Foundation Newsletter Fall 2008

COLUMBUS CITIZENS FOUNDATION
OUNDATION QUARTERLY
FALL 2008
THE GREAT
WHITE FLEET
President’s Message
Louis A . Ta llarini
T
he 2008 Columbus Celebration is fast
approaching, and we have a spectacular lineup of exhibitions and events in
addition to the 64th Annual
Columbus Day Parade. Among the
highlights this year is an exhibition in
Vanderbilt Hall, The Great White Fleet, which
we are presenting in collaboration with the Office of
the Secretary of the Navy. The exhibition tells the
story of an earthquake and subsequent tsunami that
devastated Southern Italy and Sicily 100 years ago,
and the swift, invaluable humanitarian aid brought
by the U.S. Navy’s Great White Fleet. The heroic
efforts of Navy servicemen, and the courage and valor of Italians
working in the horrifically affected areas, remain a testament to
our indomitable nations and our enduring bonds.
We are extremely fortunate to have as Grand Marshal this year
Admiral P. Edmund Giambastiani, Jr. , U.S. Navy (ret.), former
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now in the private
sector as Chairman of Alenia, Admiral Giambastiani counted
among his primary responsibilities while serving our country the
safety of the young men and women he commanded – 1.1 million
service members at US Joint Forces Command. We are honored
that Admiral Giamastiani (who is known as “Admiral G.” within
the military and to President George W. Bush) accepted our invitation to be Grand Marshal.
This year’s Honorees include the dynamic and irrepressible Joe
Plumeri, who in just eight years has turned the formerly moribund
Willis Group Holdings into the world’s third-largest insurance
broker. Honoree Thomas P. Sculco, M.D. is Surgeon-in-Chief
and Korein-Wilson Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Hospital
for Special Surgery, one of the world’s great hospitals. He has also
written 230 papers, 63 chapters and three books on orthopedic surgery and the surgical treatment of arthritis, making him a leader
in this important field of research and study. We are extremely
fortunate to have another writer as an Honoree: Joseph Tusiani, a
poet, translator and humanist. Mr. Tusiani was the first American
to win the prestigious Greenwood Prize of the Poetry Society of
COLUMBUS CITIZENS FOUNDATION
The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization
in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation
of Italian-American heritage and achievement. The Foundation,
through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities,
provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American
students through various scholarship and grant programs.
The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus
Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has celebrated
Italian-American heritage on New York's Fifth Avenue since 1929.
Columbus Citizens Foundation
8 East 69th Street, New York, New York 10021
Phone: 212.249.9923 Fax: 212.737.4413
www.columbuscitizensfd.org
England – it is just one of many awards he has
received – and was invited by President John F.
Kennedy, Jr. to make an audio recording of his
poetry for the Library of Congress.
We have a special guest who will perform at this
year’s gala: award-winning songwriter, music producer
and starting with the upcoming season, the newest
judge on American Idol: Kara DioGuardi. Some of
us remember Ms. DioGuardi from her performance
on the Gala stage in 1983, but all of us know her
from the Columbus Celebration 2007, when she was
an exceptionally gracious and generous Honoree herself. I
am delighted that Kara will be with us again and congratulate her
on becoming a judge on television’s top-rated program.
I would like to thank the men and women whose countless hours
of work are going to make this year’s Columbus Celebration one
for the record books: Celebration Chairman Angelo Vivolo,
Parade Chair Alfred Catalanotto, Journal Co-Chairs Anthony
Giordano and Anthony Mallardi, Dinner Chair Maria Bartiromo,
Media Chair Frank Fusaro, International Affairs Chair Giuliana
Ridolfi Cardillo, International Relations Chair Enzo Pizzimenti,
Marketing Chair Michael Pedone, and Silent Auction Chair Maria
Theresa Fauci. They have been ably assisted by Executive
Director Christine Meola, General Manager John Boden,
Controller Lisa LoRusso, and members of the Foundation staff:
Millie Aponte, Cathy Adiutori, Susan E. Plant, Anthony Sama,
Rosie Scavuzzo, Marianna Toglia and Stephanie Vano.
