DONA NOBIS PACEM 2024 - HOLD THE LIGHT

 

At times like these, when peace seems to be further away than ever, it can be very hard to write about it. Yet this is the time when it is most important to do so, to "hold the light", because we have to show that peace is possible, peace is desirable and that peace is essential, even and especially when we are being confronted with horrific images of war in our time every day and evening of our lives.

My generation, the "luckiest ever", some say, saw our first live images of combat and its effects during the dreadful conflict that was the Vietnam War and no one could say, from that period on, that they "didn't know" about it. Even at the time of the Kennedy assassinations, we had not been able to receive live reporting on them in Britain and most people there had not even gathered around a television set before the Coronation of Elizabeth II. The danger, once we were able to see those live images of horrifying events, was that we would lose our capacity to be shocked, become inured to it all. I don't think that most of my generation did, because from us sprang numerous peace movements; we wrote about peace, we studied peace, we campaigned for peace and we sang about peace.

What, then, can we do almost half a century after the fall of Saigon and all the conflicts in between, as we watch, day after day, shocking scenes of a population who are constantly being told to move on but have nowhere to go? A population with no adequate sanitation or access to healthcare, a population that is starving. No one is suggesting that the event that gave rise to all this was not also terrible, but when faced with human cruelty, do we also have to lose our humanity? 

We can protest, we can become part of a peace movement such as this and those of us who live in democracies can convey our concerns to those in power. In countries like the UK, where citizens have direct access to their elected representatives, we can write or speak to them and make our feelings known. Do you think they will not care? I assure you, they will care when they want your vote - which brings me to the matter we are all probably pondering, which is that so much will depend on what happens in the US tomorrow. Those of us in other countries can only hope that there will be light.

Light breaks where no sun shines, wrote the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. And to "hold the light" we have first to see it, so we must not look away from the harrowing scenes on our many devices or from the possibilities for doing something about them. We have to unite in peace, for peace and for the light.

With thanks as always to the wonderful, indefatigable Mimi Lenox, who continues to inspire us to blog for peace.

BlogBlast4Peace on X.

SLIGHTLY ITALIANISED PUMPKIN PIES

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers and friends. I hope you have a great day.

As you see, I've made some pumpkin pies and, though I say it myself, they're quite good!  [And yes, I have been lucky enough to taste pumpkin pie in the US.]  Now, the recipe I trust uses cream and milk in the filling but, as cream in America is thicker than the cream available here, a few years ago I experimented with mascarpone and, with a little [unwhipped] Italian whipping cream added, the pies turned out fine, so that's how I make them every year now.

I usually cook the pumpkin flesh down but this year I managed to find a can of pumpkin purée in Catania.

So here you have them - my slightly Italianised pumpkin pies:  

Buon Giorno del Ringraziamento!

AUTUMN TIDES, 2016 - 4

Over the past few days, whilst the tide of rhetoric across the Atlantic grew ever stronger and I, like most of you, was glued to my TV screen, autumn tides brought to Pozzallo two children who, having seen their mother die on a migrant boat, had watched over her body until the dinghy on which they were travelling from Libya split in two.

The 300 migrants on board were rescued by the Italian Navy and then transferred to a Save the Children ship.  The woman, who was probably from Mali, had been crushed to death while trying to protect her children from the same fate by shielding them with her body in the overcrowded prow of the boat. When the other migrants near the woman discovered that she was dead, a people trafficker tried to make them throw her body overboard but they refused. They told the two children, a girl aged nine and a boy aged six, that their mother was sleeping but they understood that she was dead.

These sad children are now in the care of nuns in Ragusa and what looks like a mobile phone number written on the girl's trousers may be the only hope of finding other family members. It is thought that they have an uncle somewhere in Europe.

The alleged people trafficker has been identified and arrested.

This is but one tragedy among so many, of course, but it is none the less shocking for that.

With regard to the historic events of the past 24 hours I have only the following to say:

On this day a great nation founded on migration chose a leader who wants to build a wall. Yet we are all migrants. Let us hope that humanity will prevail, both there and in the rest of the world.

