Michael’s answer to “Is Pino Lella still living? What a marvelous book.” > Likes and Comments

Mary F, thanks for the details. That explains a lot.

Giovani. We don't know the identity of "Mary F", but I can tell you that she (or he) is the lone and vehement critic of "Beneath A Scarlet Sky". Mary F despises the success of the novel, Lake Union Publishing, Amazon, and author Mark Sullivan. For some reason, she appears to be on a never-ending compulsive mission to discredit the story. What she said above in response to your post on Jun 21st doesn't explain anything, She gives no details. It is sudo-intellectual-nonsensical-babble and like everything else she writes, her words reflect that of a person with a sick, demented mind. To clarify Mary F's statement, I am Pino's first born son, and the person who signs these posts unapologetically. If any "qualifiers need to be ditched" they are the posts from Mary F, who is now questioning my qualifications as the son of the protagonist. This is insane, and her confusing vile posts demonstrate just that....."The only person who is shady, reckless and just plain dumb" is Mary F.

Mike, as you are aware, I am by no means the only person who has forcefully criticized the novel. I’m not even the only person who recognizes a need to and importance of calling attention to shenanigans. Those folks may just believe it’s more trouble than it’s worth to do more than once, or would rather spend free time on [insert leisure activity here]. Plenty of folks – incl. numerous fans – have taken notice of inauthenticity but may choose to focus attention on what they consider poor composition. To each his/her/their own.

I see observations from both critics and fans who express a difficulty or inability to suspend disbelief and/or want to know how much of the fiction is a product of the author's design and imagination and how much the protagonist's (they might include you too if familiar with your remarks about input). When someone does lodge a specific worry or gripe about inaccurate or inauthentic content, they tend to focus on what in reality is of little or no consequence - missing a forest for peculiar trees or, in Giovanni's case, it was a lake. [1]

* * *

Evidently Mr. Hyde broke out (?) of lock-up on June 29. While I have some ideas, it’s still unclear why you’d allow yourself to lose sight of the hazards of launching ad hominem attacks when choosing to mischaracterize part or all of what someone writes instead of engaging in a possibly lively discussion-debate of an issue on the merits.

Unfortunately, the ad hominem attack approach is a common tactic - not so much in this forum because most members recognize that sort of behavior as a signal flare to announce insecurity and anxiety (among other things) when at a loss to come up with a different refuge or weapon but feeling compelled to respond.

Exhibit A: "... her words reflect that of a person with a sick, demented mind."

Exhibit B: " 'The only person who is shady, reckless and just plain dumb' is Mary F" (the inappropriate quotation marks converted to single quotes) [2]

I clearly recall one of your lowest known public, online moments where you suggested that I might be anti-Semitic. It didn’t matter that you had no basis to think let alone express such a thing about me, which required a pretense that I hadn’t repeatedly objected to what amounts to the author’s misuse of the Shoah as background scenery/prop/minor character. Suggesting that I might be anti-Semitic wasn’t even your worst moment – that was (as far as I’m concerned) May two years ago when you referred to atheists as "evil", “without conscience or morals” just because a person’s two-star review happened to include a simple but fair observation that atheists might want to steer clear because the book is “really, really Catholic”.

"Mary .... who is now questioning my qualifications as the son of the protagonist."

Huh? Never mind. I learned a while back it's sometimes better not to wonder how your system manage to produce a given error message or misinterpretation, and in this case it doesn't matter.

[1] Being distracted by and turned off by stuff of (relatively) little importance includes readers of the Italian version, with discerning folks tending to give up soon after what was a strange erroneous reference to Nazis arresting the king of Italy, or one reviewer’s objection to the idea that Mussolini's first/only stop after arrest-detention was (not then a fortress but instead a) hotel/ski resort on Gran Sasso. I consider these to be inconsequential deviations from history as compared to others.

Author once declared in an interview that his job is entertainer not historian. He went [far out] of his way with the Preface and Aftermath - and many remarks outside the book - to mislead people. One thing not necessarily his fault but for which he's still responsible: exposing Victor Daloia as someone who engaged in stolen valor by proxy with a false tale about finding in his father's attic a Silver Star and citation for acts of valor at Monte Cassino. It was author’s choice alone to artificially inject his friend's father as a character and manage to botch the depiction with fantasy that – as I’ve noted before - turns Daloia into either a deserter or someone who could give a damn that his supposed but not actual colleagues are fighting and dying hours east of Milan near Lake Garda at the time he’s focused on partying.

[2] You may see it as a distinction without difference, but I observed that the author's choices were reckless, shady and dumb (or, if it helps clarify, boneheaded). I don’t believe he is a dumb person despite the evidence to [support that conclusion versus to] the contrary.

