Happy New Year

Here it is, the 2008 new year card.  I hope you got one in the mail.  If you didn’t, I apologize for the oversight.  Be sure to send your postal address, there are a couple of blanks still left from the edition. Colophonically, I should state that the fountain...

Girolamo Savonarola

This dramatic statue in Ferrara depicts Girolamo Savonarola, a fiery reformist Dominican priest of the 15th century. Still somewhat controversial today, Savonarola organized the “Bonfires of the Vanities” in which Florentines burned their books, fancy...

Campanilissimo

The Italian word of the moment is campanilismo. Translated by BabelFish as “parochialism,” campanilismo refers to local pride or patriotism, sometimes very local. If you ask somebody where she’s from and she says “Boston” or “New...