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Need a speaker for your club meeting or a special event? Contact these speakers directly. Some may require travel expenses and/or honorariums. More speakers are listed on the OSIA website: www.osia.org at “Studies in Culture.” To apply as a speaker, contact Dona De Sanctis at ddesanctis@osia.org.
Tap into your local resources, including faculty at nearby schools and community colleges who can speak about Italian history, art, music (including opera), cinema and literature.
Check out your local daily or weekly community newspaper's columnists and reporters.
Consider local elected officials, genealogists, historians, musicians, and chefs at local restaurants who might do cooking demonstrations.
Check your community yellow pages for more ideas.
Don't forget to tap the talents and expertise of OSIA lodge members.
Contact one of the Sons of Italy® Speakers Bureau experts, who are interested in promoting Italian American culture and history and are available to speak at events in their area and/or do book signings. Please contact them directly for more information.
Arthur Cola, author & screenplay writer speaks Italian culture on historical fiction; travel tips for Italy; and his own novels. Will do book signing.
Contact: 262.308.1608 (WI) | arthurcola@yahoo.com | arthurcolalegendarytales.wordpress.com
Maria Mazziotti Gillan, prize-winning poet, speaks on growing up Italian in America. Will do book signing.
Contact: 973.423.2921 (NJ) | mgillan@verizon.net | www.mariagillan.com
Filippo Voltaggio, author, radio/TV host & singer, tells the Italian American experience with facts, humor and music (he’s recording artist, too). Will do book and CD signing.
Contact: 818.997.0094 (CA) | IAmFilippo@mac.com | www.filippovoltaggio.com
Richard Benedetto, former USA Today White House correspondent & columnist, currently teaching journalism in Washington, D.C. speaks on the 2012 presidential election and interesting insider stories about past presidential election campaigns. Travel expenses but no honorarium.
Contact: 571.251.2067 (VA) | benedett@american.edu
John Colletta, PhD, author and noted genealogist lectures on how to research and write a family history. Travel expenses and honorarium. Will do book signings.
Contact: 202.544.9498 (DC) | johncolletta@verizon.net
Vincent Panella will read from his fiction and non-fiction work on the Italian American experience. Travel expenses. Will do book signings.
Contact: 802.348.7452 (VT) | vpaul@sover.net | www.vincentpanella.com
Historian Maria Falco, PhD, presents unique personalities and events from Italian history, especially in Renaissance politics and art.
Contact: 504.454.2508 (LA) | mcsforza2377@yahoo.com | www.falcosaerie.me
Professor Laura Ruberto, PhD, explores her immigrant grandmother’s poignant memoir, Such Is Life (a Sons of Italy Book Club selection), and other topics related to Italian Americans and their history.
Contact: 510.981.2922 (CA) | lruberto@peralta.edu
Author/Illustrator of more than 40 books for children Dan Yaccarino speaks on how his new children's book, All The Way To America, about four generations of Italian Americans. Will do book signings.
Contact: 212.675.5335 (NY) | dan@danyaccarino.com | www.yaccarinostudio.com
Children’s author Chloe JonPaul on helping children appreciate their Italian heritage. Book signing of The Girl Who Did Not Like Her Name and others.
Contact: 1-888.498.4443 | jonpaul65@aol.com | chloejonpaul.com
Psychologist Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., offers tips on avoiding procrastination. Author signs his new book, Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting it Done.
Contact: 773.325.4244 (Work) | 630.434.0580 (Home) | jferrari@depaul.edu
Writer/Speaker Mary Lou Sanelli performs staged readings and book-signings of her book, The Immigrant's Table, a collection of poems, stories and information about Italian food and wine.
Contact: 206.441.7569 (Work) | Marylou@olympus.net
Historian Vincenza Scarpaci, speaks on Italian American history and on Sacco and Vanzetti. Book-signing of The Journey of Italians in America, a Sons of Italy Book Club selection.
