L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2020 L'Italo-Americano Health website, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that his grandparents came to the United States at the end of the 19th century. "Once in the US, Antonino must have found work in some canned fish company," Mr. Fauci says. "He had a regular paycheck coming in to support his son's university education." Stephen Fauci, D r . F a u c i ' s f a t h e r , w a s a Columbia University- trained pharmacist. He and his wife Eugenia owned the Fauci Pharmacy in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, at 83rd Street and 13th Avenue. "It was a family-run pharmacy: his father filled the prescrip- tions, his mother and his sister Denise worked the cash register, and the young Anthony delivered prescriptions," Mr. Fauci says. They lived above the pharmacy for years. Mr. Fauci met Dr. Fauci only once. "I met him 15 years ago in Erice, Sicily, at the Ettore Majorana Center for Scientific Culture," he says. "It occurred on the sidelines of a scientific con- ference organized by a friend, a noted hematolo- gist from Sciacca, Calogero 'Lillo' Ciaccio, who intro- duced me to him." Mr. Fauci says that Dr. Ciaccio met Dr. Fauci for the first time in the United States. "They became familiar with one another by talking about science, their common Sicilian roots and Sciacca itself," he says. Mr. Fauci recalls the day in Erice when he and Dr. Fauci talked about their extended family. "He expressed a desire for the typical wool bodice worn by Sciacca fishermen," he reveals. "He said his father Stephen told him that his grandfather wore that heavy sweater before going out to the sea. Dr. Fauci wanted to have a blue one." Mr. Fauci hopes to see Dr. Fauci soon as "now I could find that wool fisher- man's bodice for him. I promised that to him. I would love to give it to him". Dr. Fauci never visited Sciacca, different from his father Stephen who came to town with his daughter, Fauci's older sister Denise. The famous epidemiolo- gist enjoyed the beauty of both Erice and Palermo instead. "I believe he came to Sicily a couple of times," Mr. Fauci says. "He is such a busy guy." Dr. Fauci had a key role in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief started in 2003 by President George W. Bush to fight H.I.V. globally. He also led federal efforts to combat SARS, the 2009 swine pandemic, MERS, Ebola, and now the COVID-19 crisis. He has received many awards dur- ing his distinguished career including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008. Mr. Fauci defines Dr. Fauci as "a morally authen- tic man, so capable in his field, and so charismatic". "He is the most trusted source of information in an era of deep uncertainty," he says. "He embodies and defends scientific integrity. He does not let anybody manipulate him." Dr. Fauci would make all the Saccensi very happy if he visited their town. "Everyone here loves him," he says. "We are all mem- bers of the Dr. Fauci Fan Club." Sciacca's Mayor Francesca Valenti is con- sidering granting honorary citizenship to Dr. Fauci. "We are already working on that idea together with a Palermo University Foundation and other institutions," she says. "We will formally invite Dr. Fauci to Sciacca. We would like the ceremony to hap- pen around Christmas when he celebrates his 80th birthday." "We are eager to wel- come him with a large party and a series of events. It is such a great honor to meet him in Sciacca," she says. This arc-shaped town facing the sea blends dif- ferent styles of architecture – Arab, Norman, Catalan, and Genoese. Dotted around the streets are many aristocratic palazzos and churches including the cathedral of Santa Maria del Soccorso, the baroque Church of Santa Margherita, and the gothic Church of San Nicolò, the oldest in town. Since Greek times, peo- ple came to take the waters in Sciacca. Its hot springs and the mud baths were said to be good for arthri- tis, skin and eye ailments. "Unfortunately, spa tourism does not exist any- more in town," says the Sciacca Councilor for Tourism Accursio Caracappa. Spa facilities closed down five years ago. "We would love to go back to our florid spa tradition," he says. "It would take a private individual to invest in the enhancement of the entire spa complex consist- ing of several hotels, a park, a museum, and a music auditorium." Yet, the town still offers accommodations ranging from luxury resorts and charming hotels to bed & breakfasts and apartments. Sciacca is a COVID-19 free town that offers a lively cultural scene including separate festivals celebrat- ing literature, cinema, and several for food. The locale has a tradi- tion of ceramic production, so several shops sell color- ful tiles and a l b e r e l l i, a modern version of jars used in the old times for spices and drugs that today become beautiful pieces of home decor. And still, the local coral is the most valu- able of the c o r a l l i u m rubrum, or red coral, vari- ety today. The largest coral reefs are in proximity of the mysterious Ferdinandea Island, a submerged vol- canic island also known as Graham Island between Sciacca and Tunis. The Sciacca Carnival is the most popular carni- val event in Sicily. It is known for its amazing cos- tumes and huge papier- mâché floats that are led around the town. There are several hypotheses for the origins of Sciacca's name. "The most plausible theory is that the word Sciacca came from an Arabic noun meaning fenditura, or slit, says Caracappa. The name was coined at the begin- ning of Arab Muslim rule as the town marked the border between two provinces, the Arab Marsala and the Berber Agrigento. Two American rock stars are of Saccense descent as well. Jon Bon Jovi, born as John Francis Bongiovi, is the son of a barber from Sciacca, and African/ Italian American singer Alicia Keys (née Alicia Augello Cook) has the maternal grandfather from this coral beauty of a town. Continued from pg 8 LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Colorful Sicilian pottery in the streets of Sciacca (Photo: Dreamstime) Sciacca is known also for the beau- tiful floats of its Carnevale (Photo: Dreamstime) Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose family is originary of Sciacca (Photo: Wikipe- dia) Sciacca has the colors and appeal of small Mediterranean villages (Photo: Credi Accursio Graffeo)

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