All human progress has been made because someone, somewhere, had a dream.  Who are we to tell those who dream of a better life that they are wrong to do so?

MUCH ADO TO BRING ABOUT NOTHING

As the UN focuses on migration this week, first at Monday's Summit on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants and then during the General Debate of the 71st Session, one might have hoped for some collective action to offer a little hope to desperate people but I have to say, if I were a migrant seeking safety now, I would be more than disappointed.

Yesterday, while politicians measured their words and refugees continued to risk their lives on the high seas or to languish in camps, UNHCR announced that, as of that day, the number of migrants arriving on European shores since the beginning of 2016 had reached 300,000.  This is lower than the number of arrivals in the same period last year but more than in 2014.  Italy has seen virtually the same number of arrivals this year as last but more migrants are trying to stay in the country.

This is exactly what the Prime Minister of my own country wishes to see, for Mrs May made it quite clear, both in a speech on Monday and in her address to the General Assembly yesterday, that she believes that migrants should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, which is, of course, EU law under the Dublin Regulation.  But if that country is already saving thousands of lives in the Mediterranean and is being stretched to its limits to deal with the number of arrivals [and is doing so humanely]? What then, Mrs May? Our new Prime Minister seems to have no answer.  When she said yesterday that the UK was "committed to helping countries adapt to refugees' needs", I did not get the impression that she meant Italy and Greece, which bear the main burden of arrivals, but receiving countries bordering Syria. 

Few people would disagree with Mrs May's  affirmation that countries have the right to control their own borders or with what seems a genuine commitment to eradicating people trafficking and one of its consequences, which she rightly calls "modern slavery".  However, her strategy for doing so takes for granted that we are dealing with non-chaotic countries of departure, which we are not. I have yet to hear Mrs May or any other top-ranking politician praise Italy for its work in bringing people traffickers to justice. [A total of 148 alleged people traffickers have been arrested in the Province of Ragusa alone in 2016.]

The British Premier gave contradictory messages, on the one hand saying that there is nothing wrong with moving to seek a better life but on the other hand stating that governments need to distinguish between economic migrants and refugees more clearly and find "a better way of dealing with economic migration".  She did not say how they would do this and her speech was hardly reassuring, even to migrants-by-choice like myself, for strangely, in the middle of her address to the GA, came this:

"We must all commit to the return of our own nationals when they have no right to remain elsewhere."

This was surely a Brexit reference and if it was, it was inappropriate.  If this one sentence can make a legal migrant-by-choice uneasy, what impact would her other words have on someone desperately hoping to be granted asylum?

Meanwhile Mr Renzi, also on Monday, received the Global Citizen Award of the Atlantic Council from Mr Kerry and said,

"Italy saves lives in the Mediterranean becaue we can afford to lose some votes but we cannot afford to lose our humanity."

He also announced that Italy's humanitarian aid budget is to be increased by 30% and, with refreshing honesty, told journalists [outside the meeting] that there is no political will to solve the refugee crisis because the leaders of France and Germany have elections coming up and he himself could be swept away by the outcome of Italy's imminent referendum on constitutional reform. Nailed it, Mr Renzi!  

While the  politicians were arriving comfortably in their armoured cars, migrants were continuing to attempt the perilous Mediterranean journey in woefully overcrowded dinghies or even less seaworthy vessels. Here are just a few of the migration developments which have occurred while our politicians have been preparing or giving their speeches at the UN:

La Repubblica reported today that 128,479 migrants were saved in the Sicilian Channel between 1st January and 15th September and 958 of the boats which had been carrying them had come from Libya.  

At the weekend a 15-year-old became the youngest refugee to be killed trying to enter the UK illegally from Calais and on 6th September the body of a young male migrant who had entered France from Ventimiglia [where the French have closed the border] was found under a flyover on the French side.  No one knows what happened. 

