The Team
Good writers are hard to find. The American has been fortunate beyond measure to assemble a group of veteran journalists and younger writers. Since the magazine began publishing online in 2004, some have written once, others dozens of times. But each has done his or her part with enthusiasm and a commitment to professional ethics.
Below you’ll find a list of the most recent contributors to the project (in all, we’ve published some 200 writers). Some live in Italy while others write from afar. A list of their published work for us may be found below their brief biographies. We do not list the personal email addresses of our writers at their request. Some have blogs and personal sites, and many of those are also listed. The writers are responsible for the content of their personal biographies and are also accountable for their spirit and accuracy. Errors in fact, however, are the full responsibility of the magazine. Point them out and we’ll correct them.
If you wish to get in touch with one of our writers about their work you may write to them: info@theamericanmag.com and your message will be forwarded to them in due course. Whether they choose to answer is up to them.
Finally, while all content has been vetted and edited, the views represented in our reports, interviews, profiles, and first-person columns represent those of the authors and not the magazine. The American is a forum for ideas about Italy and the world around it. It’s also a venue where expatriates can read about what their fellows are thinking. If you’d like to join our team, write to us at the maginfo address and we’ll open up a conversation. Eloquence and insight is what we seek and what we hope to have provided so far. Our magazine is the sum of its wonderfully disparate parts. It is “old school” in that it does not represent a forum for reader ideas and “quickie” feedback. Nor is it a blog. Instead, it is a kind of “log,” which we see as an effort to compile many life narratives, some from Italy, others not. With luck, bits of wisdom follow suit.
Current Writers
Jennifer AllisonBorn in Frankfurt to a military family Jennifer spent her childhood and young adulthood moving from place to place, earning her the honorary title of both "military brat" and "gypsy." She attended the ultra-liberal Evergreen State College where she developed a passion for writing and literature. She lives in a sleepy little town outside of Seattle but travels often.
Eleonora BaldwinAmerican-born, Italian-raised Eleonora Baldwin lives in Rome and divides her time between food and lifestyle writing, hosting a prime-time TV show on cheese, and designing Italian culinary holidays. She has published a number of successful books and guides, and is currently editing her cheese & travel-inspired memoir. She is the author/editor/photographer behind the popular blogs Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino and Casa Mia Italy Food & Wine.
Mark BassaniMark Bassani is the pen name of a political and economic writer based in Washington, D.C.
Dianne BennettDianne Bennett cowrites the "Critic's Notebook" column with with William Graebner.
Mark CampbellMark David Campbell grew up in a town north of Lake Ontario, Canada. He holds a doctorate in social cultural anthropology and spent two decades studying and working internationally. While on a project in Greece, he met an Italian doctor, fell in love, got married and set up house in Italy. He paints, writes and teaches, dividing his time between Milan and Lago Maggiore.
Don CarrollDon Carroll is an American attorney in Rome specializing in U.S. income, gift and estate tax, multijurisdictional estate planning and administration and real estate transactions. He is also legal counsel to U.S.-based colleges, universities and non-profit organizations with programs in Italy. He is a playwright on the side and has been writing the magazine's legal column since 2011.
Kristine Crane, Deputy EditorKristine Crane is Deputy Editor of The American and the author of the "L'Americana" column. She lives and writes in North Central Florida. She was formerly a Fulbright scholar and journalist in Rome, where she helped found" The American." She is originally from Iowa City.
Elisa Scarton DettiElisa stubbornly decided to move back to Italy after her parents went to the trouble of immigrating to Australia before she was even born. Before leaving Melbourne, she earned a journalism degree, with honors, from RMIT University. She now lives and writes in the Tuscan countryside town of Manciano, in La Maremma, her husband's home ground.
William Graebner and Dianne BennettWilliam Graebner is Emeritus Professor of History, State University of New York, Fredonia, where he taught Film and American Culture. Dianne Bennett, the first woman to head a large U.S. law firm, is a mostly retired U.S. tax lawyer. They blog about Italy and can't resist movies.
Suzanne DunawaySuzanne Dunaway, a longtime major magazine writer and artist, is the author and illustrator of "Rome, At Home, The Spirit of la cucina romana in Your Own Kitchen" (Broadway Books) and "No Need To Knead, Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes" (Hyperion). She taught cooking for 15 years privately and at cooking schools in Los Angeles snf noe maintains a personal site and a blog. She divides her time between southern France and Italy.
