Giovanni Dancing (a social top ten)

by Bill Martin

There will be many tributes to Giovanni’s work and its long-term value for friends and scholars of many generations, on many continents.  What are perhaps less well known and shared are his everyday attributes that endeared him to so many.  Here are ten social examples, drawn largely from his Binghamton years:

1.       He threw great parties, at which even notables danced with abandon (Perry Anderson among others),

2.       He could drive and play chess at the same time,

3.       He was renowned for his risotto  (far less known than his equally excellent  minestrone),

4.       He was a dedicated swimmer ( according to rumor due to  the smallest olive tree in Italy, which he fell off of, leading to more backstrokes as therapy (a most unreliable story)), 

5.       He knew all the paths to the best 50 gelato shops from Calabria to Milan,

6.       He rarely wore a tie, but usually a smile,

7.       He possessed irrepressible  charm, which worked its magic on friends’ parents and grandparents (often to friends’ surprise and sometimes to their dismay)  , as well as students ‘ kids and everyone’s grandkids,

8.       Many area papers and dissertations were finished due to the Giovanni treatment:  provide  all the necessities (computers, food, rooms, etc.)to  students with writing blocks, so they could be sequestered until they finished the task in hand,

9.       He played chess, soccer, squash, and darts, regularly beating his students at all of them (with rare exceptions),

10.   He was at least once spotted dancing early in the morning at NYC  (disco/techno) clubs.

Bill Martin