boston, MA 02113. Tickets here. Eric Dregni is the author of 18 books including Never Trust a Thin Cook, Vikings in the Attic, In Cod We Trust, Midwest Marvels, Follies of Science, and Weird Minnesota. He is a professor of English, journalism and Italian at Concordia Univer...
Idea Festival Is Inspired by Italian Culture: But How Do Italian Americans Fit In?
This past weekend, I Am Books, an independent Italian American bookstore in the North End of Boston, the city’s historic Italian immigrant neighborhood, hosted its first Idea festival, “an Italian-inspired festival of books, authors, and culture”, according to its website. I Am Books is the first bookstore Italian American bookstore in the US, open...
Gloucester veteran recalls the path that led him from childhood in Italy
Gloucester veteran Anthony Gattuso never could have imagined the twists and turns his life would take from growing up in a small village in Italy to his retirement in Virginia. His is a story of bravery, love and the pursuit of a better life. Anthony’s father left for the United States in 1933, just six months after his son was born, to seek his f...