The Second Annual FestivalItaliano will be held on Sunday, October 17, in downtown Greensboro. They’re getting started around noon on the 300 block of South Elm Street, just as the Crop Walk is finishing nearby. I’ll be at Tent 21 with books for sale and signing. Story and details here. Goes until 6 p.m. Lots of food and fun. Free admission. Perfect weather predicted. Come by a get a book or three!
Tonight, Nov. 12, at 6:30 p.m., I’ll give what appears to be my last book talk of a very busy year at St. Paul’s the Apostle Catholic Church in Greensboro on Horse Pen Creek Road. The event has been planned since summer, and is part of a one parish, one book program. Thanks to Jeannine Martin for organizing the event and selling so many books.
Since the release of My Cousin the Saint in May 2008, I’ve given 76 book talks in seven states. Several more to come in 2010, including one at Penn State University in March and Wisdom House retreat center in Litchfield, Conn., in late April.
One year ago today, My Cousin the Saint was released across the United States and in Canada. It was a pretty thrilling day, and has been a very gratifying year. I’ve had the opportunity to give more than three dozen radio and newspaper interviews, had an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times, stories published in Catholic and Italian-American magazines and have made more than 60 book talks to groups in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and in New York City.
And through this web site, I’ve received heartwarming notes from readers across the country (and a few farther than that). The book has even connected me with Catanoso relatives I had never met before in the United States, Argentina and Brazil (Thiago Catanoso of Sao Paolo even visited me in NC last summer!). I am enormously pleased that my story of faith, family and miracles has resonated with so many people.
With the paperback due out in about a month, I am hopeful it reaches even more. Thank you all for reading and being in touch.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to visit Harvey’s Kitchen in the Historic Aycock Neighborhood in Greensboro. Visiting the cramped, working kitchen, which Harvey transforms rather simply and elegantly into a studio set, is becoming a must-do for artists of all kinds across the Triad, and increasingly, farther afield. We come and sit awhile to perform or tell a few stories. Then Harvey turns it into video magic. My wife was there in January, performing a couple of her songs with guitarist Scott Manring. That night, Harvey Robinson and his partner, Carolyn de Berry, learned about my cousin the saint. They invited me to visit the kitchen a few weeks later.
I have a few book events coming up: on Thursday at 7 p.m., I’ll be speaking at Head House Books in Philadelphia, Pa. On Dec. 14, I’ll be signing books at the Barnes & Noble at Southpointe Mall in Durham, N.C., from 1-3 pm. And on Dec. 20, I’ll be signing books at the Barnes & Noble at Friendly Center in Greensboro, N.C., from 1-3 pm. Hope to see you there.
UNC-TV reporter and anchor Eszter Vadja contacted me at my newspaper today to invite me on her program Wednesday evening. It will be a panel discussion on the economy. Other panelists will include business profs from UNC, Duke and Wake Forest, an investment expert and a civic leader from Charlotte. Starts at 9 p.m. on your North Carolina public television channel. Should be a lively and illuminating discussion. Eszter said I could mention my book, but somehow I don’t think we’ll get around to it.
But — Tim Funk, religion writer for the Charlotte Observer, interviewed me today about My Cousin the Saint. His story will run Saturday, October 4. I have three appearances in Charlotte coming up. St. Matthew on Oct. 10, the Italian-American festival uptown on Oct. 11and St. Gabriel’s on Nov. 16.
UNC-TV reporter and anchor 