Author

When I retired from a career in higher education, I turned to my passion of researching family histories that I discovered more than thirty years ago. At that time, I realized I knew little of my ancestral past. And, those connections were quickly slipping away as one grandparent, then another died and a favorite aunt was dying. I also realized that the influences of my ethnicities on my identity were unknown to me.

Born a descendant of Italian, Irish, French-Canadian and German ancestors, I began to gather information about all of these relatives. I interviewed family members and family friends. I collected family photos, letters, and documents. I recorded, organized, and shared data.

During the early years of my research, I recognized a strong association with my Italian heritage and began to concentrate my research there. This became tremendously easier and more exciting when my American and Italian families found each other in 2013. I started traveling to Italy in 2014 and began a new career as researcher and writer of my family’s heritage.

I’m fascinated by the stories of people’s families – mine and others! So, in 2015, I established Buttieri Press, LLC, a publishing imprint company to publish my own works and help others do the same, thereby, preserving family histories across ethnicities.

My family has grown to include such ancestral backgrounds as, to name a few, Portuguese, Cape Verdean, African-American, and Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern European countries. We celebrate all of these!

Currently, I have two books available. A Letter to My Children: An Italian American Family’s Heritage is a dual language book, translated into Italian by Diletta Ballati, available in the United States and Italy. Nonna, What is St. Peter’s Fiesta? is an illustrated children’s book that explains the Fiesta tradition in Gloucester, MA. The proceeds from the sale of this book go to St. Peter’s Fiesta, Inc, a 501c3 organization aimed at preserving this tradition of Gloucester’s fishermen. This book is also translated into Italian by Diletta Ballati which can be viewed online.  It is superbly illustrated by Maura O’Connor. I am also working on two other family heritage projects. I continue to travel frequently to Italy conducting research, collaborating with relatives and visiting family.

What is your family heritage?

Want to learn more about it or write your own family’s story? Feel free to use the resources from this website.

I am not a professional genealogist, only someone who wants to share the excitement of finding pieces of the past and putting them together to tell a story. Consider this, then, a labor of love designed to celebrate the diversity among us.

Happy researching, writing, and publishing!!!

If you have any questions or comments for me please feel free to be in touch via our our Contact page.