This afternoon a  migrant boat sank off Rosetta in Egypt and so far 42 people are reported to have died. The Egyptian authorites have saved 155 people but no one knows how many were on board.

Need I go on?

There are, however, three positive outcomes from the UN sessions:  one is the summit held by President Obama at the UN yesterday, at which significant promises were made; another is that the International Organisation for Migration [IOM]  became, on Monday, formally linked to the UN as a "related organisation." This is important because it gives the UN a migration mandate. The third development is a promise to set in motion a Global Compact on safe migration upholding human rights. Let us hope that this is implemented soon.  Are we to see action or was it all much ado to bring about nothing?

You can read the full text of British Prime Minister Theresa May's address to the General Assembly of the UN here.

You can read the text of President Obama's speech at the 20th September Summit here.

Update: 22.9.16 at 14.41:

The latest estimate regarding the migrant boat which sank off Rosetta yesterday is that up to 600 people may have been on board. 163 migrants have now been rescued and 43 bodies have been recovered. The boat is now known to have been heading for Italy.

SPRING TIDES 2015 - 2

As some of you will know, I have been writing about the migrant situation in the Mediterranean since 2006 and during all these years, having documented tragedy after tragedy on this blog, I have been asking myself just what it would take for the rest of the world to take notice. Today we have the answer: a sensational incident that feeds current prejudices has prompted Sky to send Enda Brady to Sicily and UK online newspaper editions to report the events further up the page - for a while.

What appears to have happened is this: About 105 migrants, most of whom were from Senegal and the Ivory Coast, were travelling on a boat which left Libya on 14th April. A few miles from the Libyan coast, a fight broke out and some Ghanaian and Nigerian passengers, who were in the minority, were threatened by a group of 15 other migrants.  The group of 15, who were Muslim. said they would throw the Christian migrants into the sea and they subsequently threw 12 of the Christians overboard. Others survived only because they formed a human chain, according to eye witnesses. The group of 15 have been arrested by Palermo police and, although the incident occurred in international waters, the Italian authorities have the right to carry out the investigation and to pursue the matter as the perpetrators are now in Italy and because of the gravity of the crime.

Another incident that is being widely reported is the explosion of a domestic gas cylinder in a house in Libya where migrants were being kept prior to making the crossing. Five people, including a baby, died on the spot. Horrifyingly, 18 other migrants who were seriously burned were forced onto a dinghy bound for Italy and one woman died during the crossing. The migrants were rescued by the Italians and brought to Lampedusa, from where those with the most serious burns were transferred to burns units in Catania and Palermo.

In yet another tragedy, a group of migrants rescued and taken to Trapani yesterday said that 41 people had drowned during their crossing. The people trafficker involved has been arrested.

It is now estimated that 10,000 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean between last Friday and this Tuesday alone. As you will have gathered from the incidents I have mentioned above, the situation is daily becoming more dangerous, not only for the migrants but for all involved in the rescues. Reports today of an Italian fishing boat being seized by Libyan security forces will add to growing unease here. 

The world may now be noticing but the world continues to fail Italy, which is largely shouldering the burden alone. Dimitris Avramopoulos, who a few days ago was advocating a coherent and long-term approach, has today warned that the EU does not have a magic wand. No one has, but surely the situation is now so serious that it is a matter for a wider body than the EU. Someone else seems to think so and that person is President Obama, who, in a meeting with Premier Renzi today, has said that the US will work more closely with Italy "to encourage cooperation on threats coming from Libya." 

CROSTATINE DI ZUCCA

I'd never made pumpkin pie before and had expected it to be a nerve-wracking task. However, I was determined to have a go this year as I wanted to make tartlet versions for London Town Modica, Centro Linguistico Internazionale.

We can't get canned pumpkin here and sometimes pumpkin takes ages to soften, but this time all went well. Although I'd consulted lots of recipes, in the end I guessed the cooking time for my mini pies and I was really pleased with the way they turned out!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

BUON GIORNO DEL RINGRAZIAMENTO!

