It isn’t often that I reminisce about this enterprise we call the Italic Institute.  Now in our 37th year with a modest following across the nation, I was recently surprised to learn of the passing of someone upon whose shoulders the Institute depended. 

Michael Carbone, 79, lived the same split existence as me during our working years.  We both worked in Manhattan and had weekend homes on eastern Long Island’s North Fork (the wealthy Hamptons are on the South Fork).  We lost track of each other some years ago, so news of his death came through an obituary in a local weekly newspaper.  His family listed among his past affiliations the Italic Institute as the first entry – an honor for us.

Michael was an entrepreneur who started his own plumbing company in Manhattan.  At that time in the late 1980s, I was managing commercial real estate in the Big Apple.  As such, I worked with every trade and vendor necessary to keep my buildings operating efficiently.  Manhattan was a stew pot of ethnic vendors – Jews dominated many of the local firms, and I quickly noticed how Jewish building owners hired them exclusively.  There was a collateral benefit for the owners who were constantly called upon to raise money for Jewish charities.  The owners would raise the funds through black-tie galas, selling $5,000 tables and journal ads to their “willing” vendors, Jewish and gentile alike.

When we founded the Institute in 1987, we applied the same technique with our first gala.  There were plenty of Italic-owned vendors and even more Italian American building managers to carry out this fundraising plan.  Our educational mission statement and the lack of such an organization in Manhattan attracted many paesani in real estate circles.*  The wealthier and politically-minded Italian Americans gravitated to the Columbus Citizens Foundation – sponsors of the Columbus Day Parade and host of a superb dining club.  But for the rank & file, our Institute was the vehicle for business connections and to demonstrate pride.  Michael soon found us. *(Fortunately, most people had forgotten Joe Colombo’s Civil Rights League shooting in 1971 in Manhattan which left a poor image of our community).

By 1991, Michael became our Social Chairman overseeing galas and our annual family Picnic.   He served as our Vice President in 1992-93 and became a Governor in 1996.  He and his surviving brother-in-law Al Crecca (a multi-term President and also a Governor) contributed to our growth in Metro New York and financial well-being. It was our turn to sell $5,000 tables at the Waldorf-Astoria!  Those profits went into an office and staff, our national magazine (The Italic Way), our mini-school system (Aurora Youth Program), and video productions (Project Italia).

We are no longer that money machine.  Internal politics and time required us to downsize, but technology has allowed us to carry on our core mission more efficiently.  Our website replaced our office and library – everything you ever want to know about your heritage is a click away (www.italic.org).  We are still churning out opinion and information, defending Columbus Day, and monitoring the media.  There are no membership dues and we don’t travel to Italy or to gatherings on your donations. We do it all relying on a couple of independent contractors and volunteers.

I am happy to report that there are quite a few “old-timers” who remember the Manhattan flowering and are still a part of our Institute.  I don’t miss driving to Manhattan but I do miss the camaraderie and the spirit that members like Michael made possible for so many of us.

He will be missed.  -JLM