Life before lenses
It took me the first twelve years of my life to discover glasses, or at least their full utility. Not [...]
The English on the hill
Thirty years ago, on March 8, 1991, the eminent English food writer Patience Gray published “South to the Salento,”for a [...]
The Hungarian connection
As a youth in the 1960s, I became intoxicated with listening to the wireless, as radio was called in its [...]
My debt to Ol’ Blue Eyes
When you learn a foreign language by teaching yourself, what you miss the most is the possibility of speaking in [...]
How fragile we are
From the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were hints in the press and suspicion in the medical community [...]
The making of a translator
Things we long for sometimes seem to come true by chance. Or maybe it is a question of choice and [...]
How green was my valley
This is a cautionary tale, though it may not seem like one at first. In fact, at first it will [...]
The sands of time
Light rain had fallen for most of a virtually sleepless stormy night a few weeks ago. I got up around [...]
One father’s war
This I know: the picture was taken in 1941 by a Rome street photographer while roaming through the city's famous [...]
And the rabbi came
Toward the end of June 1990, I drove to the top of the Serra di Spigolizzi, in Salento, to visit [...]
A galaxy far, far away
July was the month. I used to wait for it, yearn for it, dream and daydream of it. July was [...]
“On the left, over the sea…”
Now, I know you’ll never believe it. And I can't blame you if you don’t. I can hardly believe it [...]