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Peter Chiarella
Peter Chiarella started life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1932. He was educated in the public school system and at St. John's University. Retired from the corpo...view morePeter Chiarella started life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1932. He was educated in the public school system and at St. John's University. Retired from the corporate world, Peter lives in Napa, California and enjoys the life of a gentleman farmer as a wine grape grower and vintner. He is married and has four children and two grandchildren.
The author's mother was born in Calabria, but was brought to America as a toddler when her mother died from an illness brought on by childbirth. She became the ward of her Aunt Katie, the principal character in Out of Calabria, and grew up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Just as Peter's previous book, Calabrian Tales, recounts unforgettable stories about his paternal roots, Out of Calabria recounts his maternal roots with powerful stories revealed by his mother and other family elders. Unwittingly, the two books reflect a very early feminist daring that impacted future generations of the family.
For as long as they can remember, the author and his brothers heard these stories at family gatherings and soaked them up like the gravy of a Sunday meal. Knowing Peter's love of history and of all things Italian, the family encouraged him to take on the task of writing two historical novels, reflecting on the struggle and compromises that past generations of his family endured in turn-of-the-century southern Italy and America. At times you will have to remind yourself that these are true stories with real people.view less