Overview

When my father was just sixteen years old, he stole several hundred dollars from a family member and took a train with a friend from Chicago to New York, where they procured fake baptismal certificates and subsequently a fake passports. From there, they sailed to Italy aboard a steamer. My dad was in search of a family secret. Along the way, all of his money and his passport were stolen, and there he was: an American teenager alone, adrift in Mussolini's Italy without papers. After a year of wild adventures abroad, many prayers to the saints, a Grand Jury hearing, and a strong dose of Buona Fortuna, my father somehow found his way back home to Chicago. Of Saints and Wooden Nickels is an odyssey of epic proportions, a true coming-of-age-tale that will appeal to readers of all ages, a story of one young Italian-American on a quest to learn about his family, himself, and the world outside Chicago. While I have fictionalized parts of the story for continuity, it is based almost entirely on actual events told to me by my father over many breakfast meetings.

Full Product Details

9781098312985

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Harry Trumfio was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and now resides with his wife, Lorie in Arlington Heights, Illinois. They have four children, six grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is a former public school superintendent and served as the Chairman of the Department of Education at Benedictine University. Harry took his first writing course at Roosevelt University's Institute for Continued Learning in the fall of 2004 and won recognition from the Arts Unlimited Community Writing Contest for a short story entitled, ""It Happened at Riverview"" and a poem entitled, ""Haunting,"" based on his observations made during Martin Luther King's ""Freedom March"" August 5, 1966. He currently is a study group coordinator for the Institute for Continued Learning at Roosevelt University. Harry has also served as a consultant to the Alternative Certification Program for Teachers of Mathematics and Science at Benedictine University and as a writer and in-service program developer for Teacher Today Publications, Inc.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available