The example of his choice to propagate a falsehood in the past about Pulitzer nominations popped into my head when referring to the review by his friend Damian Slattery that was briefly someone’s choice of material for bots to replicate under unnatural accounts. That the author evidently is unable to bring himself to ask his friend to remove the reference to any Pulitzer nomination from the review says something else about him. ... as did his decision to delete a Facebook post that politely asked for removal of one of the pictures he attached to a post about Msgr. Barbareschi’s death: one of him holding a copy of the Italian version of the book. I suppose a reasonable person might fail to recognize it was crass to select this photo, but …. The request also pointed out how improbable it is that, assuming Barbareschi was in his right mind, he’d pose for the photo with any awareness of how the author chose to materially alter the awful events of 8-10 August 1944 – including but not limited to a scene falsely depicting Barbareschi as a prisoner on 10 August but, because that wasn’t enough, also managing to avoid execution by mere chance. I choose to believe Barbareschi would not endorse needless fiction when reality works. The reality is that Barbareschi was not a prisoner, and his involvement in the events of 10 August was limited to (hours later) blessing the bodies of the men who were executed.

MaryF. I don't have time for this.... You've said too much and I choose not to engage with you anymore. YOU ARE THE SOLE AND MOST VEHEMENT CRITIC and this aforementioned post you wrote proves that you are compulsively obsessed. I feel sorry for you and wish that you take your nonsense intellectual-psycho-babble and put it to good use somewhere else...Michael Lella

Hi Michael. We were so impressed, touched, and humbled by your father’s story. What a hero. Is there any way we could arrange some sort of meeting or phone call with your father? It would absolutely be a dream come true. My email is dustistowell@gmail.com. God bless!

Hello Dusti and thank you for expressing those kind sentiments. I would love to put you in contact with my father but the last time I spoke with him, he told me that he is ashamed and embarrassed of his cognitive deterioration and doesn't want to have people see him this way anymore. He is 93 and suffering from dementia. I can't even refer old friends to see him anymore. That said, if you're touring Northern Italy and you stop for lunch in his little village of Lesa (on Lago Maggiore), you might catch him strolling the promenade on the waterfront for one of his morning walks. If that happens, I would encourage you to approach him and say "Hi Pino" . He never rejects speaking with strangers on "the spur of the moment". He just can't take any kind of "structured appointment or formal interview". I don't think Dad has ever read the book cover to cover and admittedly, some of the events in the book are too painful for him to discuss. Feel free to contact me at my personal email and I'd be glad to speak with you about this in more detail michaellella@yahoo.com. Again, thank you Dusti for your interest and understanding.

Mary F, where can I find a full account of all the discrepancies and gaps in the story that you found please?

There is no one place with a full account of the fabrications that can't be chalked up to so-called "informed suspicion" or the like, or all the deviations from and alterations to authentic history and fact, I'm afraid. Should you want to message me, I'll be happy to send you certain puzzle pieces, such as Valentin Schmitz's assertions that the author and he and Georg Kaschel didn't discuss what is misinfo in the Aftermath, and things the author chose to omit in order to mislead readers to particular conclusions, such as: info on Leyers that includes where you may find his testimony at Nuremberg as defense witness for Erich Mueller in the case against industrialists; a copy of the report Leyers wrote in captivity that the author chose to falsely describe as being about Org Todt, etc. (I'm sure all this will be in the University of Cologne report.)

I can also send some info related to Franco Isman about his time at Casa Alpina from autumn 1943 onward, but you can find that simply enough on your own. I have more pictures, etc. from Franco that he's not published, however.[1]

I assess it as simpler project to make a list of what is authentic and correct in the book - excluding items of a geographical nature and various other things I deem non-relevant areas, and what constitute harmless, unrevealing fictions-fabrications and arguably inadvertent botches.

Because you posted a comment where the chronicling of the journey of discovery began, namely over on Amazon at what by rights should still be but isn't the Top Positive Review by Serenity, I'll assume you read through what's to be found there. (It's a long slog, I realize.)

[1] Franco began publishing testimonies online years ago. I'd be surprised and yet somehow not shocked if I learned the author came across those before writing and publication and decided he'd try and forget they exist or wish he'd never seen them. It certainly would've made for more authentic, accurate fiction had he read and heeded them even if he didn't choose to contact Franco and picked his brain for the equally interesting bits that escape his articles.

Had author connected with Franco, then he wouldn't have had to resort to stuff like creating "Brother Bormio", could've added a few real residents to include a draft dodger and his sister, and might have thought twice about fabricating a visit by oxen-herding-in-the-snow Rauff and refugees up trees, or the menacing banditi led by "Tito", among other things. In their place, he might have more mundane stuff like a meal outside with dozens of very well-off if not rich kids coming up from their parents holiday properties in Madesimo, etc. (whether there on short-term vacation, the entire season or longer under the circumstances) ... hint-hint ... who'd visit to fulfill obligation or need to seek spiritual camaraderie and nourishment for the day.