DELIGHTS FOR A DIVA

Every Italian man's favourite diva, Sophia Loren, will be 80 on 20th September and she has decided to celebrate early!

Tomorrow, as part of the Napa Valley Festival del Sole, Michael Chiarello and Modican chef Piero Selvaggio, owner of the Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica, will cook for Sophia and 400 guests at the Far Niente vineyard. Robert Redford will be Master of Ceremonies. Sophia's son Carlo Ponti Jr. will conduct the LA Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra in their debut concert and they will play the themes from some of Sophia's films.

The tomatoes, olives and capers used in the dishes will be from Sicily and the olive oil from Ragusa. Modica plays its part too, for there will be a croccantino of Bonajuto chocolate for dessert.

Congratulations, Sophia and, as you've always said you owe everything to spaghetti and we know, thank goodness, that you are not one of those skinny stars who are afraid to enjoy their food, buon appetito!

Sophia Loren receiving an honorary Oscar in 1991

SABATO MUSICALE

It's nice to see clips of Al Bano and Romina Power  performing together again in Atlantic City and I cried when I saw them dancing in the second one!

Al Bano e Romina Power - Ci sarà

Al Bano e Romina Power ballano  [Ti risceglierei] - Atlantic City

A NORMAL FRIDAY

The 22nd November 1963 was a normal, grey, drizzly Friday in Bristol, UK.  Aged 13, I went to school as usual, came home just after 4 pm and couldn't get out of my uniform quickly enough. It says something for the significance the day would eventually have that I can remember the clothes I changed into - a burgundy corduroy skirt and pale blue jumper which probably didn't go. After "tea", as we called it then, I settled down to watch my favourite medical soap opera, Emergency - Ward 10, with Desmond Carrington as the handsome young doctor, Chris Anderson.

There had been a lot of talk of war in the preceding months, for the world had held its breath during the Cuban Missile Crisis of only a year before and my parents still talked about World War II. I don't think that people of their generation ever realised how much they scared their children by doing so and maybe it's because of this, and not only the songs of Bob Dylan, that we became the generation of "peace and love". When the programme was interrupted and a picture of President Kennedy was shown on the screen, my immediate thought was that war had been declared and I was terrified. Then came the announcement - the President had been shot in Dallas.

We didn't have live news pictures in Britain at the time and the announcer said that the programme would continue and further news would be brought to us as ITV received it. A few minutes later, the programme was interrupted again and we were told the devastating news that the President had died. Then the announcer said that, in view of the gravity of the news, solemn music would be played for the rest of the evening. There were still no pictures.

We all glanced at each other in shock - my mum, dad, grandpa and me. My great aunt Mabel, who also lived with us, was out at a church meeting and when she came in, my dad gently told her the news. Great aunt Mabel was a widely-read, self-educated woman and I remember she buried her face in her hands, immediately grasping what this meant for the world.

For my generation of Brits President Kennedy represented all that was new and all that we loved about America:  he was handsome, he was a war hero, we could understand his speeches and he was the first young politician we had ever seen. Every girl in my class wanted a "Jackie" fringe and how we loved her pillbox hats and style!  The thought of her screaming, "Oh, no, no!" in the car was too much for us to bear. Of course, none of us knew then that the marriage was far from perfect but I don't think it would have diminished our hero-worship if we had.

Jacqueline Kennedy, much maligned later for the Onassis interlude, was a product of her time and class and admitted as much after Onassis's death:

"I have always lived through men and now I realise that I can't do that any more."

I am glad that she found love, reliability and true companionship in a man towards the end of her life and I am certainly not going to judge a woman who, on that fateful day half a century ago, cradled her murdered husband's head in her arms as their motorcade sped through Dallas to the hospital.

I believe, to this day, that it was hope that was cut down in Dallas on 22nd November 1963 and I don't think it re-emerged until the end of the decade, in the protests and demonstrations that young people held all over the world. Now, 50 years later, in Sicily, Italy, I find myself dealing every day with young people who feel they have no hope and they have no Kennedy figure to inspire it.

