L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d e r s , A p r i l - Aprile comes from the L a t i n w o r d a p e r t u r e which means to open, This is the month to open your umbrellas for April showers and watch the buds open for Spring flowers a n d I t a l i a n A m e r i c a n Connections... April Fool's Day is a day people play silly pranks, so be alert. The United States orbited the first weather satellite April 1, 1960. *** St. Francis of Paola was born in Paola (Calabria), Italy circa 1416. He cured the sick, prophesied 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 went to live as a hermit in a cave. He eventually founded nearly 500 monasteries and was canonized just twelve years after his death at age ninety-one. The r e l i g i o u s c o m m u n i t y h e f o u n d e d , w a s o f f i c i a l l y recognized by Rome in 1474 as the Hermits of St. Francis, but they changed their name to the Minim Friars in 1492. A Minim F r i a r , F r . B o y l w a s w i t h Columbus, when he sailed the ocean blue on his second voyage of discovery to America in 1493. *** Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish monarchs in April 1492, signed an agreement with Italian sailor Christopher Columbus, a u t h o r i z i n g h i m t o l e a d a n expedition under the auspices of t h e C r o w n , i n s e a r c h o f a westward route to Asia. *** Galileo, Italian physicist and mathematician was formally c h a r g e d w i t h h e r e s y b y t h e Roman Catholic Inquisition in April 1633, for asserting that the Earth was not the center of the universe. *** St. John Baptist de la Salle (1651 - 1719) founder of the Christian Brothers. Over three hundred years ago, this priest had a lot of "new ideas" about teaching children. Instead of teaching one child at the time, he thought it would be a good i d e a t o p u t s e v e r a l s t u d e n t s together in a classroom and his m e t h o d s o f e d u c a t i o n revolutionized the education system of the time. He gave all his wealth to the poor and spent m u c h o f h i s e f f o r t t r a i n i n g teachers. The Christian Brothers have become one of the largest teaching orders in the Church, based on his methods, which first became popular in France and Italy. *** Alessandro Malaspina, who led the expedition of scientific e x p l o r a t i o n a n d g e o g r a p h i c drawings of Southern California, Vancouver Island and Alaska, died April 9, 1810 at age fifty- six. *** Arbor Day celebrations are marked by tree planting to foster general interest in reforestation. Many states set arbor day dates a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r s e v e r a l climates, but many states, with mild climates celebrate Arbor D a y t o d a y . B e g u n i n 1 9 7 2 , Arbor Day is the botanical name for tree. When I was a child, if you saw a fig tree growing in a yard, it was a tip-off that the property owner was probably Italian. *** G i r o A u t o m o b i l i s t i c o d'Italia was launched in Torino, o n A p r i l 2 7 , 1 9 0 1 , w i t h 2 7 m o t o r i s t s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a 1,000 mile speed and endurance competition across the Italian country side. *** Topo Gigio made his debut in A m e r i c a o n t h e E d S u l l i v a n Show in April 1963 and literally lit up the switchboards. Topo Gigio made 17 appearances in o n l y 1 2 m o n t h s . H e n e v e r appeared anywhere else in this country except on the Sullivan program which signed him to an exclusive contract. E d S u l l i v a n , s y n d i c a t e d columnist and television idol, was an international favorite. His popular Sunday night television house over the CBS TV network brought to the American TV s c r e e n s t a r t f r o m J a p a n , A u s t r a l i a , E n g l a n d , F r a n c e , India, the Philippines, Hawaii, Israel, Russia, Germany, Canada, the United States and Italy. Topo Gigio, the Italian mouse was Ed Sullivan's discovery. he had blond hair, blue eyes high p i t c h e d v o i c e w i t h a h e a v y Italian accent; 10 inches tall and was made of foam rubber. The lovable little puppet appeared regularly on the "Ed Sullivan Show". S u l l i v a n d i s c o v e r e d T o p o Gigio (which means Little Louis Mouse in Italian), in London. He was preparing a program which starred Judy Garland and when British talent agent Lew Grade showed him a tape of the little mouse Ed immediately added him. The show was broadcast on April 14, 1963 and marked Topo G i g i o ' s A m e r i c a n t e l e v i s i o n debut. T o p o G i g i o w a s t h e brainchild of Maria Perego of Italy who operated her creation with the assistance of two other p e o p l e . A t h i r d s u p p l i e d t h e voice The quartet did not speak English and communicated with the program staff through an i n t e r p r e t e r . T h e m a n w h o provided Topo Gigio's voice learned his lines phonetically. There were several phrases which Topo Gigio used regularly on the program. He climbed into bed at the end of his sketch and always said to his friend "Eddie" before the fadeout: "Hey, Eddie, k ees a me g o o d - n ig h t". To p o G i g i o a l s o c o n v e y e d h i s p h i l o s o p h y w i t h t h e w o r d s " W h e n y o u a r e s m a l l , y o u always lose". *** Henry Mancini, born April 16, 1924 inherited his musical t a l e n t s f r o m h i s s t e e l w o r k e r father who played the flute in the Aliquippa, Pa., Sons of Italy band. Eight year old Henry's first instrument was the piccolo, then came the flute, finally the piano. He served his musical a p p r e n t i c e s h i p w o r k i n g a s pianist and arranger for the post- World War II Glenn Miller band headed up by Tex Beneke. He started working in Hollywood at Universal-International in 1952, and in six years wrote scores for o v e r 1 0 0 f i l m s . H e o n c e p e r f o r m e d a t a W h i t e H o u s e dinner honoring the Apollo 10 a s t r o n a u t s . T h e y , o f c o u r s e , recognized immediately what Mancini's fans knew all along: that as a music maker, he was out of this world! Mancini's music for the film Breakfast at Tiffany's won him h i s f i r s t t w o O s c a r s b a c k i n 1962, for the best original score and for the best song, "Moon River". Oscar No.3 came the f o l l o w i n g y e a r f o r t h e s o n g "Days of Wine and Roses". T h e G r a m m y a n d G o l d Record prizes were harvested f r o m a m o n g o t h e r s o u r c e s , Mancini scores for the TV series Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky and the Pink Panther. Henry Mancini was the son of proud parents from the village of Scanno, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. *** Easter Sunday, is April 16, this year. BUONA PASQUA a tutti! Henry Mancini

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