There'd be some exciting stuff too, like a couple visits by members of the 90th Garibaldi (once for shelter from a snow storm, once where they engage in a football/soccer game) ... with Father Re being cordial but anxious as hell for them to LEAVE. (Naturally so, 'cause (a) Catholics as a rule weren't fond of Communists to say the least (indeed, they tended to be viewed as equal or greater danger than Nazis), and never mind Wehrmacht or Nazi elements, there was (b) the fact that the GNR/'Black Brigades' had an outpost in Madesimo and would come by looking for them ...)

As mentioned in the past, I didn't even mention the book when I reached out to Franco and finally heard back from him. The interaction began with me asking him if he'd ever contacted Yad Vashem about Father Re, etc. and he is the one who brought up the book and in the same sentence said the protagonist was not at Casa Alpina.

A couple weekends ago, he critiqued the presentation picture used by the author being captioned/described as the protagonist guiding refugees in spring 1944. He had no comment on the picture of a mid-20s protagonist alternately presented as from Casa Alpina 1943 on X occasions and then 1944-45 in another, yet in an article captioned more accurately as from 1949 (the cheesy pose for a FISI photo).

Franco raised a good related point: had protagonist and his brother spent months or even weeks there during time in question much less repeatedly over years - with or without a profound personal bond formed with Father Re or the other resident ecclesiastical folks - there at least ought to be plenty of photos in which a Lella appears. (Other info indicates there should be plenty of photos taken in-around Madesimo and even Motta no matter what even if no one from Casa Alpina is in them.)

By the way, I don't know whether there was a fascist territorial militia that might also operate in province near Madesimo in addition to Black Brigades (members of the PFR) and possibly GNR. (I also oughtn't have used the slash with GNR and BB references above because it suggested "aka" where not intended.)

I stumbled on the book by accident. I love it!

It was indeed wonderful.

Thank you Nan Ku and Celia B. the credit goes to Mark Sullivan. I was sort of born into it, but I'll ride the wave of success for as long as I can talk about it. Always glad to hear from people who loved the book and story.

I do I stop getting notifications. Really annoying

Sorry. don't know what your talking about.

Michael, every time someone posts to this thread about your father’s story, some of us get a Goodreads notification. I just sent Heidi a message with info to remove notifications. I like getting them. I could do without the critical epistles, but like seeing the comments of others. Hope this makes sense.

Hi Celia. It does make sense now and thank you for clarifying that to me. This has been a forum that offers me, as the son of the protagonist, an opportunity to answer questions from the public and to those enthusiastic and (mostly) kind readers of my father's story in Beneath A Scarlet Sky. I think it's up to Heidi to remove herself from receiving these notifications if she is annoyed. To my knowledge, there has been only one annoying critical epistle, someone who is obviously on a compulsive mission to denigrate and belittle Mark Sullivan's historical fiction masterpiece of Beneath A Scarlet Sky as a total and farcical hoax. I would prefer engaging with this person in private, but she or he is entitled to their opinion on this thread, preposterous and insulting or not.

This is a (now very long) thread of comments initiated by way of Mike's original answer to Nancy Murdoch's question "Is Pino still living [...]"? from May 2017. It was one of the earliest questions and answers, which I suppose explains that's why it's turned into a de facto general discussion area. It may be Mike is referring to "Getting to Know Pino", which is a discussion topic he created, found at the bottom of the main book page or at https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....

I don't recall ever referring to the novel as a "total and farcical hoax" by the way, though there are farcical elements to it (and I accept that some wouldn't use the word "farcical" even if they understood what the author chose to create for entertainment value, etc.). I also can't think of any unfair criticism of the author, but that's a matter of subjective opinion. The mission is not to "denigrate and belittle" the novel.

Anytime someone wants to engage with me in private, they need only send a message (Mike chose to do this once in the past), but that doesn't mean I won't post here.

Those users who want all my posts to essentially be treated by the system as spoilers that the user must actively choose to view are free to add me to their "block user" list.

Sorry about the notifications! (Wish it were as simple to discontinue those as it is notifications on comments under a review by editing "you are following this discussion" at the bottom.)