Contact: 541.343.3887 (Work) | vscarpaci@gmail.com | www.italianamericanjourney.org
Author Linda Dini Jenkins speaks on travel, especially to Italy. Book-signing of Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband.
Contact: 804.744.6377 | Ldjenkins@aol.com
Author/Corporate trainer Marlene Caroselli explores Italy and the Italian family's role in creativity. Book-signing.
Contact: 585.249.0084 | mccpd@frontiernet.net
Psychologist & self-help author Raeleen D'Agostino Mautner on reconnecting your Italian roots with “simplicity, balance and joy.” Book signing of Living la Dolce Vita and Lemons into Limoncello.
Contact: 203.393.6500 | raeleenmautner@gmail.com | raeleenmautner.com
Cookbook author John Oliano will speak about his experiences putting together Italian Family Cooking and Wine Pairing. In it, he offers traditional seasonal recipes from north to south and some special "new cuisine" ones as well. Will do book-signings.
Contact: (H) 215.493-3202 (PA). | Email: joliano@verizon.net
Novelist/memoirist Florence Gatto will share vignettes from her Sicilian American childhood which she has captured in The Scent of Jasmine. Her talk includes a photo exhibit, Q&A and book signing.
Contact: 526.785-4913 (NY). | Email: flogat323@aol.com
Retired journalist and award-winning author Dan D’Amelio speaks on Italian American history, contributions and stereotyping.
Contact: 909.790.4219 (CA) | Email: danFannyD@aol.com
Larry Delrose actor, author and producer, speaks on how to lead a happy life. Travel expenses. Will do book signings.
Contact: 760.770.3332 (CA) | Email: larrydelrose@aol.com | www.italianamericanfilms.com
Memoirist Vito Lepore describes his “bumpy” trip from a village in Italy to California. Will do sign his book, Vito’s Journey.
Contact: 949.305.4567 | Email: vitoalepore@cox.net
Decorated Marine Gunnery Sergeant John Cuoco speaks on his book Echoes From The Mountain, on the wartime experience of an uncle in WW II.
Contact: 520.579.5807 | Email: jfcuoco@yahoo.com
Author/Journalist Dianne Hales speaks on the beauties of Italian as described in her best-seller, My Love Affair with the World's Most Enchanting Language, (a Sons of Italy® Book Club selection). Will do book signings.
Contact: 415.383.0803 | Email: dmhales@earthlink.net. | Web: www.becomingitalian.com
B&B owner & Chef Diane DeFilipi on Italian cuisine.
Contact: 707.966.9220 | askdianed@sbcglobal.net
Lodges in southern California can contact Marge Bitetti to learn about the history of Italian Americans there. Topics include Mother Cabrini, the Watts Towers and artist Leo Politi. She has authored many books on our history. Will do book signings and is willing to travel.
Contact: 951.279.0078 | mbitetti@ca.rr.com
(North & Central) Award-winning author Raymond Ledesma (Antonio's Journey) speaks on Italian traditions and also on writing and getting published.
Contact: 916.254.9493 | rled1934@aol.com
Retired journalist and award-winning author Dan D’Amelio speaks on Italian American history, contributions and stereotyping.
Contact: 909.790.4219 | danFannyD@aol.com
WWII Vet and author Leon Weckstein on his wartime collaboration with Italian partisans and how he saved the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Book signing of 200,000 Heroes.
Contact: 805.496.0508 | LWeckstein@aol.com | www.leonweckstein.com. | Will travel.
Historian Anthony Riccio gives tips on how to do oral histories (also expert on the history of Italian American women in workforce.)
Contact: 860.399.3423 | anthonyriccio@gmail.com
Marconi biographer Cam Trowbridge speaks on the life and times of the great inventor, father of the wireless as well as on Italian and Italian American history. Will do book signings.
Contact: 646.256.0639 (WV) | cam@trowintl.com
Author/historian Mario Fumarola son the difficulties early Italian immigrants overcame. Book signings.