I look forward to seeing you at our events as we celebrate our
shared heritage, culture and achievements.
Sincerely,
L oui s A. Tall ari ni, President
Officers
Board of Governors
Louis A. Tallarini
President
Lawrence E. Auriana
Chairman
Maria Bartiromo
John V. Cioffi
Alfred T. De Maria
Richard C. De Zego
Nicholas T. Donovan
Frank G. Fusaro
Saviero Giarrusso
Anthony F. Giordano
Anthony M. Mallardi
Hon. Eugene L. Nardelli
Michael F. Pedone
Matt Sabatine
Vincent M. Toscano
Angelo V. Vivolo
Amb. Joseph Zappala
Vice-President
Alfred M. Catalanotto
Secretary
Marian U. Pardo
Treasurer
Christine M. Meola
Executive Director
John L. Boden
General Manager
Lisa LoRusso
Controller
The United States Navy’s Great White Fleet:
Compassion and Strength
I
n 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt sent 16 battleships –
their hulls painted white and later known as The Great White
Fleet – to circumnavigate the globe on a goodwill mission and
display of American strength. When a devastating earthquake
followed by a tidal wave hit Sicily and Southern Italy on December
28, 1908, the fleet’s mission changed dramatically. Ships from
America’s Great White Fleet rushed to the Mediterranean to provide essential humanitarian aid and services to Italy, where an
estimated 200,000 people had perished.
The 2008 Columbus Celebration commemorates the heroic
efforts of Italians and American servicemen who came together in
one of the greatest humanitarian efforts in European history
through floats in the Columbus Day Parade and an exhibition in
Vanderbilt Hall, The Great White Fleet, which will be on view from
October 7 through October 17.
Presented by the Columbus Citizens Foundation in collaboration
with the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, The Great White
Fleet documents the utter devastation that was wrought in Sicily
and Southern Italy. Buildings that had stood for centuries crumbled.
Entire towns were washed away. An American was in Sicily when
the earthquake struck, and he headed to the badly hit Messina to
offer assistance. When he arrived, he later wrote home in a letter,
“I came upon a site God forbid me ever seeing again.”
Like many others, he worked days on end without sleep or food to
assist the stricken. “Having no medicine or in fact anything but
spades and some linen, we could do little more than remove [the
injured] to a more comfortable place.”
The response from America, described on pages 6 – 7 by Professor
Salvatore LaGumina, author of a new book due out this October,
The Great Earthquake: America Comes to Messina’s Rescue (Teneo
Press, Youngstown, NY), was profound and inspiring. The U.S.
Navy ordered the Great White Fleet to the ravaged areas to provide blankets and food. American citizens offered assistance as
well, lining up at docks throughout the East Coast with provisions
to be taken to Italy.
The actions of the United States, its navy and its citizens were recognized throughout the world. Archbishop John Ireland, speaking
as a representative of Pope Piux X, said, “The best possible impres-
sion has been made in Italy by the offerings coming from the
United States. It is well that the United States, now a great world
power through its commerce and territorial expansion, can show
itself also to be a great world power by the munificence of its charity.”
And Italy’s Prime Minister, Giovanni Giolitti, said, “What the
United States has done on this occasion is magnificent and shall
not be forgotten. The United States stands first, outdistancing all
others in sympathy and generosity.” ✤
Clockwise from top: Refugees in Messina after the earthquake carry possessions they had salvaged from their homes. A newspaper headline
announcing the change in the Great White Fleet’s mission. Ships of the Great White Fleet.
