Rather than rock stars
and movie stars, the objects of my adoration are public broadcasting’s Rick
Steves and Joseph Rosendo and others of their ilk, people who chronicle their
worldwide travels for listeners and viewers. Such public information shows are
godsends to people like me who, due to restrictions on their health, are unable
to travel to far-off places. One of the charms of these short travel
documentaries is that they make of their hosts ‘temporary locals,’ to borrow a
phrase from Steves, by having them hobnob with local people and indulge in
cultural activities distinct not only to the major destinations, but also to cozy
villages and other hidden-away corners of the world. This philosophy of
becoming a ‘temporary local’ is the chief appeal of author James Ernest Shaw’s
delightful book entitled An Italian Journey. Adding to its
appeal is that it is a book of non-fiction that reads like an intriguing novel.
I didn’t make it to
Italy before I developed a chronic illness that up to this point in my life limits
me to domestic travels. Immersing myself for a time in Tuscany was one of my
fondest dreams…and now I have realized that dream, although vicariously,
through James Ernest Shaw and his adventures journaled in his brilliant An
Italian Journey. Like a gladiator on two wheels, for seven glorious
weeks in Tuscany he bicycled sizzling as well as foggy mountainous hairpins and
held his ground against speeding trucks and leisurely foot-peddlers. He climbed
trees older than the modern world and picked olives, built stone walls, sat at
table and ate pasta and drank wine, talked politics and religion and farming
with real people of the area, and through the experience was transformed. And I
think he found the key to why Italy and Italians are special among all the
people of the world.
Shaw had inspired me to
find my own way to Italy, somehow, and more importantly, to begin anew a
journey I began and abandoned many decades ago, and that is to become a Roman
Catholic. Thank you, James Ernest Shaw. –Author and artist Linda Lee
Greene
Award-winning artist and author, blogger, editor, and interior
designer Linda Lee Greene is on social media at the following:
