L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 6 Marge Bitetti: an author close to her Italian heritage I n e v e r y f a m i l y t h e r e i s a l w a y s s o m e o n e , w h o patiently tries to sketch out the family tree. Marge Bitetti, author of the book Italians in L o s A n g e l e s , h a s d o n e m o r e than that. She has traced the ori- gin of a whole population of Italian-American immigrants, who settled and thrived in the greater Los Angeles area and Southern California. Let's hear together her fascinating stories. F i r s t o f a l l , w e ' d l i k e t o learn more about your back- g r o u n d a s a n I t a l i a n - American. I a m a t h i r d g e n e r a t i o n I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n , b o r n a n d raised in L.A. My grandfather, Vito Colombo (one of five sib- lings), emigrated from Sicily to Ellis Island, in the Upper New Y o r k B a y . F r o m t h e r e , h e moved to Detroit, then to Utah, w h e r e h e w o r k e d a s a c o a l m i n e r , b e f o r e s e t t l i n g i n California. My grandparents started an Italian market/deli. M y f a m i l y s h a r e d t h e s a m e property with them, so we lived all together as a multi-genera- tional family for several years. As far as education, I have a B A i n C o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d Radio-TV Broadcasting from C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y Long Beach. Upon graduation, I was selected by the Academy of T e l e v i s i o n A r t s & S c i e n c e s Foundation for their Summer Internship Program and luckily c h o s e n a s a d o c u m e n t a r y research intern for David L. Wolper Productions. During my internship, I worked on a docu- mentary, titled Say Goodbye. That was in 1971 and the pro- ject earned a nomination for an A c a d e m y A w a r d f o r B e s t Documentary Feature. Since it was before the age of Internet research, I had to learn research skills the old way: libraries, books, and stock film footage. Moving forward, I earned a MA in Business Management with focus on Marketing from Webster University. Since then, I've been writing articles on architecture, design, and general interest for a few prestigious media outlets, the likes of L.A. H o m e & D é c o r , T h e B o s t o n Globe and USA Today. In addi- t i o n , I h a d n i n e b o o k s p u b - VALERIO VIALE lished. Tell us about your book Italians in Los Angeles (2007). Previously to that one, I had already written three books for Arcadia Publishing. I proposed the idea of Italian heritage in the greater Los Angeles Area and got approval to write the book. A l o n g s i d e a n e x t e n s i v e research, I cultivated a rich net- working of Italians and Italian- Americans living in the area. S o m e o f t h e s o u r c e s w e r e invaluable, some others led to " d e a d e n d s . " B o t h t h e l a t e Professor Gloria Ricci Lothrop, a historian who wrote about Italian-Americans in the West, and L.A. artist Paul Leo Politi, Leo Politi's son, an award-win- ning producer and songwriter, certainly belong to the first cat- e g o r y . S t . P e t e r ' s I t a l i a n C h u r c h , f o u n d e d i n L o s Angeles in 1904, provided a wealth of photos and historic information for the book. The Bank of America also provided information and photos of two Italian-American entrepreneurs: A m a d e o P . G i a n n i n i ( 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 4 9 ) , w h o e s t a b l i s h e d t h e Bank of Italy in Downtown Los Angeles, which later became t h e B a n k o f A m e r i c a , a n d Joseph Francis Sartori (1858- 1946), who was considered to b e t h e d e a n o f b a n k i n g i n Southern California. Another Italian-American pioneer, Frank J. Zamboni (1901-1988), was the inventor of a machine to resurface ice, which revolution- ized indoor ice sports. The com- pany's world famous Zamboni equipment is still used world- w i d e t o r e s u r f a c e a t h o c k e y rinks and other professional ice- skating facilities. I gathered p r e c i o u s i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t Jimmy Kimmel's Italian ances- try from people, belonging to his entourage. And I included also photos from the shoots of m u s i c v i d e o s b y I t a l i a n - American filmmaker Dominic Orlando and producer Joseph Sassone. I s t h e r e a n y p a r t i c u l a r story or anecdote from the book that stands out for you? I learned that, during World War II, many Italians were sent to internment camps in other S t a t e s , i n c l u d i n g M o n t a n a . N e a r l y 1 0 , 0 0 0 I t a l i a n s w e r e forced to move from coastal cities in California to inland locations. In San Francisco, Joe DiMaggio's father, Giuseppe, couldn't visit the family restau- rant on Fisherman's Wharf. As an enemy alien, he could not t r a v e l m o r e t h a n f i v e m i l e s without permission. A poster issued by the U.S. Government s t a t e d " D o n ' t S p e a k t h e Enemy's Language," indicating that people were discouraged f r o m s p e a k i n g G e r m a n , Japanese and Italian. In 2010, the State of California apolo- g i z e d f o r m i s t r e a t m e n t o f Italian residents during WWII, expressing "deepest regret" for the wartime internment, cur- fews, confiscations and other indignities that thousands of Italian and Italian American families faced. I also had the opportunity to meet the producer and a few s t a f f m e m b e r s o f t h e J i m m y Kimmel Show, as well as the late Dominick "Dom" DeLuise (1933–2009), actor, comedian, film director, television produc- er, chef, and author. What's the biggest chal- lenge that you faced in your career? S i n c e I h a v e s p e n t m a n y years as a freelance writer, one challenge has been the ongoing marketing needed to locate new assignments and clients. Being listed on the directory of the Author's Guild, which I am a member of, has been helpful. In a d d i t i o n , b e i n g l i s t e d a s a Southern California researcher on the website of the National Archives has been a major ben- efit in helping people to locate m e a n d m y s e r v i c e s . T h e National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper: documents and materials created in the course of business, conducted by the United States Federal govern- ment for legal or historical rea- sons, are kept by the Archives forever. What's your favorite type of writing? Do you have a lit- erary model? And what are your favorites among the clas- sics of world literature? I have a taste for non-fiction, in particular short forms, like articles. My favorite phase and aspect of writing is the research behind it. As an author who has written reference books in my leisure time, I enjoy reading r o m a n c e n o v e l s b y B a r b a r a Delinsky, because in her novels it is evident that she spends sig- nificant time researching her characters, situations and set- tings. T a l k i n g a b o u t c l a s s i c s , I have many favorites. I started o u t i n c o l l e g e a s a n E n g l i s h major so I got exposure to many greats works of literature. A few of these include: Othello and M a c b e t h b y W i l l i a m Shakespeare, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and my a l l - t i m e f a v o r i t e i s M a r t y , a 1 9 5 0 s t e l e p l a y b y P a d d y Chayefsky. Let's have a quick look at your major writing works. My latest work, written in conjunction with my husband, i s T h e A v i a t i o n H i s t o r y o f Greater Riverside (2013). Early Santa Ana (2006) and Norco ( 2 0 0 5 ) a r e h i s t o r i c a l b o o k s , b o t h o f t h e m p u b l i s h e d b y Arcadia Publishing. Millennium Twenty-First Century Orange County Pioneer Publications, relates one hundred years of O r a n g e C o u n t y ' s h i s t o r y . Pharmaceutical Marketing in Europe: Lessons from the US Smi Publishing Ltd., deals with the pharmaceutical history in America as it relates to Europe. And what about your cur- rent/next projects? I am a grant writer, working with non-profit organizations to f i n d m o n e y . I ' m a l s o a researcher for hire, with a focus on tracing back people's geneal- o g y , t h r o u g h t h e N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s . I n a d d i t i o n , I ' m actively involved in the church, as well as in social justice. In other words, I take part to every i n i t i a t i v e i n s u p p o r t o f t h e underprivileged people. As far as my next writing projects, the f ir s t is a b o o k ab o u t w o men murderers; the second aims to provide couples with plenty of topics to talk about. Do you have any relations w i t h t h e I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n community in L.A.? I u s e d t o b e a m e m b e r o f t h e O r d e r S o n s O f I t a l y , i n C o r o n a . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e local lodge broke apart a few years ago. Notwithstanding, I am still in contact with several people that I met through this organization. Marge Bitetti (left) and her daughter Danielle

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