3
Americans Come to the Rescue of Messina
Earthquake Victims
T
By Salvatore John LaGumina, Ph.D.
he tragedy that began on December 28, 1908, at approximately 5:20 A.M., was to be certified as Europe's most powerful earthquake in modern times. Centered in the Messina
Strait that separates the island of Sicily from Calabria on the
Italian mainland, the quake's power, estimated at 7.5 on the
Richter scale, shook southern Italy to its very foundations with
tsunami-like consequences including 40-foot waves that crashed
down on dozens of coastal cities spreading thick, viscous, impassable mud in the streets resulting in enormous casualties – perhaps as
many as 200,000 perished.
Respecter neither of the peasant nor the prominent, the earthquake took as fatal victims the American Consul and his wife, the
English Consul’s wife, and numerous respectable tourists, among
whom were many American travelers of the Gilded Age.
Survivors faced the bleakest of realities --homes destroyed, family
members dead, and nearby cities and villages reduced to rubble.
There were reports of survivors wandering about dazed, demented
and nude, while widespread looting and vandalism required massive deployment of police and troops to keep order. The Italian
government relocated many Messina survivors to new towns within
Italy while others became immigrants destined for America.
Within weeks over 400 were placed on the Republic, a luxury passenger liner, while the Italian ship SS Florida, carried 850 passengers away from Naples to a new life in New York City. En route
these survivors endured a second disaster when lost in dense fog off
Nantucket Island, and the Florida collided with the Republic, an
accident that cost three more lives. Survivors finally arrived in
4
New York's harbor shaken and unnerved, as
they confronted a new challenge to begin
their lives again.
Although several countries responded
with humanitarian aid, the greatest assistance
came from the United States Navy’s goodwill mission of the Great
White Fleet, which was then in the final leg of its historic world
tour. The Fleet took steps to bring immediate and concrete succor
in the form of tens of thousands of pounds of food (bread, cereal,
fresh meat, fruit, milk, canned vegetables, and beverages) and doctors along with cots and blankets to the stricken area.
It was soon realized that recovery from the horrific devastation
would require much more assistance and thus began a little-known
but important chapter in Italian/American relations in the form of
extensive and vitally-needed house-building projects. The United
States Congress responded to an Italian government request for
home-building materials by approving a relief bill of $500,000.
The funds went towards construction items for approximately
3,000 homes in the destroyed village of Reggio and smaller nearby
villages on the Calabrian and Sicilian sides of the straits of
Messina. American naval personnel became vigorously engaged in
constructing the homes that became known as “the American village.” The operation that lasted for weeks elicited genuine appreciation from Italian officials. It also required a delicate temporary
relinquishment of national sovereignty by the Italian government
to an American camp within Italy.
Another indication of the close association between Americans and
Italians wrought by the tragedy was the personal visit by former
President Theodore Roosevelt to the stricken area on April 6,
1909. Although it was a hastily arranged unscheduled visit, the
King of Italy was on hand to greet him while throngs of townspeople filled the streets to show their appreciation for American aid.
It was a stirring sight to see the destitute population welcome him
with the seemingly incongruous but nevertheless heartfelt shout of
“Long live our President,” in deference to a man who was considered “a kind of spiritual President of the unfortunate island.”
Crowds were so large that the Roosevelt entourage was unable to
visit the ruins of the former American Consulate. However, he did
visit remains of the destroyed Messina Cathedral and adjacent
interior streets piled high with debris.
Representatives from the national government, local municipalities, religious orders and plain Italian citizens were profuse in
articulating their gratitude as expressed in official and private letters and in name designations –albeit employing bewildering phonetic Italian variations of American appellations such as Via
Rosuvett (for Roosevelt) and Via Brocchlin (for Brooklyn).
Americans who participated in house-building were convinced that
they were engaged in an essential humanitarian undertaking
involving construction of not only thousands of cottages but also
schools, workrooms, churches, hotels, and hospitals.
