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Dr. Dominic Candeloro
Dr. Dominic Candeloro
Dr. Dominic Candeloro
Dr. Dominic Candeloro
Casa Italia Library Curator
Director of the Italian Cultural Center
Dominic Candeloro is the resident historian and curator of the Florence Bartolomei Roselli Casa Italia Library in Stone Park, Illinois. He is the co-editor of Italian Women in Chicago and Reconstructing Italians in Chicago which is currently in its second publication.
Arthur Cola
Arthur Cola
ARTHUR COLA was born in Chicago on the near west side. His family lived in the old Italian neighborhood on Taylor St. They moved to Oak Park where he attended
Oak Park River Forest High School. He met his wife While attending Loyola University/Chicago. He received his Bachelor’s Degree and began teaching. They have five adult children and seven grandchildren.
He entered school administration upon receiving his Master’s Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. His post graduate work included studying in Rome. He began writing novels which range from Fantasies to Supernatural Thrillers, Christmas tales to the biography of Michelangelo. After completing his Doonagore Theft Trilogy he began writing in a new genre. His De Cenza Murder Mystery series now has four books beginning with Murder in the Abbey. The fifth adventure, “Murder on Capri” has just been completed.
Arthur had also written three screenplays, the newest one being “Murder in the Abbey” based on his book. It is registered with the Writers Guild of America. In August 2023, it was presented to Amazon Studios and Netflix film divisions.
Albert DeGenova
Albert DeGenova
ALBERT DeGENOVA is an award-winning poet, publisher, and teacher, as well as the Executive Director of Write On, Door County. He is the author of five books of poetry and two chapbooks. His most recent book Human Nature, poems of witness was published by Kelsay Books in January 2024. DeGenova is the founder of After Hours Press and editor of After Hours magazine, a journal of Chicago writing and art that launched in June of 2000. He received his MFA from Spalding University in Louisville. He is also a blues saxophonist.
Eric Dregni
Eric Dregni
ERIC DREGNI is author of twenty books, including In Cod We Trust, Vikings in the Attic, and For the Love of Cod, all published by the University of Minnesota Press.
He is professor of English, journalism, and Italian at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and dean of the Italian Concordia Language Village.
Jeff Gentile
Jeff Gentile
JEFFREY J. GENTILE, D.D.S. is a graduate of Loyola University School of Dentistry where he was an instructor and recipient of the Loyola Distinguished Faculty Award in the department of Endodontics.
Dr. Gentile has held memberships in many professional organizations including the American Dental Association, Chicago Dental Society, Academy of General Dentistry, West Suburban Dental Society, National Society of Dental Practitioners and a fellowship with the American Cancer Society.
In addition, he is a past president of the Italian club at Loyola University Lake Shore Campus, past president of the Arcolian Dental Arts Society, past Arcolian of The Year and is presently the historian for the Arcolian Dental Society.
Dr. Jeff is a distance runner and golfer who currently owns a private practice of 35 years in Glen Ellyn Illinois with his wife Eileen M. Gentile B.S.,R.D.H.
Emilie Lucchesi
Emilie Lucchesi
EMILIE LUCCHESI, PhD is an author, journalist and educator. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Discover, The Atlantic, The New York Times and the country’s largest newspapers including more than 800 stories in the Chicago Tribune. She is the author of two nonfiction books, Ugly Prey: An Innocent Woman and the Death Sentence that Scandalized Jazz Age Chicago (Chicago Review, 2017) and This is Really War: The Incredible True Story of a Navy Nurse POW in the Occupied Philippines (Chicago Review, 2019). She is the co-author of Kathy Kleiner Rubin’s memoir, A Light in the Dark: Surviving More than Ted Bundy (Chicago Review, 2023). She holds a PhD in communication from the University of Illinois-Chicago. She lives with her husband and three little dogs in River Forest.
Christina Marrocco
Christina Marrocco
CHRISTINA MARROCCO, PhD works in memoir, short story, long fiction, and poetry. Her work has appeared in Silverbirch Press, The Laurel Review, House Mountain Review, VIA, Ovunque Siamo, and Red Fern Press. Her writing often deals with Italian American family structures and working-class concerns. She is a member of the English Faculty at Elgin Community College where she teaches Creative Writing and other courses. Christina's Sicilian ancestors came from Collesano and Alcamo, Sicily, and settled in Melrose Park and in the Taylor Street neighborhood of Chicago. Her debut novel, Addio, Love Monster, published by Ovunque Siamo, won Best New Independent Press Fiction from the Chicago Writers Association in 2022. Her essay "Mia Figlia ѐ uno Scheletro" will appear in the new anthology, Italian Women in Chicago Volume 2.
