Marcello

I heard today from Marcello Grandini, who was my driver/interpreter for two trips to Sant'Anna di Stazzema. A great guy. Every once in a while I ask him some specific question and he always comes through with a good answer. This time I asked where men would go to drink in the 1950s (this for the hoped-for sequel to "The Cielo.")

There is no real equivalent to our bars or taverns in Italy; the "bars" there are for light meals.  I knew about osterias, but he also told me about the Casa del Popolo, places where working class men, mainly Communists, would meet. There was one in every village. Now that will be a very nice setting for something that will happen later in the book.

Unrelated, I thought I'd post this photo of my cousin, Fosca. She's with her husband, Renato. I'm in the middle. This was taken in April 2004, when her stories inspired me to write the book.

The Marquette Tribune ran a story about my book today, written by a former student. You can read the article here.

And if you stumbled on this site, don't forget to look at the main site for "The Cielo" ---

Paul