The actions of the United States and its citizens were exemplary:
the prompt reaction by the United States Navy via its battleships
laden with ample food, medicine and medical personnel; the
extraordinary manual labor undertaken by thousands of navy
members within the stricken areas; the proficiency and capability
exercised by United States representatives; the generous
Congressional approval of substantial sums to help the afflicted,
the voluntary contributions of the prominent and working class
Americans; the personal visit of President Roosevelt to the scene of
the disaster. American responses to the crisis elicited astonishing
commendation from Italy, from other nations and from ItalianAmericans. That the United States assumed this foremost role of
extensive aid to people in other parts of the world during the
Gilded Age may seem unusual in a era ruled by the philosophy of
the survival of the fittest, yet America’s answer to human needs in
a time of overwhelming disaster was an unforgettable example of
America at its best. ✤
Left page: President Theodore Roosevelt, a former Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, ordered the Great White Fleet to undertake
the humanitarian mission. A postcard showing servicemen ready to
work in Messina.
Right page: Clockwise from top left: : The earthquake and tidal wave
made headlines across the United States. The carnage in Messina,
Grateful refugees stand outside homes built with American materials.
The shining guns of an American battleship tower over Navy personnel who provided supplies and manpower in the relief effort.
5
Admiral Giambastiani,
Grand Marshal
A
dmiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., US Navy (Ret.),
Grand Marshal of the 2008 Columbus Day Parade, had an
exceptional, 37-year career in the service of his country.
Known within the military (and by President George W. Bush) as
“Admiral G.”, Admiral Giambastiani commanded 1.1 million service members at US Joint Forces Command as a NATO Supreme
Allied Commander. He was involved in classified submarine operations and was awarded numerous U.S. and foreign decorations
including 12 Defense and Service Distinguished Service Medals
and was most recently awarded The Grand Cross of the Order of
Merit of the Republic of Italy, the highest civilian decoration that
is awarded by the Italian Republic. Ultimately, he rose to the position
of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Although now serving in the private sector as Chairman of Alenia
North America, Inc., he continues to commit a considerable
amount of personal time to assisting the federal government on
various boards and advisory panels.
Yet for all of the praise for his accomplishments, awards and honorary degrees, Admiral Giambastiani is most proud of the 19 unit
awards and commendations he earned while in the Navy. “The
recognition that comes with those awards – they’re important
because they recognize the participation and accomplishments of
the entire team,” said Admiral Giambastiani.
Teamwork has been part of Admiral Giambastiani’s life almost
since birth. When he was a small child, his grandfather took him
out on his tractor on the family’s onion farm in Canastota, NY,
where Admiral Giambastiani’s mother had grown up. “As a kid, I
worked on his farm,” he recalled. “I cut the tops off the onions,
put them in bushels. Everybody in the family worked the farm.”
All of Admiral Giambastiani’s grandparents are of Italian descent
or were born in Italy. His paternal great grandparents, Rinaldo
Giambastiani and Maria Veronica Ludovina Perfetti, were born in
Tuscany and emigrated to New York City, where the father of his
paternal grandmother, Emma Capellino, ran the Italian Fine Cake
Bakery at 206 Thomson St.
Both of Admiral Giambastiani’s maternal grandparents immigrated
from Montemarciano in the Marche region of Italy: his grandfather Amleto (James) Grilli in 1913 and his grandmother Anita
Menotti in 1912. Both families soon settled in Canastota, 20 minutes
east of Syracuse, and it was Mr. Grilli whose tractor Admiral
Giambastiani rode on as a small child.
Admiral Giambastiani’s father, Edmund, grew up in Dongan Hills
on Staten Island. Mr. Giambastiani, a career electrician, and his
brother, Gilbert, were formidable tennis players. Mr. Giambastiani
was a New York City doubles champion in tennis in the late 1930’s,
the result of endless hours spent on a clay court their father built
at their home in Staten Island.
Admiral Giambastiani met his wife, Cynthia Ann Johnson, of
McLean, VA, at the 1975 Navy - Air Force football game in
Washington, DC and they were wed the following year. Admiral
and Mrs. Giambastiani, who goes by Cindy, have two children.
