Raleigh News & Observer reporter Yonat Shimron wrote this story shortly after My Cousin the Saint was released in May 2008. She is a teriffic reporter and writer.

My Google alert for “Gaetano Catanoso” pushed me this morning a story from history — a New York Times feature about the beatification of a gypsy in 1997 by Pope John Paul II in Rome. Just so happens, my cousin was beatified in the same ceremony. Of course, at the time, I knew nothing about this cousin, and no had idea he was on a path toward sainthood. Must’ve missed this story in the Times, too…

Some 30 years ago, I learned to write with passion, conviction and (hopefully) accuracy as a reporter and columnist for one of the finest student newspapers in America — The Daily Collegian at Penn State University. Today, writer Sandra Fischione Donovan (’72) writes about me and my book for Collegian AIG, the online publication of Collegian alums. The link is here.

Shot in Reggio Calabria, Italy by Michael Frierson, of UNC-Greensboro.

Author and critic Mary DeTurris Poust wrote this brief review of My Cousin the Saint for Our Sunday Visitor, the nation’s largest circulating Catholic newspaper:

“Ever since I read the hardcover version of this book, I have been recommending it to friends who are Catholic, friends who are Italian, friends who like adventure travel stories because it is at once a story of pilgrimage, a story of heritage, a story of newly discovered family love. Justin Catanoso’s search for the history behind Padre Gaetano Catanoso, his grandfather’s cousin who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, unfolds in beautiful prose that allows the reader to enter into the author’s own spiritual struggles and family celebrations. You will walk away from the book wondering how it is possible you didn’t know about Padre Gaetano long before you joined Catanoso on his quest for faith and knowledge.”

You’re welcome to judge for yourself. Click here.

A lovely endorsement from blogger Mary DeTerris Poust is here, second item. An excerpt: “It is a wonderful book that will make you want to get on the next plane to Italy to find your long lost relatives.”

The web site “31 Days of Italians,” which celebrates Italy, Italians and Italian-Americans every day of the month, reviews My Cousin the Saint here. Just in time for the paperback release in four days! (But who’s counting?)

A long and admiring story in TheAlternativePress.com, based in North Jersey, discusses the Dominican nuns at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, NJ.

According to the story: “During the main meal, at noon, the nuns may sit in silence and eat or one sister reads from a book that they may be jointly reading as a group at the time. Currently, the book of the moment is “My Cousin the Saint” but they do have a full library available to them equipped with the classics as well as classical music.”

With the paperback version of My Cousin the Saint printed and being shipped to stores, I’m happy to provide this link on Amazon to where you can order your very own copy! Orders will ship in mid June. I would love to hear your thoughts on the new cover design and subtitle (posted below). Tell your friends!

Last month, while in New York City, I was interviewed for a podcast about my book by Tim Reidy, online editor for America magazine, the fairly liberal Catholic monthly published by the Society of Jesuits. Father James Martin, bestselling author of My Life with the Saints, is a regular contributor to the widely regarded publication. My podcast was posted today and can be heard here.