Roberr D'Anilio PAUL PE1'R.lf;ONE, Rl!VERE BEACJ-1. &. OTHER THINGS

PAUL PETRll.OlvTo, l'.E\'r:.Rr til f\1 1 1 & on I'ER THINGS

I firu s.tW r aul P~r>CQOc\ phO<ographs on ~ ~ummrr Wl' Ill 1 '1~ m .u1 invitutionJ.I show of New Engli111d photogr.lrber<o ~ur.ttcJ hy u ri Siembab for rht Boston Ans Festiv;~l 1~ ev~nt h~ftl ~nnu~ll·: in Boston's Public Garden dunng rlw prnoJ t\n in'''"" ~1r Frw And fora general pub) ic; it W ~IOOC ~f Bl»lon's pJ~tli.Jri~S thai. lik.oo 1111,1tf1

of the City, now belon~ only to mernury At lhe timr Siemb~L nn t gall~ on NewburyS~reft. one of the f~w tn the city dc.oditatcd to phfl­tography as:~n 11n form. Many of tloe young photogr~pher~ C.ul1•xhih· itcd ha~ sinct developed lmponlU1t repmation~: P3ul Caponigro, c.,, Chiam1z.a, Ma.rie Co~indoiS , Bill Clifl . Nick 0tJI1 .tnd (lu·,tcf Michal ik. But it was Paul'6 work thai •.:wghr "?' cye-ab~tr:m oonp<)O sirioru made o( paint mark~ on old bn,~ i>uUdull)> 1\h•t r~a b•1 •Yni· a wonderful taaile feeling.

!Wful De Grunou,;, f~iemJ •I"' uk~n by f1.1ul ~ ""'k o...!Ue,l him "f' -and =grd a meeting. PJul. it tUrtlcd 1011[ ,,.J ~111\VU ur 'n Somerville :is had Raffael, nnd J was fn•JTI 1 hl n~~~ Lli\Vro qv~r. M~.llor·.L

As the sons o£ immigrant par~m) the 1hte\' " ' "' h.d , .. ml.lr t1Jd•· crounds, and wt found that wt hJd m.lrl> U)mnlun !Jih'lt\1~. \Y/(

b~me foiST: friend$'who ralkeJ ~hout evcm ht'l[:.' 1.11~ g~Cl1(1')'J'"Y uf E~.n ~t, Somerville. Mt!dford, llostl•n \ Nu11h [nd, \'t\'51 [!ot.d,

So:ollay Square, 1hree dc:d:er li(e, 10122 club<, wri1in~, pt><1ry. rnu"<. lood uul drink. Since Paul w:as old~r 1hnn RilffJel>tnd n•c h( talk.cJ ol IOQ.sl.li!S, jinerbugging, ~nd ~ng b~nJs ...,·hild we ul~~ .;bo•ll bo>p, ElliuJmn, jan at the S1able.s ~nd Connollty\. Mmy urn•"! we rJik • .J ~ 1he night ~s the big wide soum.l ol Johnny Hods(' or ' ''" ''mpk · minded tbythms of Cuminl Bur.ln.t Ill led mu dr..·

Paul's parentS aJM from the~~ town of Gaeta, jUSt south of Rome, the town thar aught Paul Suand;s ~ during his Iuli411 sojourns. At tint Paul's know I~ of I~y was only the usual stonl3' thlr come out of one's fanu1y history. 1 bad just begun rescarclung Jtalian-America11 ndiali.sm and the Sa~Vanzetti Case in puticu. lar.In reading through old Inll11n language warchist joum:lls that had been printed in Boston, L)'lln md &me, Vermont I cam~ across sev. era) Petrioones. Did P~ul ~ow of thtmi To our am:u.ement they ~re hi$ fathu v•tl u.nde.

Pad karto oi hi' f.uhlor's ooancaion ;rith ndinl politics, but took t1us to mean, as mc.r ,'()U)d 1-.a~ ax 1M rime. suppon for the New Deal. POl. and thr Dnno.-r.nk Pvty Now be learned that his f.ather .lrd Ulld~bot h ~bold been a different breed. They wert militant ~hisn who WllltW a violtnr $oclal revolution. They wert Gllltanmi. ~ly from the s:une group that S~oco Qnd Vanz.etri bdonpdtu.

When young hll bd hung out ax his &ther's club, The Mansfidd Smet Cub, on the edge ofSomerviUe•s Union Squ.mo, he thoughtn JUSt ancxhcr balian·AmeriC2ll dub. But it had been one of the mm1

~ centm of anti.fucist llai""ity quite different in axtirudt from the complacency of roost Little Italies towards f2scist Ic;ly. Tbt pl~.:t where Paul sh01 pool, had a drink, or chased girls h.'\d hOSted many noted fagures of that now forgotten .struggle: Ga~rano S:Uvemiru, V"IJiilia D'Andrea wd .Artru.ndo Borglu. It was then that l le~med &om Paul that the prlnu I had seen in the Arts Festival were images of mubpainted on the buildings of Boston's West .End 10 indic:oue thOSf liKed for demolition. The Wts~ End fwl b«1J well known to P•ul's adw who ran ~ snull fruit and vtgtW!It shop on nearby Com Htll. rigla bdUnd Scollay Square whert Government Center nO'(" nvuh 'These fragmenu of history provoked Paul's interest about Ius past. 001 oaly his Family history, but abo Italian·AmeriC2ll culture wd lnlian bisroty.

~became clear tim h ul's personal hUtoryand his work fed ~ch.ethet Ill a 111~. but n01 ihlnys in a ttadily gn.sped DWU~er, even,tn thr ....... ;~by Pwi!Wmelf. ~ hem this in words that h~ $J>Okt 10

the da tblt he !aUght with p-ar success at The Cambridge Adult Utii'Nioaal Outer. He titled the class crmuition and the Arodcnt' md Pft to his Rlldtnu the eurcise Leonardo Da Vinci h.td given 10

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