Edmund P. Giambastiani, III, is a Naval Academy graduate and a
Naval Reserve officer. He is Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative
Director, for Congressman Jeff Miller of Florida. Their daughter,
Catherine A. McElroy, is a government lawyer.
Admiral Giambastiani spent most of his Navy career in the submarine service. He engaged in both conventional operations and
some of the nation’s most secret undersea intelligence-gathering
missions. In his time with the fleet, he served as commander of the
entire submarine force in the Atlantic, as the NATO Commander
Submarines Atlantic and in positions where he oversaw the development of new undersea technologies.
In an interview with Thom Shanker in the New York Times,
Admiral Giambastiani said that as Vice Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs he had sought “to transform the management process” of
the Pentagon — “the business of business.” Of his work at the
Pentagon, Admiral Giambastiani said, “This is arcane stuff; it
makes people’s heads hurt when we talk about process. But we
have produced new capabilities even while we were in combat like
we are today. We have supported the troops as rapidly as possible.”
As Chairman of Alenia, a subsidiary of Alenia Aeronautica and part
of the Finmeccanica Group, Admiral Giambastiani draws on his
military experience. While in the service, Admiral Giambastiani
guided Pentagon efforts to rewrite strategy and streamline budgeting and procurement and oversee the development of new technologies, processes that are very much part of his current responsibilities. He also consults for both non-defense and defense companies, including health care and homeland security, as well as
serving on the board of Monster Worldwide, Inc. and as an adviser
to non-profit organizations.
Admiral Giambastiani says of being asked to be Grand Marshal, “I
was surprised and very honored. I immediately thought of my
mother, first, my father, and all my grandparents and how excited
they would have been to participate in the Celebration. When I
think of what it means to be Italian, I think of family, and I think
of my family and my late parents and grandparents, especially my
mother and my grandmother, Nonna. I think of a level of caring
and a level of nurturing – those are probably the strongest characteristics of being Italian American. Whatever successes I have
enjoyed have been a result of them.” ✤
This page: Admiral Giambastiani on being nominated to serve as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with President George W. Bush looking
on, 2005. Facing page, clockwise from top left: Admiral Giambastiani (center right) with brother, James Charles “Chick” Giambastiani, and parents
Adele and Edmund. Admiral and Cindy Giambastiani on their wedding day, 1976. Admiral and Mrs. Giambastiani. Admiral Giambastiani on
board Submarine NR-1 in Holy Loch, Scotland, 1984. Admiral Giambastiani with servicemen at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, 2007
(Defense Department photo by Tech. Sgt. Sean P. Houlihan). Daughter Catherine A. McElroy and son Edmund P. Giambastiani, III, add stars and
shoulder boards of a four-star Navy admiral to their father’s dress uniform, 2000.
6
7
J
Photo: Justine Ungaro
Kara DioGuardi
to Perform at Gala
ust three months before she takes the hot seat as the newest
American Idol judge, Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara
DioGuardi will put her own voice to the test – at our Gala Dinner!
Ms. DioGuardi is the brilliantly talented songwriter and producer
whose songs are on over 100 million records, eighty of which have
racked up sales that made them multi-plantinum albums. Her
songs have been recorded by dozens of major artists, including
Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Hilary Duff,
Avril Lavigne, Carlos Santana and Gwen Stefani.
Ms. DioGuardi was BMI’s 2007 Pop Songwriter of the Year and
has been awarded ten BMI Pop Awards. She is also co-owner of
ArtHouse Entertainment, where she develops and mentors fellow
hit writers, producers and artists.
Ms. DioGuardi was named the fourth American Idol judge on
August 25. The news made headlines around the country, and
with good reason: American Idol is television’s No. 1 show.
Starting with American Idol’s eighth season, in January, Ms.
DioGuardi will sit alongside Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and
Randy Jackson at the judges' table.