Contact: 610.395.0631 (PA) | spqr@rcn.com
Singer/author Philip Tropea speaks on great Italian tenors from Enrico Caruso to Mario Lanza. Will do book-signings of his novel, Marco.
Contact: 727.488.6160 | ptropea@knology.net
Author of The Ultimate Italian Trivia, Scott Frush will speak on facts he uncovered and Italian history. Will also do book signings.
Contact: 248.752.5955 | sfrush@frush.com
Sociology professors John & Maria Tenuto on media stereotyping of Italians and Italian Americans.
Contact: 847.543.2537 | jtenuto@clcillinois.edu | www.clcillinois.edu | Will travel.
Author Lawrence Baldassaro, author of Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball, a Sons of Italy Book Club selection, will speak on the topic and do book-signings.
Contact: 414.332.0710 in WI | larryb@uwm.edu | www.beyonddimaggio.com
Lawyer/author Theodore Grippo, brings new evidence to the fore, exonerating Sacco & Vanzetti. Will sign his book, With Malice Aforethought, a Sons of Italy Book Club selection.
Contact: www.tedgrippo.com
Artist/author Joe Borri speaks on collecting and preserving family history; also readings from his books and short stories.
Contact: 248.210.5773 | jborri@att.net | www.joeborri.net
As a child, author Pierette Simpson survived a shipwreck and tells about it in person and in her book Alive on the Andrea Doria! (a Sons of Italy® Book Club selection) which may become a movie.
Contact: 248.349.8557 | pdsimpson@earthlink.net
Author & Journalist Paul Salsini speaks on his novels, set in Tuscany from WW II through the 1970s as well as his children's book, Stefano and the Christmas Miracles.
Contact: 414.964.8819 (WI) | psalsini@execpc.com | www.atuscantrilogy.com
Writer Celeste Calvitto speaks on the findings of her book, Searching for Italy in America's Rural Heartland; and the importance of preserving Italian heritage. Will do book signings.
Contact: 812.537.1831 (IN) | searchingforitaly@yahoo.com | www.searchingforitaly.com
Husband and wife team Gilbert & Ann Fornaciari give tips on Italian herb gardening including the planting, cooking and medicinal uses of same. They also teach how to develop a personal DVD of family heritage.
Contact: 623.974.3444 (AZ) | gilwalk@netzero.com
Author/consultant Joseph John Conte offers advice on caring for seriously ill family members and Italian explorations. Book-signing.
Contact: 703.724.1992 | con20132@yahoo.com | www.alsgroup.org
Historian Marvin Colin, VP of Citizens for the Preservation of Obici House, speaks on the remarkable story of Amedeo Obici, the penniless Italian immigrant who eventually founded Planters Peanuts. Colin and his group want to preserve Obici's home in Suffolk, VA.
Contact: 757/218-8672. | Email: marvman71@yahoo.com
Amateur genealogist Ernest Caponi shares tips on finding Italian roots here and in Italy.
Contact: 978.534.4735 | michaelvoiceman@gmail.com | www.michaelsings.com | Will travel.
Singer Michael Ciulla performs songs of great Italian American crooners for meetings, weddings, etc. Also will MC special events.
Contact: 860.767.1115 (CT) | jciullo125@yahoo.com
Novelist Jim Ciullo (A Tango in Tuscany) will talk about his novels and do book signings.
Contact: 413.443.2163 | jciullo125@yahoo.com
(Also Mid-Atlantic) Author Mark Saba can speak about Italian American poetry and fiction.
Contact: 203.230.8365 | mark.saba@yale.edu
Author John Lanza, who wrote Shot Down Over Italy, presents this true WW II story with slides and displays. Book signing.
Contact: 973.226.8602 (NJ) | jwlanza@hotmail.com | www.shotdownoveritaly.com | Will travel.
Holocaust survivor & author Jasha Levi speaks on the Italian rescue of the Jews in Italy during WW II. Will do book signings.
