I was born the 13th November, 1950 on the Island of Maddalena—one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean—off the northeast coast of Sardinia. But my origins are nuanced. My mother—an American citizen, although her family was originally from Liguria in northwest Italy—was born in Philadelphia, PA, and my father was born near Treviso, in the northeast of Italy.
When I was very young my family moved to Rome, where I first went to school. After attending Classical High School, I studied political science for two years at the Sapienza University of Rome. I then moved to Treviso, where I eventually settled.
From 1972 to 1975 I attended the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where I graduated with a doctor’s degree in philosophy under Professor Emanuele Severino. I also studied English at San Francisco State University in 1980.
I have been a High School teacher of History and Italian almost all my working life. Now that I have retired, I can finally spend more time doing what I love most: writing.
In my Twitter profile I describe myself as “European by birth, American by philosophy,” which after all is quite an accurate description. Perhaps it also supports the adage that brevity is the soul of wit.
I live in the Venice area with my wife, my daughter, and our dog, a golden retriever that swims like a fish and is crazy about tennis balls.