This is the last of the words from a loving farmer to his second daughter. Will that ever be Folk’ followed by his daughter as a loving mother of three handsome sons Benjamin, Daniel and Scott she became the loving grandmother of six beautiful tall blonde granddaughters Sam, Megan, Susan, Amanda, Christie and Angel all of them the issue of blonde son Campbell, (Sonnie Dearest), spare her harsh words there is no malice intended. My darling husband Captain Allan and I are still contented and happy together well into our eighties and hope to reach our nineties as we have suffered so much through youth ignorance and separations. We were hard workers and as you are all farming stock you will be too. We wish you lots of love, happiness, a long life and comfort with a faithful partner if you want that. “If you lie upon roses when young expect thorns later on”.

Miss Zib-the title of Miss Zib came from a story Ellen told me years ago. She said, "Rich, when I was in grade school, a teacher could not pronounce my name, Zbyszynski, so he called me Miss Zib!" When writing the book, looking for an unusual title, I thought back to the time she told me that story. I envision in my mind that sweet little Polish girl in grammar school in the 1940s. I wanted to create the image of her from our wonderful "Salem village" Polish community of the 1940s. Miss Zib personifies all that is good in womanhood. To me it combines that wonderful little Polish girl making her first Holy Communion and learning from that time on what "true love" was all about and continuing to practice it to everyone through her entire life! She would say to me, "I didn't like the fact that I was called on last because my name started with the letter Z!" Later, when kidding around, she said, "You know, I married you for your name!"

The lives of Angelo Cavallaro and Angela Gravagna are entwined in a backdrop set in the coastal areas of the Province of Catania, Sicily, and moves onto the northern hillsides of the active volcano, Mount Etna. They are traced from their early childhoods, where they lived as peasants during the reconstruction of Italy and Sicily, through their immigration to America. The journey of Angelo, Angela, and their six children begins in the tiny village of Passopisciaro and continues as they travel to Palermo in1913 to board a ship and sail across the Atlantic Ocean. You share and experience their fears as they pass through Ellis Island, and their joys of eventually arriving to their new home in Rochester, New York. In this sensitive memoir, the author attempts to do what most Italians only dream of - to piece together all the stories parents have retold their children over the generations; from their struggles and humble beginnings, to the joys they shared with their extended families in later years. In chapters that examine individual members of his family and highlights their life achievements, the reader gains a better understanding of the unique characteristics that all immigrants have in common. The memories recorded are a tribute to the legacy they left; lessons about life, responsibility, self-respect, and love of family. It is written with gratitude to all immigrants; our ancestral grandfathers and grandmothers, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles. These were the risk-takers and pioneers, who were willing to sacrifice personal comfort in order to provide a better life for their families in an unknown world. A narrative that honors our link to the past through the memories they left behind, My Sicilian Legacy is a chronicle focusing on the importance of family life and the pride in maintaining ethnic roots. It is a description of how the ordinary events that shape and mold character, thinking, aspirations, and joys can be achieved through hard work and perseverance - the early immigrants gave of themselves so their children would attain a better lifestyle. Richard Cavallaro traces his own ancestral history to this area of Sicily and paints a vivid picture of the events that occurred through three generations, which eventually led to the creation of My Sicilian Legacy; a tribute that many Italians and Sicilians will share with pride.

THE REDEMPTION SERIES: 100 years after Margaret Anne transformed an American family, comes the profound 4-part finale to the Calhoun saga. BOOK TWO: Convergence Sacrifice birthed the unsettled world of Margaret Anne. Now, only surrender can pave the way for closure. Benjamin Mattingly Sonneman, a prisoner and captive to the sins of the past, has been tasked with delivering an ancient and valuable cross to its rightful guardian and heir – his estranged child – in Baltimore. As he prepares for his journey, he learns of the inspirational history behind the artifact, the shadowy lineage that binds cross to child, and receives warnings of the adversities he will confront along the way. Soon after embarking on his quest, time spent with his dubious travel companion begins to unravel the miserable realities of Matthew’s own haunted past and illuminate the mistakes that ensnared him within the unstoppable odyssey of the cross. When Matthew repeatedly ignores reminders regarding the importance of his faith and the traditions of those he represents on his sacred pilgrimage, he must answer to the consequences of his choices. And with every added hurdle to his course, the crushing storm of uncertainty over what truly awaits him in Baltimore relentlessly intensifies, threatening to consume him whole. “Convergence” is the captivating continuation of the Redemption series, uncovering the next intricate layer to the Margaret Anne saga of fate, faith, and reckoning.

It has been more than sixty years since anyone called author Ron Gabriel Sonny. The nickname was bestowed upon him back in Delaware, Ohio, and it carried through the 1940s and 50s. Back then, Sonny was a carefree kid who spent his days running around the neighborhood with his buddies, getting into the occasional scuffle and scrape. Six decades later, how things have changed. Sonny is the true account of a young man who lived out his days in the Midwest. Back then, there was no such thing as Little League; the kids made their own games instead, running and playing as they chose. As Sonny grew up, so did his interests. He bought his first car for forty dollars and nicknamed it The Green Spleen. He met the love of his life and became a husband and fatherand, eventually, a grandfather. Intended to entertain, amuse, and inform, Sonny offers a detailed recording of how the world once was, before the existence of cell phones and the Internet. Gabriel played witness to several events in history, but he also created his own history as a grandfather and an Ohio State fan. Take a step back to another time, when things were more innocent, people moved a bit slower, and young Sonny dreamed of an unknown future.

From the time Christina Stead, a shy Australian girl in London, met William J Blake, a cosmopolitan American, theirs was one of the great love stories. This work presents the correspondence that records their lives together from 1928 until Blake's death in 1968. It gives a glimpse into the life and thoughts of one of Australia's renowned novelist.