It is impossible to know in what ways the history of the world might have been different had President Kennedy survived but I would venture this opinion:  Had he lived, faculties intact, into his nineties, he would have been appalled to see young people in such despair in a crisis brought about largely by people in a position to have known better. He would have known little of the situation in far-away Italy but he would have realised that this was a world-wide failure involving far more than money and he would have spoken out.

Everyone has their favourite Kennedy quote and mine is one of the less famous but I believe it is appropriate for our time and, indeed, for Italy.  It is this:

“If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy:  Address at The American University, Washington D.C.,  

10th June 1963

AFTERWORD

Well, Barack, of all the honours you've received today I'm sure you'll be glad to know that your book made our timely display at the school. 

Sorry, Mitt, but I don't have one of yours. That may be just as well because your remark six days ago about not wanting the USA to "end up like Italy" went down about as well here as your pre-Olympics gaffe in London, though it did have the unexpected effect of uniting politicians from two warring parties [Italy's Pd and Pdl] in indignation.  Minister Gianfranco Polillo, meanwhile, shrugged his shoulders as only an Italian can, concluding that you already have economic problems similar to those of Italy but lack the compensations of the Italian quality of life.

Everyone I've spoken to here seems pleased at the outcome in the US and Mr Monti sent amicable and  restrained congratulations to President Obama today, in marked contrast to those of his predecessor Mr Berlusconi four years ago when the gaffeur par excellence emphasised the then President-elect's "suntan".  Mr Monti added that President Obama is "nice" to work with.

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I feel worn out even though I haven't fought a campaign or cast a vote! Perhaps this is because just two weeks ago we had our own very exciting Sicilian regional elections, in which Beppe Grillo's new M5S party won 47% of the vote. So hold on to your hat, Barack, because we may have real change coming over here!

SABATO MUSICALE

This is for all affected by Hurricane Sandy, in the hope that good times and weather return soon:

Ella Fitzgerald - I'll Take Manhattan

THE BATTLE OF THE DAVES

We're back with the Italian media tonight as I had to laugh at today's headlines in the foreign news sections of most of the newspapers here:  Reporting British Prime Minister David Cameron's shaming, and now famous, responses to British history questions posed to him by David Letterman last night, ANSA, La Repubblica and Il Messaggero all have "Cameron bocciato in storia" ["Cameron failed in history"] while Corriere della Sera contents itself with calling poor Dave an ignorante.

I must admit I didn't know who composed Rule Britannia either but I did know it wasn't Elgar and there were other questions that few of Mr Cameron's compatriots could have answered correctly.  That, however, does not make it all right and I groaned when Mr Cameron, displaying a typically British disregard for the existence of languages other than English together with a shocking lack of awareness of basic etymology, was unable to tell his host the meaning of Magna Carta. I can only exclaim, as an Italian might, "Vergogna!" ["Shame!"]

So now we all know what an Eton education does for you .....

SICILY, USA?

So anxious are certain Italian politicians to rid themselves of what they regard as the "burden" of the South that one of their number, Mario Borghezio of the Lega Nord,  has suggested that Sicily and Campania be sold to the USA.  The idea that Sicily might become a US state dates back at least to the end of World War 11 and the era of Salvatore Giuliano so its resurgence in another unsettled period is hardly a surprise.  But let's take a light-hearted look at what the idea could mean in practice:

As far as I know, no one, this time round, has asked the Americans if they want to buy but their arrival might speed up transactions at the post office.  On second thoughts, the narrow street that is home to the Modica Sorda post office is far too narrow for all the indigenous cars whose drivers insist on entering it so I can't quite see Cadillacs managing the parking. Most of Modica's streets would have to be widened, in fact, and I think the Modicani would be accommodating about this, understanding as they do the necessity of driving wherever they want to go.

