L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano Dreams, hopes, and struggles in Los Angeles: Seventy-five years of Ask the Dust at CSU Long Beach Graziadio Center Regardless of where home is or w here it could be, J ohn Fante's novel Ask the Dust still captures the state of mind, spirit (religious or not), and souls of many Angelenos, who arrive here w ith hopes and des ires packed in suitcases and boxes from all over the world or just the next state over. Fante's novel, written more than seventy years ago, is repre- sentative of his career as one of the mas ters of the Italian- American novel of the 20th cen- tury, who also wrote screenplays and short stories. Th ere's s omething about Fante's alter ego, the semi-auto- biographical and main fictional character of Ask the Dust, Arturo Bandini. Any immigrant or "out- s ider" in Los A ngeles , w ho dreams "to make it" in the American capital of the enter- tainment industry, has a little bit of Arturo Bandini inside of him or her. Regardless of their contours, people w ho come to Los Angeles have dreams. If not the A merican dream, they have dreams of wealth and success. During the quest to fulfill such dreams, somehow, struggle is inevitable. Sometimes, it's the financial hardship. Sometimes, it's the dif- ficulty of finding your own iden- tity and integrating into such a culturally divers e city. Sometimes, it's the complicated and often self-destructive inter- racial love stories and relation- ships that develop in the city. Sometimes, it's just that feeling of unspoken, silent shame, the simple refusal of not being a born and bred Californian, which on a good day, though, morphs into pride. These are just a few of the topics that will be addressed by the slate of speakers commemo- rating the 75-year anniversary of Fante's novel on November 6 at the afternoon symposium "Ask the D us t: 75 Y ears and Counting." It holds something for all Angelenos who have ever contemplated the city and their place in it. The conference will be held at the K arl A natol Center on November 6, 2014 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm followed by a recep- tion. Dr. Clorinda Donato, who is The George L. Graziadio Chair of Italian Studies and Professor THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014 www.italoamericano.com 4 of French and Italian at CSULB, will be opening the conference at 2:00pm on November 6. This is the second event devoted to Fante to take place at the Long Beach campus, and Dr. Donato has expressed her hope that in the future there will be more opportunities to pres ent the ongoing research on John Fante: "The Graziado Center's goal is to promote Italian and Italian American studies, so this sym- pos ium couldn't be a better match. I hope that we can be a constant point of reference for F ante projects . It's a great opportunity for CSULB to be the University that shepherds Fante Studies. D r. D onato particularly appreciates Fante's characters becaus e "They are different from the characters you find in Italian American novels whose ELENA VIPERA authors come from the Eas t Coast or Chicago. They are very much representative of West Coast Italian Americans, who didn't grow up in the Little Italy of the East Coast and Midwest." Dr. Stephen Cooper, CSULB P rofes s or of Englis h and Creative Writing and author of Full of Life: A Biography of John Fante, will be among the schol- ars speaking at the conference. H e has dedicated nearly ten years of his life to researching John Fante's life. He too stresses the importance of Fante's Italian origins: "John Fante was born into an immigrant A merican family, he grew up with that cul- ture and heritage, and throughout his life as a writer the fact that he was an Italian American descent was central to his vision. He w rote often about Italian American themes, especially Italian A merican family and immigrant issues." However, John Fante has cap- tured much more than that. His character, Arturo Bandini, is still an amazingly current and almost stereotypical portrait of a dream- er/writer in Los Angeles. "It's one of the most marvel- lous aspects of Fante's legacy. He began writing in the early 1930s , and much of w hat he wrote more than seventy years ago still resonates today. He suc- ceeded in capturing the spirit of not only youth in A rturo Bandini, but also inner contra- dictions, unattainable ambitions, self-defeating behaviors that so many of us deal with when we are young. And he also captured the s pirit of Los A ngeles " explained Dr. Cooper. When asked if there would be any Charles Bukowski without John Fante, Dr. Cooper stated that even Bukowski acknowl- edged that there would not be. "Bukowski thanked Fante per- sonally for saving his life, and not jus t metaphorically. H e admired J ohn F ante and the inspiration that Fante's works provided to Bukowski, giving the poet the courage to continue writing. A lot of young readers dis covered F ante through Bukowski, and most of them who have an ear for literature quickly recognized w hat Bukowski recognized: that Fante is a better writer." Even though Fante's works began to be appreciated relative- ly late in his career, his journey in the 21st century is one of the most iconic, one that immigrants