But on October 11, she will be our guest and the featured performer at the Gala. Welcome back home, Kara! ✤
Kara DioGuardi
Sublime, Powerful Maseratis
in Columbus Celebration Raffles
T
wo luxury Maserati sports cars will be raffled this year
to benefit the Columbus Citizens Foundation’s scholarship
programs.
The GranTurismo was introduced in 2008 to rave reviews in the
automotive press and has become an instant classic. The dazzling
coup features a 405 hp V8 engine that can launch the
GranTurismo from 0 to 60 in 5.1 seconds. There are only 300
raffle tickets available for the GranTurismo, which will be sold at
$1,000 each.
For those requiring four door transportation, the Columbus
Citizens Foundation and Maserati North America are offering
raffle tickets for the highly anticipated Maserati Quattroporte S,
which is considered to be the most stylish four-door sedan in production and is powered by a 425 hp V8 engine. We will be offering
only 400 raffle tickets for this model, also for $1,000 each.
The cars will be on display in Grand Central Terminal from
October 4th through October 17th. The drawing for the 2009
Maserati GranTurismo will be held at our Annual Gala at the
Waldorf Astoria Hotel on October 11, 2008 at 11:00 PM. The
drawing for the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte S will be held in
Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal at 9:00 PM on
October 17, 2008.
Maserati USA is partnering with the Columbus Citizens
Foundation in the raffles in recognition of the Foundation’s scholarship programs and of the company’s own Italian heritage. You
can participate in the 2008 Columbus Celebration raffles by calling
Millie Aponte at the Foundation at (212) 249-9923. On behalf of
the Foundation and the students whose education we support,
thank you for your generosity. ✤
Buona Fortuna!
In partnership with Maserati USA, the Foundation will raffle a GranTurismo and Quattroporte S to benefit the Foundation's scholarship funds.
8
Honoree Joseph Plumeri:
Achievement, Community, Philanthropy
J
oseph Plumeri, Honoree of the 2008 Columbus Celebration, is
Chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings, a Londonbased insurance broker. In 2000, he was hand-picked for the
position by Henry Kravis, of Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co.,
which had recently acquired Willis and was taking it private. The
firm had long been run like a British gentlemen’s club, with losses
to match. Mr. Kravis wanted the company brought out of the
Victorian era.
Mr. Plumeri flew to London, where his predecessor at Willis introduced him as the new chief executive and described him as someone who had no insurance or international corporate experience.
Known for his utter candor and for championing corporate transparency, Mr. Plumeri said, “Sure, I have no insurance experience.
But I do have international experience. I have family in Sicily.”
In the eight years since Mr. Plumeri became Willis Holdings’
CEO, Willis’s net worth has doubled, its margins have risen from
7% to 32%, its stock price has grown from $3 to $32 per share, and
it has acquired for $2.1 billion Hilb Rogal & Hobbs, an American
insurer that will increase Willis’s presence in the United States.
“These days in our sector there’s been a lot of retrenching,” Mr.
Plumeri told the New York Times. “But we’ve tried to go against
the grain, and we’ve been growing.”
Mr. Plumeri is passionate about his company’s business. He has
delivered speeches, one observer noted, “in a crescendo approaching that of an impassioned Roman orator.” On one occasion,
Mr. Plumeri said, “Insurance is the DNA of capitalism. It’s
the fabric of commerce and the fabric of a community. It’s not just
an industry or a business – it is a fundamental responsibility to
the community.”
Mr. Plumeri grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, graduated from
William & Mary College, where he played halfback and second
base. Before heading Willis Group Holdings, he worked at
Citicorp and its predecessor companies for 32 years, where he held
a number of key positions.
He was Vice Chairman of the
Travelers Group, President
and Managing Partner of
Shearson Lehman Brothers,
and Chairman and CEO of
Travelers Primerica Financial
Services. One of his most
notable
accomplishments
involved the integration of
the consumer businesses at
Citicorp and Travelers Group
under his leadership as the
CEO of Citibank North
America.