Terry Quilico
Terry Quilico
TERRY QUILICO's first exposure to journalism was through a Summer work program at the Joliet Herald while in college. After discharge from the Navy he gained experience as a photojournalist covering the antiwar movement. Along with Paul Basile he is co-author and co-editor of “Evviva La Festa - A Spiritual Journey from Italy to Chicago,” and has written two short plays, “iHamlet” which was performed at IA Literati 2017 and “Seatonville,” which debuted at IA Literati 2021 and "The Vibes of March", a satirical piece of Julius Caesar's last day, which debuted at IA Literati 2023. He is a correspondent with Fra Noi. He is also proud to serve as one of the volunteers at Casa Italia Library where he and colleague, Barbara Stasell, were tasked with the two-year renovation project of the Italians in Chicago Exhibit which was unveiled at the Italian Cultural Center Open House in May 2023.
Louis Rosati
Louis Rosati
Dr. LOUIS A. ROSATI was born and raised in Lockport New York where he attended Lockport public schools, graduating from Lockport Senior High School in 1958. He graduated from the University of Buffalo in 1962 and the Upstate Medical Center at Syracuse in 1966. Following his residency in pathology at the University of Michigan Medical Center from 1966-1971, he served in the Department of Pathology at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. In 1973 he began his practice of anatomic and clinical pathology in the Phoenix metropolitan area where he was a co-founder of Clin-Path Associates and Sonora Laboratory Sciences (Sonora Quest). During his professional career, he published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on clinical and surgical pathology.
Retired in Mesa Arizona with his wife Rosalie, his high school class mate and sweetheart of more than 60 years, he turned his attention to creative writing, publishing his first non-fiction book, My Winning Season (2012). It traces his Italian American life growing up in Lockport’s West End through a nostalgic season of Lockport’s 1954 Little League Baseball league. A journal of the season's games forms the thread of the book intertwined with a nostalgic, often poignant remembrance of his Italian neighborhood and concurrent world events.
He followed up with another memoir about Lockport’s culture and industry in Men of Steel (2019), which focused the rise and demise of Simonds Saw and Steel through the history of the steel industry and the lives of the men who worked in the mill. Located on the southwest edge of Lockport’s Italian neighborhood, it employed his grandfathers, father and uncles, and where he added a third generation to the plant’s history when he worked there one summer during his college years. He is currently working on a new and revised edition of that book.
His first novel, The Boy in Abruzzo (2022) set in the Abruzzo region of Italy during WW II, pays homage to his Italian roots, by the telling of the tale of a teen age boy who heroically resists the German occupation by leading escaped prisoners of war to freedom. Based on a true-life incident, the story offers the reader a window to an Italian setting at a unique time in history.
Louis A. Rosati, MD
Mesa, Arizona
Anthony Venturella
Anthony Venturella
Italian-American author ANTHONY VENTURELLA, an Engineering & Technology Manager with a Bachelor's Degree from Colorado State University and an MBA from Louisiana State University, resides in Arkansas with his wife and two children. Originally from Chicago, he combines an analytical mind with a connection to his Italian heritage.
Fueled by a passion for genealogical exploration, Anthony embarked on a mission to delve into his familial roots, secure Italian citizenship, and extend a helping hand to others on their ancestral journey. His first work, "From Sicilia to America and Back: My Venturella Family," provides a captivating glimpse into the enchanting town of his ancestors, Campofelice di Roccella. Offering insights through the lens of his own family's history through document collection, and the background of his family’s journey to America, readers gain a profound understanding of their Italian heritage, and how they too can research their unique roots through genealogical research, utilizing resources such as Antenati and FamilySearch.
"From Sicilia to America and Back" serves as more than just a guide; it's a strategic roadmap that seamlessly connects genealogical research using various sources, historical exploration, and the pursuit of reclaiming Italian citizenship. Embark on a captivating expedition through time to rediscover the enduring legacy of your Italian roots. Uncover the steps to delve into the rich history of your ancestors with practical insights and resources at your fingertips.
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