Contact: 609.448.4699 | lastexile@yahoo.com | www.jashalevi.com
Author Phyllis Martino Nugent speaks on her historical novels set in Italy.
Contact: 856.468.5870 | thomas.nugent@verizon.net | www.phyllis-martino-nugent.com
Actor/ship’s captain & author Nicholas Starace, II speaks on variety of topics including maritime legends; WW II events and his book, White Sails Become Me,”about his sea-faring adventures. Book-signings & ship's models.
Contact: 973.376.9026 | nstaraceii@aol.com | www.whitesailsbecomeme.com
Actor/singer Lou Del Bianco grandson of Luigi Del Bianco, chief carver of Mt. Rushmore, presents his one-man show about his famous ancestor.
Contact: 914.937.0897 (NY) | ldb31@aol.com | www.luigimountrushmore.com
Playwright & author David Mercaldo on the 20th century Italian American experience. Book signings.
Contact: 718.979.5196 (NY) | skyline347@verizon.net | www.davidmercaldo.com | Will travel.
Author Jilianne Davidow speaks on the spiritual messages of the Renaissance, based on her Outer Beauty, Inner Joy. Book-signing.
Contact: 212.280.1817 (NY) | julianna@juliannedavidow.com | www.juliannedavidow.com
(Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn) Author John Amodeo can speak about his novel Voices of Hell's Kitchen which is based on people in his New York City Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.
Contact: 212.244.4871 | jvamodeo@yahoo.com
(And beyond) Paola Corso, whose book of short stories Giovanna's 86 Circles was a Sons of Italy® Book Club selection, reads from her works and discusses Italian American culture.
Contact: 718.398.5591 | paola_corso@hotmail.com
Historian & author Salvatore LaGumina, noted scholar of Italian American studies, speaks on Italian Americans in WW II as well as their response to the earthquake of 1908 in Messina, Sicily. Will do book signings.
Contact: 516/798-8256. | Email: sallagumina@yahoo.com
(New York only) Theater expert Emelise Aleandri, Ph.D., speaks on immigrant theater, Italian Commedia dell'Arte and Italian traditions. Book-signing.
Contact: 347.964.7892 | EAleandri@aol.com | www.FrizziLazzi.com
(And beyond) Olive oil and love songs may seem an unlikely combo, but singer/oil expert Micheal Castaldo speaks with authority on both. His family has produced olive oil in Calabria for 80 years and he has recorded two CDs of Italian love songs. Topics include history & allure of olive oil (can be combined with olive oil tastings) and the influence of Neapolitan songs on pop culture. He also performs at festivals, conventions, etc. Willing to travel.
Contact: 212.947.7271 | mcastaldo@nyc.rr.com | www.michealcastaldo.com
Parenting, weight loss and nutrition expert Vincent D'Amico will speak on these and other topics.
Contact: 845.353.2229 | DrVinnie@optonline.net
Singer Dominic DiPasquale performs traditional Italian favorites from Sinatra & Bennett to Vale and Roselli.
Contact: 401.390.7564 (RI) | neapolitanman@msn.com | Will travel.
Genealogist & author Angelo Coniglio speaks on researching Sicilian and other Italian ancestors. Book signing of Lady of the Wheel.
Contact: 716.832.3790 (NY)| genealogytips@aol.com | www.bit.ly/racalmuto | Will travel.
(Cleveland area) The bond between a dog and its family is poignantly explored by Bruno G. Botti in his novel, Beyond the Tether. Will also do book-signings.
Contact: 440.461.6317 | bgbotti@aol.com
(Dayton area) Author Peter Carusone will speak about his book Where's the Minestrone? An Italian American Explores Italy. He speaks about Italy's many surprises regarding housing, shopping, driving (and parking) with humor and affection for Italy and its people.
Contact: 937.436.2112 | peter.carusone@wright.edu
Film-maker and media professor Michael Angelo DiLauro on Italian American history and identity with screenings of his documentaries on these topics.
