Presenting Erie Wordsmiths

Contributed

The cover art of To Give to the Light, a biographical novella by Michael A. DeMarco, shows an old-time slice of life from Erie's Little Italy. In the book's epilogue, DeMarco writes: "To give to the light," or "dare alla luce," is an "exquisite Italian phrase."

For Christmas 2021, my sister Colleen gave me a subscription to Storyworth, an online service that provides an easy framework to write a memoir. Every week, Storyworth emails a writing prompt (or you can pose your own questions to answer) to jog memories about parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, family vacations, favorite books, first jobs, best friends, school days. The idea is to respond, in writing, to one question a week. At year's end, you have enough material for Storyworth to publish a hardcover keepsake book, complete with family photos.

Alas, I only wrote three Storyworth chapters before I fell hopelessly behind and let my subscription lapse.

Yet four years later, I remain determined to someday create a unique Christmas gift, a family history to share with my son, five siblings, and a host of grandkids. Recently, I've come across three Erie-centric ways that could make that a reality – if not for me, perhaps for you.

My first suggestion is to read To Give to the Light, a "biographical novella" that tells a lean but compelling story about the courage of immigrants, the love of family, the history of World Wars I and II in Italy and, as a bonus, the narrative of Erie's Italian immigrants.

The author is Michael A. DeMarco, an Erie native who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and writes under the last name DiMarco, his family's surname before it was Americanized.

DeMarco attended Strong Vincent High School and Edinboro University and received a master's degree from Seton Hall University. In 1992, he founded Via Media Publishing, which has put out a quarterly journal and 70 books. He's also been consulted on documentaries for the Discovery Channel, Arts and Entertainment, the History Channel, and the Learning Channel.

To Give to the Light mentions familiar Erie landmarks, including St. Paul's Catholic Church, Italian ethnic clubs, Continental Rubber Works, and St. Joseph's Home, which DeMarco's grandfather helped build as a bricklayer.

But DeMarco's book, which is available at viamediapublishing.com and other online stores, is much more than a trip down memory lane for Erie folks. "There is a universal appeal about the immigrant experience since it is a common human experience," DeMarco explained in an email. "Language, dress, foods, labor, pressures to emigrate are the universal traits," he wrote. "Anyone who looks closely at their own families (chances are they immigrated sometime) can understand and have empathy for those of other cultures."

"Unfortunately, many haven't taken the time to question their own family's past and so don't appreciate the efforts made to bring them to a 'land of prosperity and opportunity.' I hoped that my book would attract readers who are not of Italian ancestry, so they would ask how their own family history relates," he wrote to me.

In his book, DeMarco weaves in stories passed along by his grandparents but doesn't stop there. "It's great to absorb 'table talk,' but it's important to do solid research on topics of personal interest. I dove into the world wars to get a better understanding of what soldiers and others actually experienced. Most don't talk about the worst of it," he said.

His grandfather, Michele Antonio DiMarco, had followed his brother Pasquale to Erie from their village in southern Italy in 1913. Unlike his brother, Michele had not yet become an American citizen, and in September 1914, he received a telegram from the Consulate General of Italy: "You are to return to Italy immediately. You have been drafted into the army and must report to the military headquarters in Campobasso before December 1st."

The book then recounts the elder DiMarco's Italian Army experience on the front lines of the war, his capture by the enemy, and his dramatic escape from a prison camp. After the war's end, Michele DiMarco returned to Erie, but two decades later World War II threatened the lives and livelihoods of family members left behind in Montenero Val Cocchiara.

"All in Montenero who are on the Gustav Line, from newborn to elderly, suffer physical and mental scars from the war," DeMarco writes in his book. The military maps included as illustrations teach me more about World War II battles and casualties in Italy than I ever learned in the classroom.

I now feel motivated to find out more about my father's first cousin, Strong Vincent track star Clem Martin Jr., who was killed in battle in Italy at age 23 and is buried there.

I also hope to return to the Tuscany region of Italy, where my maternal grandparents were born, for more than the one-day visit my husband and I had on a 2024 cruise. As DeMarco pointed out, "Studying the language and visiting the 'homeland' is a blessing."

DeMarco tries to get to Erie about once a year now. "The place we were born and had our formative years is just that: it formed our characters in subtle ways that uniquely stay with us forever," he wrote to me. "We always remember the hometown streets better than elsewhere, the homes, the stores, and the cast of characters we saw daily in grade and high school. Move away and you'll certainly miss things like Arnone's bread, a restaurant that made their own pierogies, or a tree you used to climb. Erie is the bigger family," he wrote.

The Secret Garden, first published in 1911, has inspired Benedictine Oblate Jo Clarke's whimsical paintings.

