At Babe’s memorial service in Davenport, Iowa, Margie Kager — the eldest child of Violenza’s brother Silverio — gave me a copy of a letter she wrote to the Italian Bertozzis sharing her memories of Egisto.  I think Bianca’s Vineyard readers will enjoy her recollections:   To our Bertozzi Family in Italy: After reading the book “Bianca’s Vineyard” that […]

            She’s gone.  Our beloved mother and nona, Babe, passed away two weeks ago, and we’re still in a resigned state of shock.  For those of you who knew Babe through “Bianca’s Vineyard,” you know that she was a unique woman with an amazing family history.  Violenza Bertozzi didn’t let her mother’s mental instability or […]

  Happy Birthday Violenza! We celebrated Babe’s 94th birthday yesterday. Four generations all together in one house! What a wonderful, memorable time we had with her, as she entertained us on the piano and told stories. I made her a coconut-raspberry cake and since I didn’t have the numerals 9 and 4 for candles, I […]