and dreamers can relate to no matter what their origins are. Considering the evolving image of Los Angeles as a beacon for immigrants and dreamers, John Fante's legacy as a LA writer who speaks to the artistic, tran- sient soul of the city is assured. Stephen Cooper is struck by the symbiotic relationship that developed between Fante and Los Angeles: "Fante could have only written that novel in Los Angeles. For generations people were moving west, always west. And you can't go much further than coastal California. So Los Angeles is the perfect place for Hollywood, because it is the end of dreams. It's where people have been heading to for hun- dred of years. The city has a very strong impulse to dream and to desire, and that's what distin- guishes it from other cities." More of these reflections and studies will be shared by the panel of Fante experts presenting November 6, 2014 at 2:00pm at the K arl A natol Conference Center on the CSULB Campus. For parking and to RSVP, please email G raziadio A s s is tant Manuel Romero, manuel.romero @csulb.edu. Italian-American novelist John Fante Andrew Asaro was born on July 17, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. He married Mary Spano on July 6, 1941 and joined the United States Navy in 1942, serving for two years. Then he came home, picked up his bride, and drove west to California. There he began working and eventually moved from LA to Norwalk, CA, in the new home they purchased and lived in for 6 2 y e a r s . A n d r e w a n d M a r y raised three daughters Natalie (husband George Christ, daugh- ter Gena Christ), Marie (hus- band Rick Clouser) and Susan (husband Les Knight, five chil- d r e n S t e v e n / L a u r a , D a v i d , Lauren, Timothy and Elisabeth). Andrew was very outgoing and involved in hunting, camp- ing, raising his children, and being a positive father in our lives. Businessman he remained, as his children were raised. H e h a d d o z e n s o f f r i e n d s through his work. After leaving t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f Transportation of the State of California, he ventured into self- employment, buying and build- i n g a p a r t m e n t r e n t a l s i n Norwalk, and opened a Pool Hall for five years until retire- ment. He became interested in cul- tural events of his Sicilian her- itage, and joined with his wife the Italian Catholic Federation branch 235. Then on his own, he started Arba Sicula in LA and was the president of the Sicilia Culturale Society, with t h e l a t e S a n t i n o V a s q u e z o f Simi Valley, until his death. When they folded, he spent much time with his children and grandchildren until the day he died. Go see mom now, dad (don't give her a bad time)! We will miss your orders, and cherish all the time we spent with you. My best time was when you took m y s e l f , m y h u s b a n d R i c k Clouser, cousin Mike Bellomo and his son Aaron Bellomo to Sicily in 2002. We will never forget those two weeks! What a time we had, especially when our flight was overbooked, and you raised cane! We will miss that and you. M e m b e r s o f t h e P a t r o n s enjoyed a special VIP tour of the Pompeii exhibit at the Science Center on Sunday, Oct. 5. This t o u r w a s o f f e r e d i n p a r t ' a s thanks' for the Patrons early h a r d w o r k i n p r o m o t i n g t h e exhibit, after receiving a call f r o m M s . G i n a L e e o f t h e Marketing Department and we were glad to help in any way possible to promote this impor- t a n t e x h i b i t i o n r e p o r t s P a u l Romano, President. A pre-tour café lunch was made more enjoyable by the presence of Ms. Ambra Spinelli, B.A., M.A. (Univ. of Bologna) and M.A. from USC who is cur- rently a Research Assistant at the Getty's Antiquities Dept. while continuing her Ph.D. stud- ies at USC. Ms. Spinelli is an expert on the Pompeii excava- tions and has completed no less than five major historical exca- vations in Italy. Her knowledge and enthusiasm was boundless, says Romano. She led us on a wonderful tour giving us inti- mate details on many of the arti- facts and the history of how the e x h i b i t i o n c a m e t o b e . T h e many magnificent objects in the exhibition bear witness to the opulent lifestyles and intellectu- a l a t t a i n m e n t s t h a t s h a p e d Pompeii's culture at its peak. The Patrons will continue to o f f e r t h e i r ' m e m b e r s ' t h e s e exclusive VIP tours and excur- sions as part of their annual event calendar. This includes the special visits to the Getty Villa held each year, reports R o m a n o . J u s t i m a g i n e h o w w o n d e r f u l a t o u r l e d b y t h e Curator of a major exhibition would be as compared to taking a tour with an ear-plug for a guide. Our members want and deserve the best! For Membership application or more information about the Patrons of Italian Culture, and their 50+ years of promoting I t a l i a n C u l t u r e t h r o u g h o u t Southern California, contact them at: P.I.C., P.O. Box 3465, Burbank, Ca. 91508-3465 or v i s i t t h e i r w e b s i t e a t : "picla.org". The P.I.C. is a non- profit 501c-3 Corporation. Andrew Asaro Patrons Enjoy Pompeii Tour at Science Center July 17, 1920 – September 16, 2014 PAUL ROMANO

• Cover