In Erie, women religious have always been part of my "bigger" family. In fact, I fretted that I was called to become a nun, until a nun told my dad when I was in 10th grade that I should become a journalist.

Still, I'm fascinated by sisters such as Benedictine Joan Chittister, who worked on her school newspaper and has written more than 50 books, often edited by the late Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, who was also an Erie Daily Times reporter when she was a young nun.

I guess that's why I feel at home every time I step into Chapter 57, the gift shop at Mount St. Benedict, where many of Chittister's books, including her newest, The Time is Now, are sold. I hoped the store also had copies of Chittister's 38 Personal Stories to Transform a Life, a delightful collection of short pieces that I reread to remind me of the value of taut, meaningful writing. In the first story, only a page and a half long, Chittister writes about Christmas Eve 1945 and how disappointed she was, at age 9, that her mother gave her a necklace instead of the skates or a bike she longed to receive. Years later, she realized that the birthstone on a chain was a "treasure … amid the chaos of a collapsing world."

Unfortunately, 38 Personal Stories is no longer in print but a visit to Chapter 57 is, for me, always a pleasing contrast to the world's chaos. It's where I can buy monastery bread, homemade biscotti like the kind we dipped into Vin Santo (holy wine) in Italy, gorgeous cards with beautiful nature photos by the sisters, and handmade household gifts from the Mending Place, where former refugees are taught new skills and business acumen.

There are "amazing quilts" that are works of art by Bernadette Strada. There is acrylic artwork by Sister Peggy Pilewski and woodworking by Sister Audrey Steff, and much more.

Art by Dani Jimenez, a member of the Pax Christi Young Adult Caucus, is a new addition. Jimenez, from Costa Rica, produces her art through "&HerSaints," described as "a creative outlet where the sacred and profane converge in the experience of queer Central American Catholicism." Jimenez has been paired with Jo Clarke, a Benedictine oblate who works in Chapter 57, to introduce her captivating artwork to Erie and beyond. Look carefully at her "Mary of Nazareth" ornament and you will see that Mary, holding baby Jesus, has a nose ring. Her art challenges our fixed notions.

Chapter 57 (6101 East Lake Road) is open on Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with special holiday hours 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 13 and Dec. 20. Be sure to introduce yourself to Clarke, a talented artist who creates whimsical characters using flecks of real gold in her paintings.

One piece of her art, featuring a tweeting bird, a curled-up cat, a sleepy mouse, a goldfish in a bowl, and two tilted mushrooms, is displayed on a table with a well-worn copy of her favorite book, The Secret Garden, a gift to Clarke from aunts in her native England. These days, Clarke finds a feminist message in the beloved children's story.

Clarke started painting to illustrate haikus composed by the late Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, who worked tirelessly to introduce young and old (including me) to the beauty of poetry. There is no doubt that my friend Mary Lou would be thrilled to know that two new poetry books are arriving in Erie.

The 2025 edition of Iconic: The Anthology of Erie Poets is a collaborative effort of NWPA Poetry, Gannon University's English Department, Community Access Media, and the Erie County Public Library. The cover art is "Public Dock" by Joseph Plavcan, which hangs on the second floor of the Erie Art Museum; it's reproduced with permission from the Plavcan family.

Clayton Bradshaw-Mittal, Gannon assistant professor of English, outlined why this anthology and another poetry collection, North Coast Voices from Main Street Rag, are important to Erie.

"We made a special effort to include poets from every corner of Erie. It is the people who make this place wonderful, and we want to place emphasis on the poets who breathe life into the culture of the county," they said.

Poets "across career stages" are included because, "We want to market Erie as a literary locale and the poets in it as unique voices in the larger literary world. This builds community by fostering confidence in poets across the Erie community. For some, this will be their first publication. There is so much great writing in Erie, and we want to continue building the poetry community," Bradshaw-Mittal wrote in an email.

To learn more about Erie's many outlets to hear poetry and to hone and share your own poetry, visit the website nwpapoetry.com or the NWPA Poetry page on Facebook.

Iconic: The Anthology of Erie Poets will soon be available at the Erie Art Museum and at local bookstores.  To place a bulk order, contact bradshaw013@gannon.edu.

As Bradshaw-Mittal wisely said, "This is an especially important time of year for sharing poetry. It is through poetry that communities and families partake in joy and warmth. The anthology is our gift to Erie, to our friends and family. It is a way of cementing a legacy of wordsmithing. Plus, the anthology is representative of the people of Erie, which means it bleeds through with the threads of resilience that define residents of Erie in winter."

Liz Allen is tickled that both her sister Kathy and her son Marc are working on historical fiction novels about her family. In 2026, she hopes to add to their collection. She can be reached at lizerie@aol.com