Mr. Plumeri’s ancestors came
from Villalba, Sicily, and his Joseph Plumeri
grandfather was one of the
first Italians to migrate to the Trenton area. His late father,
Samuel Plumeri, was a Trenton city official and business owner
who in 1994 brought minor-league baseball back to the New
Jersey capital for the first time in 45 years. The Trenton Thunder,
a class AA affiliate of the Yankees, plays its games on Samuel J.
Plumeri Field. Mr. Plumeri continues to own the team, as he
had with his father, and remains on the board.
“I was raised in an Italian neighborhood in Trenton, and it was a
re-creation of the town where my grandparents came from,
Villalba. The culture there drew on the special social, family and
religious values of the old country. It was later in life that I really
appreciated how wonderful that was. My family has always been
proud of our heritage. As immigrants, they had to fight for the
respect and opportunities they deserved. I learned a lot from that
experience. It has taught me to be thankful for the opportunities
I’ve been afforded and to dedicate myself to philanthropic
programs that give back to my community.” ✤
Mr. Plumeri speaking at the opening of The Willis Building, the new landmark London headquarters for Willis Group Holdings on July 21, 2008
(above left) and receiving congratulations from Prince Andrew, His Royal Highness, The Duke of York.
9
Dr. Thomas P. Sculco
Professor and Surgeon-in-Chief
Dr. Thomas P. Sculco is currently Surgeon-inChief and Korein-Wilson Professor of
Orthopedic Surgery at Hospital for Special
Surgery. He is the Chairman of the Department
of Orthopaedic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital and a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
at Weill Cornell Medical College and Chairman
of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Sculco graduated
from Brown University with a degree in Classics
and earned his medical degree at the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.
He subsequently trained at the Roosevelt Hospital
in General Surgery and received his orthopedic
training at The Hospital for Special Surgery. He
received the Bowen Brooks Fellowship from the
New York Academy of Medicine on completion of
his residency and studied the delivery of care to
patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Finland,
England and Italy.
Award in 2002. In 2005 he
received the Gold Medal Award
for Clinical Medicine from
Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons.
He has written over 230 papers,
63 chapters and three books on
orthopedic surgery and the surgical treatment of arthritis.
Dr. Sculco is extremely active in
international and national medical associations including the
American Academy of Orthopedic
Surgeons, American Orthopedic
Association, Academic Orthopedic
Association and the Societe
Internationale de Chirugie
Orthopedique et de Traumatologie.
He is a founding member of the
Dr. Sculco’s research interests are currently cenKnee Society and currently a
tered on improvements in surgical technique and
member of the Board of
preventing failure of hip and knee implants. He
Directors and Treasurer and is a
has been awarded both the Otto Aufranc and the
member
of the Hip Society. Dr.
Dr.
Thomas
P.
Sculco
Charnley Award from the Hip Society for his
Sculco
served
on the Board of
work with Thrombogenesis in Total Hip
Directors of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and
Replacement. In 1999 he was awarded the Arthritis Foundation’s
is the liaison between the AAOS and The Arthritis Foundation. ✤
Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the first American to be elected
as an Honorary Member of the Austrian Orthopaedic Society. Dr.
From left to right: Sarah Jane, Thomas, Cynthia and Peter Sculco
Sculco was awarded the Humes Professorship in Salzburg, Austria.
with Lucy, Leo and Molly at their country home in Rhode Island.
He was awarded the Philip D. Wilson, Jr. Resident Teaching
10
Joseph Tusiani
Poet, Translator, Humanist
POET
TRANSLATOR
The first American to win, in 1956, the prestigious Greenwood
Prize of the Poetry Society of England, Joseph Tusiani writes in
four languages. They are in order of quantity of published verse:
Latin, English, Italian, and his own native Apulian dialect.
A colleague and fellow poet, Felix
Stefanile, called Joseph Tusiani "a
one-man industry". Simply astonishing is the vastness of his translations of Italian classics, from
Dante's Rime to Tasso's Jerusalem
Delivered, Creation of the World and
Leopardi's Canti.
