Roberr D'Anilio

PAUL PE1'R.lf;ONE, Rl!VERE

BEACJ-1. &. OTHER THINGS

PAUL PETRll.OlvTo, l'.E\'r:.Rr

&

on I'ER THINGS

til f\1

11

I firu s.tW r aul P~r>CQOc\ phO<ographs on ~ ~ummrr Wl' Ill 1 '1~ m .u1
invitutionJ.I show of New Engli111d photogr.lrber<o ~ur.ttcJ hy u ri
Siembab for rht Boston Ans Festiv;~l 1~ ev~nt h~ftl ~nnu~ll: in
Boston's Public Garden dunng rlw prnoJ t\n in'''" " ~1r Frw And
fora general pub) ic; it W~IOOC ~f Bllon's pJ~tli.Jri~S thai. lik.oo 1111,1tf1
of the City, now belon~ only to mernury At lhe timr Siemb~L nn t
gall~ on NewburyS~reft. one of the f~w tn the city dc.oditatcd to phfltography as:~n 11n form. Many of tl oe young photogr~pher~ C.ul1xhih
itcd ha~ sinct developed lmponlU1t repmation~: P3ul Caponigro,
Chiam1z.a, Ma.rie Co~indoiS , Bill Clifl. Nick 0tJI1 .tnd (lu,tcf
Michal ik. But it was Paul'6 work thai .:wghr "?' cye-ab~tr:m oonp<)O
sirioru made o( paint mark~ on old bn,~ i>uUdull)> 1\ht r~a b1 Yni
a wonderful taaile feeling.

c.,,

!Wful De Grunou,;, f~iemJ I"' uk~n by f1.1ul ~ ""'k o...!Ue,l him "f'
-and =grd a meeting. PJul. it tUrtlcd 1011[
~111\VU ur 'n
Somerville :is had Raffael, nnd J was fnJTI 1hl n~~~ Lli\Vro qv~r. M~.llor.L
As the sons o immigrant par~m) the 1hte\' "' "' h.d , ..ml.lr t1Jd
crounds, and wt found that wt hJd m.lrl> U)mnlun !Jih'lt\1~. \Y/(
b~me foiST: friend$'who ralkeJ ~hout evcm ht'l[:.' 1.11~ g~Cl1(1')'J'"Y uf E~.n
~t, Somerville. Mt!dford, llostln \ Nu11h [nd, \'t\'51 [!ot.d ,
So:ollay Square, 1hree dc:d:er li(e, 10122 club<, wri1in~, pt><1ry. rnu"<.
lood uul drink. Since Paul w:as old~r 1hnn RilffJel>tnd nc h( talk.cJ ol
IOQ.sl.li!S, jinerbugging, ~nd ~ng b~nJs ...,hild we ul~~ .;boll bo>p,
ElliuJmn, jan at the S1able.s ~nd Connollty\. Mmy urn"! we rJik.J
~ 1he night ~s the big wide soum.l ol Johnny Hods(' or ' ''" ''mpk
minded tbythms of Cuminl Bur.ln.t Ill led mu dr..

,,.J

Paul's parentS aJM from the~~ town of Gaeta, jUSt south of

Rome, the town thar aught Paul Suand;s ~ during his Iuli411
sojourns. At tint Paul's know I~ of I~y was only the usual stonl3'
thlr come out of one's fanu1y history. 1 bad just begun rescarclung
Jtalian-America11 ndiali.sm and the Sa~Vanzetti Case in puticu.
lar.In reading through old Inll11n language warchist joum:lls that had
been printed in Boston, L)'lln md &me, Vermont I cam~ across sev.
era) Petrioones. Did P~ul ~ow of thtmi To our am:u.ement they
~re hi$ fathu vtl u.nde.

Pad karto oi hi' f.uhlor's ooancaion ;rith ndinl politics, but took t1us
to mean, as mc.r ,'()U)d 1-.a~ ax 1M rime. suppon for the New Deal.
POl. and thr Dnno.-r.nk Pvty Now be learned that his f.ather .lrd
Ulld~bot h ~bold been a different breed. They wert militant
~hisn who WllltW a violtnr $oclal revolution. They wert
Gllltanmi. ~ly from the s:une group that S~oco Qnd Vanz.etri
bdonpdtu.
When young hll bd hung out ax his &ther's club, The Mansfidd
Smet Cub, on the edge ofSomerviUes Union Squ.mo, he thoughtn
JUSt ancxhcr balianAmeriC2ll dub. But it had been one of the mm1
~ centm of anti.fucist llai""ity quite different in axtirudt from
the complacency of roost Little Italies towards f2scist Ic;ly. Tbt pl~.:t
where Paul sh01 pool, had a drink, or chased girls h.'\d hOSted many
noted fagures of that now forgotten .struggle: Ga~rano S:Uvemiru,
V"IJiilia D'Andrea wd .Artru.ndo Borglu. It was then that l le~med
&om Paul that the prlnu I had seen in the Arts Festival were images of
mubpainted on the buildings of Boston's West .End 10 indic:oue thOSf
liKed for demolition. The Wts~ End fwl b1J well known to Pul's
adw who ran ~ snull fruit and vtgtW!It shop on nearby Com Htll.
rigla bdUnd Scollay Square whert Government Center nO'(" nvuh
'These fragmenu of history provoked Paul's interest about Ius past. 001
oaly his Family history, but abo ItalianAmeriC2ll culture wd lnlian

bisroty.
~became clear tim h ul's personal hUtoryand his work fed ~ch.ethet
Ill a 111~. but n01 ihlnys in a ttadily gn.sped DWU~er, even,tn thr
.......;~by Pwi!Wmelf. ~ hem this in words that h~ $J>Okt 10
the da tblt he !aUght with p-ar success at The Cambridge Adult
Utii'Nioaal Outer. He titled the class crmuition and the Arodcnt'
md Pft to his Rlldtnu the eurcise Leonardo Da Vinci h.td given 10

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