L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d e r s , April (Aprile) comes from the L a t i n w o r d aperire, which means to open. *** S t . F r a n c i s o f Paola was born in Paola, Calabria, Italy, in April 1416. He cured the sick, prophe- sized the future, and was a major influence on five kings a n d s e v e n p o p e s . H e w a s educated by the Franciscans at San Marco and, at the age of 15, he went to live as a hermit in a cave. He eventu- a l l y f o u n d e d n e a r l y 5 0 0 monasteries and was can- onized just 12 years after his death at age 91. *** Herb Caen, long-time columnist for the San Fran- cisco Chronicle (he began in 1935), was born on April 3, 1916. He wrote thousands of w o r d s a w e e k a n d v a c a - tioned in Italy often. *** Umberto Nobile, a pio- neer in Arctic aviation, was born at Lauro, near Salerno. In 1926, with Amundsen of Norway and Ellsworth of the USA, he was the first to fly over the North Pole in the dirigible "Norge," from the North of Norway (Spitzber- gen) to Alaska. *** The S.S. Titanic sank on April 14, 1912. The Titan- ic sank after hitting an ice- berg in the North Atlantic and cost 1,517 passengers t h e i r l i v e s . H o w e v e r , G u g l i e l m o M a r c o n i ' s invention, the ship-to-shore radio, helped save lives after the supposedly "unsinkable" l u x u r y l i n e r s a n k . O f t h e 2,340 passengers and crew, more than 1,500 perished. Many were women and chil- dren immigrants on cheap "steerage" passages. Espe- cially heroic was the ship's band, which played hymns as the ship sank. *** E d S u l l i v a n d i s c o v - ered Topo Gigio (which means Little Louis Mouse in Italian) in London. He was preparing a program that starred Judy Garland and when British talent agent Lew Grade showed him a tape of the little mouse, Ed immediately added him to the performance. The show was broadcast on April 14, 1 9 6 3 , a n d m a r k e d T o p o Gigio's American television debut. Topo Gigio was the brain- c h i l d o f M a r i a P e r e g o o f Italy, who operated her cre- ation with the assistance of two other people. A third s u p p l i e d t h e v o i c e . T h e quartet did not speak Eng- lish and communicated with the program staff through an interpreter. *** S i c i l y d e c l a r e d i t s e l f independent from Naples on April 13, 1848, but in May 1 8 4 9 , N e a p o l i t a n t r o o p s entered Palermo, completing t h e i r r e c o n q u e s t o f t h e island. *** S h i r l e y T e m p l e , a bright spot in the dim days of the Depression, was born on April 23, 1928. Shirley at three years old did a one- reeler Baby Take a Bow. By the time she was five, she was a star. Her huge doll col- lection began with a large Lenci doll — made of pressed felt in Torino, and beautiful- ly gowned in pink organdy — named "Pinkie." It was given to her in 1934 when she co- starred with Jane Winters in the Fox Film "Bright Eyes;" h e r c o l l e c t i o n g r e w t o i n c l u d e o v e r a t h o u s a n d pieces, as people kept send- ing her dolls which she later loaned to children's hospi- tals for display and fundrais- ers. *** St. Mark is the patron of Venice and his relics are pre- served in the Cathedral of St. Mark. April 25 is his feast day. St. Mark is a man who might be called a "secretary" to Saint Peter, a raconteur of w o n d e r f u l s t o r i e s a b o u t things that happened when Jesus was on Earth, traveling around with his Apostles. Mark wrote down the things P e t e r s a i d , a n d h e i s t h e author of one of the Gospels. *** Turandot, the opera by Giacomo Puccini, was first performed in April 1926 at t h e T e a t r o a l l a S c a l a i n Milan, Italy. Turandot, due to many painstaking revi- Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. sions, became Puccini's most fussed-over opera. He, in fact, did not receive a libretto for the final duet that suited him until mid-1924, which explains Puccini's inability to complete the score before his death, in late 1924. Turandot was then completed by Fran- co Alfano. *** The parachute was first s k e t c h e d b y L e o n a r d o d a Vinci in his notebooks in the 1490s. A compatriot, Fausto V e r a n z i o , p u b l i s h e d a description of a workable parachute in 1595 and, in the l a t e 1 7 9 0 s , t w o m e n descended from air balloons via parachutes, breaking a leg upon landing. On April 2 8 , 1 9 1 9 , a b r a v e f e l l o w leaped out of an airplane, testing the very first para- chute that actually worked. He floated down through the sky and landed safely back on the ground. *** T h e P i e m o n t e s i n e l Mondo Bulletin, edited by Andrew M. Canepa, informs that the Bagna Cauda event will be held at the Galileo Club of Richmond, Califor- nia. This event may be sold out, but all my Piemontesi readers will certainly enjoy belonging to this group. For more information, you can c o n t a c t t h e g r o u p at adnot@yahoo.com, or you can write to: Piemontesi nel Mondo c/o Italian Community Services 678 Green St. #3 San Francisco, CA 94133 Even if you do not get around much anymore, you can enjoy their Piemontese classes online!

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