Contact: 412.397.6822 | dilauro@rmu.edu | www.prisonersamongus.com; www.lamiastrada.org | Will travel.
The history and achievements of Italian Americans in Berks County are the topic of talks by Judge Albert Stallone.
Contact: 610.478.6438 | cstanziola@countyofberks.com
Author Guy Graybill speaks on the contributions of Italian Americans to music. Book-signing of his study Bravo!
Contact: 570.374.1524 | guyoldt@gmail.com
"Have book, will travel" could be the motto of Vincent Iezzi, author of the popular novels Coffee with Nonna and More Coffee with Nonna. He is a frequent speaker at lodge meetings in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
Contact: 215.755.0196 | dismasdamiano@aol.com
Historian Paul Enea discusses Renaissance geniuses Da Vinci & Michelangelo; Roman art & engineering; modern Italian history from unification through today.
Contact: 610.696.4945 (PA) | penea@dccc.edu
(Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey & Delaware) Former Italian instructor and award-winning author Frank Salvatore will talk about his novel, Janus: Two Countries, Two Love Stories. Also speaks on Italian emigration.
Contact: 610.449.0677 | franco_cb@yahoo.com
(Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware) Vincent Iezzi, author of the popular novels Coffee with Nonna and More Coffee with Nonna.
Contact: 215.755.0196 | dismasdamiano@aol.com
Novelist Frank Pennisi on his latest book, Sciatu Mio that follows three generations of Sicilians from Italy to America. Book signings.
Contact: 843.272.9997 | fpennisi@sc.rr.com
Author/researcher Vincent (Jim) Damiano speaks on Italian genealogy and his novel, Rosa's Story. Book-signing.
Contact: 214.544.0660 | vdam102445@aol.com | www.jimdamiano.com
(And beyond) Artist/author B. Amore whose exhibit of Italian immigrant artifacts was mounted at Ellis Island and later became the topic of her beautifully illustrated book, An Italian American Odyssey (a Sons of Italy® Book Club selection), will speak about her work and the immigrant experience. Willing to travel.
Contact: 802.273.2278 | amoreb@earthlink.net
Author/consultant Joseph John Conte offers advice on caring for seriously ill family members.
Contact: 703.724.1992 | con20132@yahoo.com | www.alsgroup.org
US Army (ret.) Richard Rinaldo on New York’s Little Italy and his book, Meatballs & Stickball. Book signing.
Contact: 757.874.6048 | richrinaldo@cox.net | Will travel.
Historian Marvin Colin, VP of Citizens for the Preservation of Obici House, speaks on the remarkable story of Amedeo Obici, the penniless Italian immigrant who eventually founded Planters Peanuts. Colin and his group want to preserve Obici's home in Suffolk, VA.
Contact: 757.218.8672 | marvman71@yahoo.com
WW II survivor Franca Mercati Martin, whose book Franca's Story was a Sons of Italy® Book Club selection, relates firsthand what the war was like in Italy.
Contact: 240.888.8877 | dickrosano@comcast.net | Will travel.
Wine expert and mystery novelist, Dick Rosano speaks on wine, food, travel and Italian culture. Book signing of his new novel, Tuscan Blood.
Contact: Diane Kinman: 425.235.1285 | dianekinman@msn.com
Author Tony Vivolo on growing up Italian in New York City’s tenements in the 1940’s and ‘50s. Book signing.
Contact: 360.387.4647 | tpvivolo@frontier.com | www.tonyvivolo.com
Author/journalist Joseph Bianco speaks on his career as a reporter and his books on journalism. Book signing.
Contact: 503.223.6737 (OR) | jrbmedia@hevanet.com | www.BiancoPublishing.com
Historian Mary Lampe on life in 13th century Sicily. Book signing.
Contact: 719.379.3169 (CO) | rmvassari@gmail.com | www.murder-at-the-leopard.com | Will travel.
Compiled by Dona De Sanctis
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