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IT and US: Italian American Museum receives visit from 93-year-old quasi immigrant
The past year has not been kind to Vicari. Last November, he lost his only son to multiple sclerosis at age 57. Earlier this year, a sister and his beloved wife Laura passed away on the occasion of the couple’s 63rd wedding anniversary. Despite these setbacks, Vicari remains quite active and surrounds himself with his many friends. He keeps himself busy by volunteering at a local soup kitchen, and in August, he spent three weeks in the Campania region visiting his wife’s relatives.
Although he has been living in Connecticut for about 30 years, he considers himself a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker, having lived in The Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn at various timesduring his earlier life.
The 10-foot-long original shipbuilder’s model is on loan to the museum from New York’s Rennert’s Gallery through Columbus Day. These models, with their incredible detail and meticulous construction, were often symbols of pride for ships’ architects and builders, and also served as promotional tools for its operators.
By Joe Carella