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The Italian American Press |
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Italian and Italian American Authors and Books |
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Founded in 2001 |
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Coming Soon EBooks by Ralph |
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The Italian American Press promotes Italian and Italian American authors who write about Italian American and Italian culture, heritage and/or history; and whose books are often overlooked by the media. Many of these writers publish, distribute, and promote their own books. |
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About Us |
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About Ralph Ralph was two-years old when he traveled from Reggio Calabria to America with his mother. They settled in the South End of Springfield with his father, who worked for Western Mass Electric for many years. Ralph, his two younger brothers Vincenzo and George, and his parents attended Mt. Carmel Church. Ralph went to what was then called Howard Street School, and after graduating from the former Trade High School, he worked as a landscaper, printer's assistant, office boy, salesman, machinist, and draftsman. He continued his education at Springfield College, majoring in physical education. After two years, he transferred colleges and changed his major, graduating from American International College with honors and a major in English literature and a minor in teaching. At the time, his greatest ambition was to be a published author. |
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Interview with Ralph. |
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Aware of the many difficulties Italian American writers face in promoting and publishing their books, Ralph J. Ferraro, an educator and author, founded The Italian American Press in 2001. Its primary purpose was to provide information for Italian American writers as well as to assist them in finding an audience for their books. Little information on self-publishing and Italian American literature was readily available 40 years ago when Ralph Ferraro wrote his first book, Child of Wonder, an Italian religious novel about a child mystic. He remembers the terrible discouragement of all those trying years of rejection of his manuscript by many of the best-known publishers in the United States. Based on the various comments of editors, he rewrote his book at least ten times, all to no avail. As founder and director of the Italian American Press, Ferraro has accomplished what many immigrants aspire to achieve. Maintaining pride in his heritage and culture, he offered valued services to both those of his own ethnic background as well as those of non-Italian backgrounds through the various offerings of The Italian American Press. In July 2011, Janice Therese Mancuso became the new owner of The Italian American Press. Six years earlier, Janice had contacted Ralph to list her book, Con Amore, on The Italian American Press. From there, Ralph and Janice communicated on a regular basis, sharing their hopes and concerns about Italian American culture. Ralph felt that Janice was the right person to carry on with his work and he has agreed to be her mentor as she takes The Italian American Press to the next level. |
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I founded The Italian American Press, a website dedicated to promoting Italian Americans and other local self-published authors to find encouragement and hope by bringing their books to the attention of the public and the media through the Internet. Ralph J. Ferraro, Founder |
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About Janice Born in Brooklyn, New York, Janice moved to Long Island at the age of five. She remembers trips back to Brooklyn—to the three story brownstone with the grapevine covered courtyard—to visit her father’s family. He was eight years old when he came with his family from Trapani, Sicily, to America. Her mother’s father came from the Naples area. Janice has fond memories of the peaceful summer cottage in Mastic and her grandfather’s beautiful garden that produced bushels of tomatoes. The canal alongside the garden provided a bounty of crabs, and she would often assist her grandfather in bringing buckets of crabs to her grandmother, who often cooked Janice’s favorite meal—crabs cooked in tomato sauce. |
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Child of Wonder |
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The Quest |
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After college, he went to Italy to spend time with his grandmother and relatives, the first visit to the land of his birth. Getting to know his grandmother was one of the happiest and most rewarding times of his life; and he dedicated Child of Wonder to the “wonderful and gentle woman whom I had come to know and love.” Shortly after returning to the United States, Ralph accepted a position teaching English at West Springfield High School, where he taught for 33 years. During that time he also taught psychology and reading; and was the acting Director of Health Education for the entire school system. The West Springfield Crisis Prevention Program, one of the programs he supervised as health director, won recognition from the Governor as an outstanding anti-drug program, and was implemented in every school system in Massachusetts. In 1970, Ralph married Anne Marie Sullivan, a religious and compassionate woman committed in her professional and personal life in ministering to others. They have four children, Michael, Kristen, Mary, and Susan as well as five very loving grandchildren. The family emphasizes service to church, community, and to one another, especially the sick, the poor, and the needy. In 1996, Ralph retired from the West Springfield Public Schools System and became a part time instructor at American International College in their Supportive Learning Center. Additionally, he has been on the adjunct faculty of various local colleges, teaching courses such as Stress-Management Techniques, Creative Writing, and Supervising Health Education. From time to time, he has also given workshops or talks on stress management techniques and healing for various groups or organizations. In the future, he looks forward to continuing to be of service to his community and others. |
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©2011: Janice Therese Mancuso |
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After graduating high school on Long Island, Janice worked in retail, marketing, and as a professional photographer. She operated a gift and floral shop in Sayville, as she worked on her college degrees, and received her MBA from Adelphi University with a split major in marketing and management. After selling the gift shop, she started a wholesale floral design business and taught floral design and business classes. Janice moved to North Carolina in 1993, and re-established her floral design business. In 1994, she started a catering and specialty food business, and taught business courses at several local colleges. Through a chance meeting with an editor, she was asked to write a book about flavoring wine and cooking with the flavored wines. Her book, Herbed-Wine Cuisine, was published in 1997, and she began teaching cooking classes and seminars, developing recipes for specialty food manufacturers, and researching and writing about food. In 1998, Janice created a monthly newsletter for an Italian American women's group. After establishing the newsletter, she began researching and writing about Italian and Italian American history and culture, planned cultural events for the club, and became a board member. In appreciation of her work, and to help with her research, three ladies—three generations of one family—presented her with the book Italians First: An A to Z of Everything Achieved First by Italians written by Arturo Barone. The book opened her world to her Italian heritage and changed her direction in life. With a desire to promote Italian history and culture, Janice started to write Con Amore in 1999, focusing on entertaining and educating her readers. During her research, she became even more fascinated with Italian history and realized there was too much information to include in her book. In 2004, she started Tutto Italiano, (at first a biweekly but now) a monthly e-newsletter about everything Italian. After Con Amore was published in 2006, Janice began writing for La Gazzetta Italiana, a print and web media source for the Italian American Community and she founded Thirty-One Days of Italians, a project that promotes Italian American heritage and culture. |