Italian American Golfers: Part 5
Some readers will remember the name Tony Manero from years ago. He is one of those golfers whose name is vaguely familiar, but his story of winning the U.S. Open in 1936 is a classic. He was born in New York City as Anthony T. Manero, on April 4, 1905 and was a relatively unknown professional playing out of the Sedgefield Club in Greensboro, North...
Piacere! An Interview with Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco
Sebastian Maniscalco is a stand-up comedian who was born in Chicago and grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He has appeared on Comedy Central and late night shows such as “Conan,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” Said by The New York Times to have h...
IAP 46: The hidden history of Southern Italy’s glory – Part Two
This episode features the second part of a series of interviews with National Italian American Foundation President John Viola, and Anthony and Patrick O’Boyle; all three are members of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George. We have a candid conversation with these passionate and active members of the Italian-American community ab...
Chris Bianco, 'Pizza Yoda,' Is Sharing His Wisdom In A New Cookbook, He Is
It's 8 a.m. on a Thursday in the empty dining room of Sessanta, an Italian restaurant in the New York City hotel Sixty SoHo, and Chris Bianco, the Arizona chef widely regarded as the father of the modern artisanal pizza movement, is running on adrenaline and just a few hours of sleep. "Oh my goodness, it was a cavalcade of who's who," Bianco says,...
Claudia Pinza Bozzolla / Former Metropolitan Opera singer who shared her talents and love of music as voice teacher for Pitt, Duquesne
At 91, Claudia Pinza was still teaching voice at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh. She was also taking on private students and directing the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera — an internationally acclaimed summer training program based in Pittsburgh and Oderzo, Italy, in honor of her father, star of opera and Broa...
Happy 91st Birthday To Englewood's Tony Bennett
Happy birthday to Tony Bennett, whose name lives on at Bennett Studios in Englewood. The famed singer is turning 91 on Thursday, Aug. 3. Born and raised in Astoria to an Italian-American family, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater. Afterward, he deve...
Blatant Examples of How Italians are Stereotyped in Movies
The Italian-American community has for many years now been suffering a very blatant stereotype in the media. Hollywood, despite being filled with high-caliber writers and the type of talent that could possibly dispel the myths and fabrications that have been levied against Italians, has many times opted to show their version of events rather than l...
Fantini Calls On Designers to Submit Projects to Win a Trip to Italy
Love Italian design? Interested in a trip to Italy? Good news: Italian design house Fantini is calling on designers and architects to submit projects for its inaugural Design Awards. The winners will take a trip to Fantini's scenic lakefront headquarters in Pella, Italy. Fantini's panel of judges, led by Stefano Giussani, CEO of Lissoni Inc., will...
“Saporoso - Poems of Italian Food & Love”
The sold-out collection by Italian-American poet Jennifer Barone gets an updated Second Edition to be released by Feather Press, August 2017 Saporoso (Italian for “tasty”) – reads like a robust, Italian dinner menu. Jennifer explores, without abandon, the sensual nature of Italian culture, mythology, family, sex and love through Italian food and th...
NIAF’s 2017 Photo Contest - Now Accepting Entries!
Calling all photographers, amateur or professional! We are now accepting submissions to our Fifth Annual NIAF Photo Contest! Enter your photo that best captures this year’s theme: That’s Amore! Grand-prize: a Gala package for November 3-4 that includes transportation to Washington, D.C., hotel accommodations, all Gala weekend events, and two ticket...
How Sebastian Maniscalco Went From Waiter To One Of The World's Top-Earning Comedians
Sebastian Maniscalco has had a good year--just don’t tell him that; he doesn’t want to jinx it. In the past 12 months, he has performed over 100 stand-up gigs, has released his fourth comedy special for Showtime, welcomed his first daughter, has gone on a few nice trips with his wife and bought a Vespa. That last one may not compare to Jerry Seinfe...
What my Italian family taught me about community that our world could use more of right now
In December my grandmother died after a long battle with Alzheimer's. I'm a fourth-generation Italian, and my grandmother was the epicenter of our world. At her funeral, I pondered how our family would fare without its matriarch; I began to fear that without her, we might lose the togetherness that is so central to an Italian family's lifeblood. I...