Moments in Flight: A Memoir: Brings the immigrant story full circle; recovers lost history; shares hard-earned practical wisdom. by Jo-Ann Vega—Published by Outskirts Press. The opening lines draw readers into an engaging experience that evokes memories, reacquaints readers with themselves and the history of the US, and opens the door to dialogue. 

“I didn’t love him until I had my fourth or fifth child. It was one of those times when the message arrives as a blow. I unconsciously tensed to lessen the impact of my beloved grandmother’s frank admission, and felt the air forcibly expelled from me. For a few moments, I could not breathe or hear. Even now, decades later, my hands tremble as I type the words.

My grandmother, in essence, was a mail order bride… My intrepid maternal grandmother endured the privations of more than a week of third class travel on a passenger ship from Naples, Italy, across the Atlantic Ocean, inspections at the Port of New York and Ellis Island to meet the man who had booked her passage after viewing her photograph. What would have induced Antoinette to take such risks, to leave everything and everyone behind, and to marry a stranger? “ 

The popularity of ancestry research spotlights the hunger for connection, meaning, and understanding. The restrictions imposed by the covid pandemic have exacerbated social isolation and its attendant ills. There is a greater need now for authenticity, for bridges to self, others and history. Moments in Flight: A Memoir is Jo-Ann Vega’s deeply personal contribution to the quest for reconnection. States Vega, “Authentic people and stories are nutrients for healing, understanding, and connection; give us hope, especially during times of disruption; tell us this too will pass; and help us cope and endure.”

Most of the more than 17 million Americans who today claim Italian ancestry, the 7^th largest ancestry group in the US, are descendants of brave, sturdy, and impoverished Italians, like the author’s grandparents, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean as human cargo on ships and passed inspections at Ellis Island. While not welcomed in America, the Italians endured, as they had learned to in Italy.  

The author is among a diminishing number of people who actually knew her immigrant forebears; grew up around and with them, absorbed their culture and traditions. Vega says, “Sharing and preserving memories of the incredible resilience of the immigrants before their stories and history are lost forever is my way of thanking them for making my life possible.”

Moments in Flight begins with an extended eulogy to the Italian immigrants of the south Bronx and the children who played on the streets without parental supervision—with horse-drawn vegetable and fruit wagons, malocchio, bocce, macaroni in numbered boxes, Uncle Dan the bookie, and Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra at Yankee Stadium. Vega details the impact of her famiglia’s relocation to suburbia, and her own coming of age during the relentless cultural upheavals of the 1970s. She then seamlessly forms a bridge to today and life after work and parents.

“Why me? An eyewitness, participant, and informed observer of the last half century of transformative change, I bring an independent voice and perspective. I’ve been at the business of writing and reflection for a long time... For more than three decades I’ve designed and delivered educational programs for business, academic, and community groups…”

What differentiates Moments-in-Flight from similar books that are available?

Crafted and with excerpts from 40 years’ worth of writing and journaling, Moments in Flight also features useful websites, historical timelines and a Book Club Discussion Guide.

Keywords: Memoir, family and relationships, life stages, immigration, Ellis Island, ancestry, US history, cultural inheritances, gender and sexuality, civil rights movements, Italian diaspora, growing up Italian, Cuban missile crisis, Civil Rights Act, Vietnam antiwar protests, assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, Kent State, Woodstock, Watergate, and gas rationing.

Click http://anyflip.com/nzlo/kpde  for a free flipbook excerpt of the cover, contents, introduction, and first chapter.

At 233 pages, Moments in Flight is available from Outskirts Press at: https://outskirtspress.com/bookstore/details/9781977233240

Purchase 1-9 copies and save 10%; 10 or more and save 50% off the retail price. It is also sold through Amazon and Barnes and Noble for a maximum trade discount in quantities of 10 or more.  

ISBN: 978-1-9772-3324-0         Format : 6 x 9 paperback              Retail: $21.95         eBook: $9.99

About the Author: Jo-Ann Vega is a published author and dynamic speaker with 30 years of experience presenting to academic, business, and community groups. Jo-Ann lives with her life partner and canine companion. Contact the author at mezzo148st@gmail.com