The only time when it is permitted not to drive is during the passeggiata, which takes place after work but before dinner on weekdays and any time after siesta until dinner time on Sundays.  This is when men and women parade in their finery along a set route and when you reach the end of the street or promenade you turn around and walk its whole length again.  It is also where boy meets girl, man courts woman, local gossip is exchanged and fashion trends are set.  It is essential, ladies, to throw on as much bling as possible and the men will blend in once they get used to wearing trainers with suits.  [The trainers, by the way, must be by Gucci.]

But we are jumping ahead, for our happy band of American administrators will need to take a siesta after all that driving and competing for parking spaces, followed by lunch. When they wake up, it will not be time for dinner, as at home, but to head back to the office for a few hours.  Then, having fulfilled their passeggiata duties and survived until the earliest possible hour at which a Sicilian might consider dining - at around 8.30 pm - they may be relieved to know that Sicily does have its own fast food in the form of focacce and arancini.  [Modica even saw off a McDonald's a few years ago so it is better not to mention Big Macs here.]

Pizza, though, is definitely not fast food and should you decide to go out for one you will have to show pazienza while it is cooked in a traditional, stone oven.  It will occur to no one to offer you an aperitvo during this considerable wait so you will have to do what the locals do and order a plate of chips to fill both the time and your stomach.  You are expected to consume one whole pizza each, not between you but don't worry because when it comes it will be so delicious that you will have no difficulty.

Afterwards you will take another passeggiata as you move on to a bar known for its pastries and you might even get to bed at around 1 am or later on Saturdays.  Oh yes, the pace of life might be slower but believe me, you will need all your energy!

Talking of the pace of life, the pace of Italian bureaucracy, as everybody knows, is even slower. No sale has been agreed and I think that, in Sicily, we 'll be happily staying exactly as we are.

"IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE TIP..." - A "LET'S BLOG OFF" POST

Every two weeks, the blogosphere comes alive with something called a Blog Off. A Blog Off is an event where bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic on the same day. The topic for this round of the Blog Off is "If you can't afford the tip, you can't afford the meal."

The excellent Vecchia Aidone restaurant
in  Enna, Sicily

Back in Britain I had a friend who refused to tip.  This used to irritate and embarrass me no end whenever we were out together but over the past few years I have softened a little towards her stance.

In the UK, unlike in the US, tipping is not obligatory.  You may get some surly looks in certain restaurants if you don't tip but the only person likely to yell at you for your omission is a London cabbie.

Whilst I used to round up taxi fares to the nearest pound in Britain and tip in restaurants provided the service had been good, I rarely tipped my hairdresser because the tip, added to the already high cost of his attention, would have rendered my visit to him prohibitively expensive. It is also a British convention not to tip the owner of a salon.

Not so long ago in Britain the postman, newspaper delivery boy or girl, refuse collectors and the milkman all expected tips at Christmas and these were usually given ungrudgingly by householders. I am even old enough to remember when we had coalmen and the coalman, too, got his tip.  But then there came an era when all these good folk started knocking on doors to ask for their "Christmas box" and I'm not sure that people gave it quite so willingly from then on.  Having been away from Britain for nearly seven years I am uncertain about the extent to which this custom continues, but it is rarer these days because there is more rotation among workers and local populations change faster than they used to.

Here in Italy, too, tipping is a matter of choice:  it is appreciated but not expected as a right in bars and restaurants and I even know of waiters and barmen who will hand back a proffered tip to a customer.  Why? Because taking the trouble to present even the simplest order elegantly and providing good service with a smile are regarded as routine duties and not as frills for which the customer has to pay a hidden "extra".  There are, however, a few public conveniences [restrooms] in tourist spots which the unfortunate traveller will find hard to exit without leaving the "optional" tip!

My friend in Britain felt that the tipping habit was resonant of the aristocrat distributing largesse and that its continuance actually stopped workers from fighting for better remuneration.  I have some sympathy with this view and regard tipping as being on a par with the boss who always buys his secretary a frivolous Christmas present rather than paying her the proper rate for her work.

