Want to get struck by lightning? Go stand under a tree during a thunder storm and let God do the rest!
That is a favorite proverb of mine and more or less the story of my life. I was born in Washington DC, studied art history at Oxford, taught at Harvard and passed through many and varied places along the way. For over forty years, I lived mostly in Florence, Italy—tracking documents in ancient archives and unwinding the tales they have to tell.
Day after day, I still navigate the sites of major and minor events, encountering people both living and dead. I tumble through the centuries. I watch lives come together and break apart. Time and again, light bursts through the cracks, opening vistas that I never thought to see.
This website is divided into two sections:
ITALY'S SECRET PLACES and JEWS IN ITALY.
CLICK on any of the LINKS (below) and join me on whatever journey you wish.
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Italy's Secret Places
Is Italy a geographical place, a historical artefact, or—more elusively—a state of mind? How many Italies are there anyway? How do we know when we have arrived?
I have been coming and going for as long as I can remember—almost an entire lifetime, strange to think. Again and again, revelations break the surface, grabbing my attention, often when I least expect.
CLICK ON THE ITALY'S SECRET PLACES LINK (above).
I have decades of experiences to share and thousands of original photos. Check back—right here—whenever you are in the mood for a surprising story and a glimpse behind the curtain of the past.
Jews in Italy
“Jews have always been here”, Italians say with a puzzled shrug. But who are these “Jews” anyway—the perennial strangers down the street, around the corner and even next door?
Italy is the most Catholic of countries...except when it’s not. Pagan habits and customs lurk around every corner, jumping out when we least expect. Then there is the whole Mediterranean thing, with people—from more or less everywhere—coming and going over the millennia.
I landed in Italy as a grad student fifty years ago, looking for history, wherever it might be. As I worked my way through ancient archives, I was astonished to find Jews at every turn—in and around major and minor events, with their own tales to tell.
In CARNIVAL BLOOD and JEWS AND MAGIC, I recount two long and intense personal adventures. They each began with the discovery of forgotten documents in historical archives, which sent me to strange and often startling places in both the present and the past.
In CHOSEN PEOPLE, I share my latest—constantly updated—findings.
CLICK on any of the LINKS (above) and see where they take you!