In 1963, he was one of the thirty-one American poets - from W.H.
Auden to William Carlos Williams - selected for the Steuben Glass
venture of Poetry in Crystal, and was invited by President Kennedy
to record for the archives of The Library of Congress an ample
selection from his first book of verse, Rind and All.
In 1969, for his play in verse, If Gold Should Rust, he won the Alice
Fay di Castagnola Award of the Poetry Society of America, where
he served as Vice President under Robert Frost. He was also awarded
the "Spirit" Gold Medal of the Catholic Poetry Society of America.
Finally, in 1977, he published Gente Mia and Other Poems, now
considered a landmark in Italian American literature.
But he has also translated for the
first time Boccaccio's Nymphs of
Fiesole and, most especially, Luigi
Pulci's Morgante, never translated
before in five centuries, save for
Lord Byron's rendering of the first
Canto alone.
Joseph Tusiani
His greatest merit, however, is his book The Complete Poems of
Michelangelo, which, in 1960, introduced to the English-speaking
world a completely unknown facet of Michelangelo's genius.
In three voluminous anthologies, still used in our schools, The Age
of Dante, Italian Poets of the Renaissance, and From Marino to
Marinetti, he has translated two-hundred Italian poets, major and
minor, from Saint Francis of Assisi to the Futurist Manifesto
of 1909.
Worthy of note is his translation of Vittorio Alfieri's L’America
Libera, the first public acknowledgment of the American
Independence on the part of an Italian poet representing Italy herself. This rare, deluxe edition, titled America the Free, was presented, in 1976, to all members of Congress on behalf of New York's
Italian-American Center for Urban Affairs.
HUMANIST
Believe it or not, Joseph Tusiani's best-known and largest poetic
output is in Latin -- full seven books of it, the last of which, In
Nobis Caelum, was published last year in Belgium by the University
of Louvain.
Considered by two highly competent magazines, Latinitas of the
Vatican and Melissa of Zurich "the greatest Latin poet of our time"
("poeta huius aetatis maxime fecundus"), Tusiani has written more
than Catullus, Tibullus, and even Vergil -- a breath-taking production indeed.
Last but not least, Joseph Tusiani has written in Italian a threevolume autobiography, La Parola Difficile, La Parola Nuova, and
La Parola Antica, the subject of over ten doctoral dissertations at
various European Universities.
Four years ago, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, he was
feted in Rome's Campidoglio and Altare della Patria. Also, last
year, the City of Florence presented him with its Giglio d'Argento
and Le Chiavi della Citta'. ✤
Mr. Tusiani with his mother when he arrived in America, 1947.
11
2008 Columbus
Celebration Events
October 7 – 17
The Great White Fleet
Exhibition Presented by the Columbus Citizens Foundation
in Collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of the Navy
Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal
42nd Street and Park Ave.
October 7th through October 17th
Opens Daily at 8:00 AM
October 10
Sponsor and Media Reception
Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal
42nd St. and Park Ave.
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Invitation Required
October 11
Gala Dinner
Grand Ballroom, Waldorf≈Astoria Hotel
Park Ave. at 50th St.
6:30 PM Reception, 7:30 PM Dinner
Reservations Required
October 12
Wreath Laying at Columbus Circle
Eighth Ave. and 59th St.
10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
October 13
Columbus Day Mass
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Fifth Ave. and 50th St.
9:30 AM to 10:45 PM
Tickets Required
Columbus Day Parade
Fifth Ave. from 47th Street to 79th Street
11:30 AM to 3:00 PM
FOUNDATION QUARTERLY
Michael Pedone, Editor-in-Chief
Andrew Decker, Executive Editor
Joann Coates, Art Director
Susan E. Plant, Associate Editor
Photographs: Vito Catalano, Anita and Steve Shevett
Mirror Imaging, Printing