To sum up, in a tipping culture I want a choice in the matter of whether I tip or not but I would really like to see the custom abolished. It is a social minefield and a throwback to the class system.  Pay everyone a decent wage instead!

Below is the full list of bloggers who are participating in this week's Blog Off:

THANKSGIVING - A "LET'S BLOG OFF" POST

Every two weeks, the blogosphere comes alive with something called a Blog Off. A Blog Off is an event where bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic on the same day. The topic for this round of the Blog Off is "Memorable Thanksgivings".


I'll say at the outset that this post is going to be a bit of a cheat as I have only been to the USA once and not for Thanksgiving.  It is also late because I have la febbre.  


Anyway, as I can't really write about Thanksgiving, other to say that the holiday is not generally known here, I have decided to write about the things for which I would like to thank America:  

Who, after all, could not love the country which gave us Coca-Cola, Country and Western Music and "Kookie talk?"  I drank my fill of Coca-Cola in my youth and there is nothing like Country and Western music when you are in need of a good wallow in your relationship-induced misery.  As for "Kookie talk", it was a "cool" way of speaking popularised by the actor Edd Byrnes in the TV series 77 Sunset Strip which ran from 1958 - 1964.  Suddenly it was OK to be young and "Kookie" gave us our very own language.  The only problem for me was that my parents knew more of it than I did!

Edd Byrnes as "Kookie"

But there came a day, 48 years ago yesterday, when America changed and so, I believe, did we:  I refer, of course, to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and I can still feel the shockwaves of that news as if it had, indeed, happened only yesterday.  At school, all the boys wanted to be like JFK and all the girls wanted to be like Jackie, the epitome of elegance with her gorgeous suits, gloves and pillbox hats. We girls had "Jackie" fringes, too.  And this brings me to what I really want to talk about - books by or about Americans that I am thankful to have read.  Of all the biographies of Jackie, I have found Sarah Bradford's America's Queen to be the best researched and, however history finally judges this enigmatic woman, "Jackie" fascination is here to stay on both sides of the Atlantic.

Image: Wikipedia via White House

Still in the fifties and sixties and still on biography, let me turn to the person who has made me laugh more than any other in this life - the great,  inimitable Lucille Ball and I recommend Kathleen Brady's biography of her, Lucille.  In another era Lucy Ricardo would have had a job and her adventures would have been lost to us.  So thank you, Lucy, for all the fun.


I Love Lucy - Vitameatavegamin






Then there are the autobiographical volumes and poetry of Maya Angelou. What woman who has ever carried a little extra weight could not be cheered up by this?


Maya Angelou reads Phenomenal Woman




My favourite American poets are Longfellow, Edna St Vincent Millay, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.  If you do not know it, I recommend the latter's Christ Climbed Down as wise, seasonal reading.

My post would not be complete if I did not mention two Americans who have written beautifully about Sicilian food:  They are Mary Taylor Simeti and Victoria Granof.  I have written about their books here and here.

But my favourite American author of all remains the one who delighted me as a child and she is Louisa May Alcott.  I'm still waiting for Professor Bhaer.

Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans and thank you for reading this blog.

Below is a full list of bloggers participating in this round of the Blog Off:

IN MEMORIAM - 9/11

Church in Virginia City, Nevada

What happened on that day was, in the words of Tony Blair at the time, "an attack on people of all faiths and of none" and "an attack not just on the United States but all countries and people who treasured freedom, democracy and our shared way of life."

Today, however, is not about the perpetrators and their hatred, nor is about the rights and wrongs of western foreign policy since.  Today is about the victims, those close to them and a nation that responded with something far greater and more enduring than hate - love.

In the midst of tragedy, those about to die remembered love and these Congressmen and Congresswomen spontaneously sang of love and beauty, two concepts that can change the world:

9/11 - Congress sings God Bless America on steps of the Capitol

"There is no fear in love."

The Colosseum in Rome will be illuminated this evening in memory of the victims of 9/11 and to honour "the courage and determination of the American people to begin again, as symbolised in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center."