Patricia E. FogartyFormer Rabelais scholar Patricia Fogarty honed her skills in the New York City publishing world. She lives in Rome and has been the magazine's book columnist for a decade.
Willliam GraebnerSee Bill's bio under William Graebner and Dianne Bennett.
Madeleine Johnson, Associate EditorMadeleine Johnson has written her "Notebook" column for more than a decade. She lived in Italy for almost 30 years, mostly in Milan, before returning to the U.S. in 2017. Her work has been published in the "Financial Times" and "new York Post."
Madeline KlostermanBrooklyn-based Madeline Klosterman was born and raised in rural Ohio. After nearly two decades in corporate media, she now writes and studies art. Her column has appeared for more than a decade.
Susan LevensteinSusan Levenstein, MD, a New York native, moved to Italy in 1978 after she was Board Certified in Internal Medicine. She has run a successful Rome primary care practice since 1980. She maintains both a proessioanl site and a personal blog. In 2019, Paul Dry Books will publish her book about her adventures practicing medicine in Rome.
Elaine LutiElaine Luti has been a psychotherapist in private practice for well over 30 years. She has taught psychology at various universities in Italy and counseled international students in Rome for more two decades. supervises student therapists. Her interests include calligraphy, cooking, singing, and reading. She has grown children (and grandchildren) and lives with her husband in Rome.
Letizia MattiacciA former behavioral ecologist, Italian-born Letizia left academia with husband Ruurd to renovate a 500-year-old Umbrian farmhouse they turned into a B&B and cooking school named Alla Madonna del Piatto . She maintains a blog and in 2015 published a cookbook called "A Kitchen With a View."
Lorien MenhennettThough named for Tolkien's Elvish forest, Lorien didn't write much herself until college, where she took a journalism course because her biology advisor told her not to. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Illinois but has since changed direction, enrolling at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, a lifr change her columns often chronicle.
Scarlet MichaelsonScarlet is a writer living in Los Angeles. She loves a good espresso and is sometimes mistaken for Italian.
Max OxleyBorn and raised in South-East London, Max Oxley spends the majority of his time either watching films or being stressed out by the fact he is currently not watching a film. After dropping out of film school to pursue a career in lounging around in the English countryside, he has fully immersed himself in the "what next?" period of his life. He hopes to eventually become a professional journalist and/or novelist, though alternatively, may gradually transform into Richard E Grant's character in "Withnail and I."
Eleonora SaravalleLos Angeles-based Eleonora was born in Milan. She studied schools in Italy, England and the U.S. before earning her degree at Brown. When Eleonora is not acting, writing or watching comedy, she spends her time drinking tea, worrying too much about everything and spouting spoonerisms.
Joe ScottJoe Scott was born Joseph Scott Fuller in 1947. He has played the roles of "red-diaper baby," quitter of college, radical leftist, icer on a salmon cannery slime line, tire warehouseman, carpenter in the World Trade Center towers, printing press operator, computer programmer, and husband and father — all to predominantly excoriating reviews. He now lives in Oakland, California with his partner of 14 years.
Book StaffOur book staff consists of writers who contribute regularly and those who chip in from time to time. Names are withheld because the reviews are about the book, not the writer of the review. Our notices are intended only to spread interest in reading by proving unique vantage points and occasionally uncommon literary positions. Some reviews are signed.
David WinnerFiction Editor David Winner is a novelist ("The Cannibal of Guadalajara," "Tyler's Last") who has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He has published in "The Village Voice," "Fiction," "The Cortland Review and the "Kenyon Review." His story "My Lover's Moods" was made into a short film screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Christopher P. WinnerChristopher P. Winner, founder of "The American," was born in Paris. He executive editor of "The Prague Post" and the London-based European correspondent for "USA Today." A U.S. citizen raided in Washington, D.C., the Rome-based Winner writes autobiographical essays as well as cultural and political commentary.
Marcia YarrowA military brat, Marcia Yarrow was born in Hamburg, Germany but gewq up in Germany, Spain, and Provo, Utah. She's been writing for the magazine since its creation in 2004.