The fifth volume of I Messaggeri d’Abruzzo nel Mondo (Abruzzo’s Messengers Around the World) by VideoAge‘s Editor-in-Chief Dom Serafini is sponsored by TLN, an Italian and Spanish TV network in Canada. The 136-page Italian-language book about personalities from the Abruzzo region was published by TV Trade Media, and has the imprimatur of the Rocky Marciano Festival of Ripa Teatina.
Both TLN and the late American heavyweight boxing champion, Marciano, have links to Abruzzo, the little-known region in central Italy often described like a miniature California for its tall mountains, wide sandy beaches, large natural parks, and native bears. A number of Hollywood films have even been shot in Abruzzo, including 1986’s The Name of the Rose starring Sean Connery and George Clooney’s 2010 flick, The American. The region was also featured in the 2010 documentary Operation Oak, which told the story of the German rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from the Abruzzo mountains.
Of the 46 personalities reviewed in this fifth volume, five are Canadians, who hail from such diverse locales as Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. These personalities represent a wide range of professions. There’s a singer-songwriter (Nicola Ciccone), a film and television producer (Marina Cordoni), an economist (Matteo Montagliani), a journalist (Giulia Verticchio), and a trade unionist (Nello Scipioni).
A TLN ad that is featured on the back cover of the book specifies: “For over 40 years, TLN has been committed to promoting Italian culture, products and services to millions of Canadians through our TV channels and in the community. Italy lives in Canada with TLN.” Early this year, TLN broadcast the documentary Bosco Martese (Martese Forest). From producer Adriana Chiesa, the doc told the tale of Italy’s first resistance movement against the Nazis in WWII, which originated in Abruzzo (and is featured in the book).
Half of the book’s cover price will be donated to the Rocky Marciano Festival and to the sailing club V. Migliori in the town of Giulianova, which is hosting a Fourth of July (U.S. Independence Day) celebration to introduce Serafini’s new book. This will be the first time that an Independence Day celebration is taking place in Abruzzo.
The book, available in bookstores and newsstands in Italy, and online stores worldwide, deals with very current and heartfelt topics, including the various categories of visas required to work in the U.S., and the role of Abruzzo during the Second World War, especially for the protection of Jews, like Saul Steinberg (1914-1999), who was interned there (and featured in the book). Steinberg became famous in the U.S. for covers of the New Yorker, including “A view of the world from 9th Avenue” from the March 29, 1976 edition.
The reports in the book cover the contributions of Abruzzesi from 32 countries who have distinguished themselves abroad.
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