My Cousin the Saint | Justin Catanoso » Raleigh

A review: The Independent, Raleigh, NC

justin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:19:32 +0000

Adam Sobsey, a talented book reviewer for The Independent, an alternative weekly in Raleigh, N.C., reviews My Cousin the Saint in this week’s paper. The review is here. An excerpt:

“Although Catanoso often shows us his skeptical-journalist card (he’s a Pulitzer nominee and the executive editor of the Triad’s Business Journal), the combination of his ardent earnestness and his felicitous discoveries mark him as a man who wants very much to believe—partially for the very reason that he seems to keep finding only good news everywhere he looks. Even when people close to him die, there’s uplift at the end.”

Rina remembers

justin — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:39:01 +0000

Tonight at The Monti in Chapel Hill, I will tell the story of my Uncle Tony and how he came to find and meet his long-lost aunt during World War II in Chorio, the Calabrian village where his father was born. There’s a side story that I won’t tell but is in my book, and it centers on Rina Catanoso, the lovely Italian woman on the left. She remembered the day in 1944 when Uncle Tony showed up in the piazza in Chorio and the commotion it caused. Two summers ago, she invited me to her home in Messina, Sicily, to share the story. Others pictured here include her husband, who was held as a POW by Americans during the war, as well as her three daughters and son-in-law. Next to me is Patrizia Catanoso, my cousin from Reggio.

The News & Observer wrote about the Monti on Sunday.

North Carolina Catholics

justin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:48:07 +0000

Yonat Shimron at the News & Observer in Raleigh reports today: “In a rare joint appearance on the steps of the General Assembly, North Carolina’s two Roman Catholic bishops announced an initiative to create a unified voice on public policy issues affecting the state.

“The move represents an effort to flex a political muscle that has strengthened in recent years. For generations, Catholics represented less than 1 percent of the state’s population and North Carolina was considered by church leaders as “mission territory” ripe for evangelism. But with an influx of newcomers from Northern states as well as Mexico and Latin America, Catholics — numbering about 800,000 across the state — now want to be heard.”

Interesting fact: 30 years ago, the state’s Catholic population was about one-tenth what it is today. The vast increase is the result of Northeastern and Midwestern residents moving South (count me in that group), and of course, the state’s growing Hispanic population.

Shimron also writes: “As part of that initiative, (Raleigh diocese Bishop Michael) Burbidge (right) said the dioceses will send a questionnaire to gubernatorial candidates as well as to North Carolina’s U.S. House and Senate delegation asking their views on a host of issues. The results of that questionnaire will be posted on the Web site in October.”

Raleigh and Winston-Salem

justin — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:12:39 +0000

Fine reporters and writers in Raleigh and Winston-Salem provide thoughtful coverage in today’s newspapers of My Cousin the Saint in the The News & Observer and the Winston-Salem Journal.