Fair enough Mary F......Except you have on occasion referred to my father's story as a "hoax". This is insulting. There were few things created for sake of narrative, but (I repeat) the main aspects were true and do not change the over-all direction and conclusion of the novel. It is BASED ON A TRUE STORY, and that is what the reader's want to know and hear from me...Keep in mind that I'm 67 years old and I have personally spoke and interacted with actual relative witnesses who confirmed much of this to me as an adolescent between age 12 and 18. I'd be more than glad to be specific about what was fictionally created, embellished or exaggerated if asked, but I prefer to speak and focus on what really happened...The truth in this case is better than fiction, as I know it from actual witnesses and testimonials still vivid in time to me. Who are these people that I knew?...Let's start with my grand parent's Michele and Porzia (Gemma as we called her). How about Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta? Active in the Resistance and key people telling me about what my Dad did as a spy while driving for the General. How about Uncle Mimmo? I was very close to him and he who told me the stories of Casa Alpina, Don Re and the Jewish rescues and avalanches in the Alps, He showed me the trails and the places where these people were rescued at great personal risk. What about Carletto Beltramini, my Dad's friend? I spent countless hours listening to the two of them talking about the Brenner Pass and how they should have shot the General when they had the chance. Mark Sullivan has brilliantly captured this episode of one man's extraordinary life experience during the War and preserved it in a novel that is more based on truth than fiction. Certainly not a HOAX Mary F!

To be fair Michael, there isn't only Mary with harsh criticism of the book, and presenting solid facts showing where the book is faulty. She is probably the most visible here, but there are several people with more arguments and criticism. There certainly are whole sections of the book that are made up, and others that are closer to the historical facts. From that, one can see that the percentage of truth is far less than the 90% that the author claimed during the 2017 presentation at Wagner College. Either Mr. Sullivan was aware of that and preferred to misrepresent the veracity of the book, or he was credulous enough to believe whoever fed him the story or the stories.

The more I check the facts and the untruths, the more I'm led to think that the book has different authors. The writing styles differ so much between different portions of the book, that I'm convinced language specialists would be able to prove different authorships. There are AI tools for natural language processing available now that should allow to do that.

Giovanni, I know there are some embellishments in the story and they were created to fill in gaps and "create" an interesting narrative. I know what those "fictional creations" are and I can tell you that they are minor in detail and do not change the over-all story....(for example: whether Val Di Lei was an actual frozen lake or an Alpine Pond/or Creek doesn't really matter) It is nonetheless, a "historical fiction"., based on a true story.
Giovanni, what are specifically referring to that is NOT TRUE? I'd be glad to speak with you about it in person. Did you read the English or Italian version? There were two different translators in the Italian version, but I can attest that Mark Sulllivan is the sole writer of the original English version. I know well, as I (informally) edited all of the drafts and was involved in the project from the very beginning. Many of my corrections, went unedited but in the long run, but I'm happy with the results and the success for Mark Sullivan's achievement.

Anyone who wants to review what is untrue and also just incorrect – there’s a distinct difference between the two – may visit the notes I’ve made visible related to the book at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/37642.... (Yes, I’m just as wordy there as elsewhere.)

To spare you the long version, the author’s choices are the primary reason why some perceptive and/or curious readers can and have reached a provisional or final conclusion of “hoax” – someone else is free to come up with a better word that covers what are not inadvertent or sloppy mistakes but instead deceptions (and that word is suitable because of all the author’s remarks both within and without the novel). Keep in mind that there are readers who make that assessment solely on the basis of too many embellishments without ever knowing or bothering to learn about the events of (for one example) August 8 and 10 1944 and how the author decided that the truth wasn’t good enough when it came to two of the most infamous events in Milan during the war. When someone decides what actually happened on those two days isn’t sufficiently “interesting”, it’s a very good indication of how little the author cared about whether or not any of the protagonist’s tales were true, and how cared far more about what he considered entertaining.

More later.

Please thank your Father for his courage under such terrible circumstances. I thought about the magnitude of his actions and how much he contributed that helped end the war. My condolences on the loss of his beloved Anna. I hope that writing the book brought him some Peace after he sees the reviews and the loving comments. Much admiration for you, Mr. Pino Lella!

Thank you Nan. My Dad is honored for the loving comments and reviews. I think he was over the depression of Anna's passing long ago.....The book may have brought some of those emotions back if nothing else. the success and accolades may be a mixed bag for that reason...... Michael Lella

Oct 04, 2019 01:58PM

What are the reasons why the author or the protagonist chose a narrative where Carletto dies in 1998 instead of 2003, to erase his younger brother (by three years) Franco (who died in 2011), and why Carletto's mother had to die during the war instead of 1952?

And why was Carletto transformed into a bachelor? His wife Catterina died in 1999.

I'm reasonably certain of the answers to the question(s) but think it's fair to seek feedback.

If the protagonist was lifelong best friends with Carletto, why no pictures of Carletto and him featured on the author's slideshow or anywhere else?

Is any of the boys in certain photos in the slideshow related to the below article Emilio Chiarellotto?[1]

https://www.uniondemocrat.com/localne...

[[Note: The article was removed at some point on or before Oct 2019 - possibly related to a request in reaction to this and related posts. The last web archive/"Wayback Machine" (attempt to) capture is listed as Oct 2019 if you search the above link. The complete photo carousel is inoperative in this and other archived versions (only the first picture of Mike can be seen):

https://web.archive.org/web/201805211...]

[1] For the *Italian* version - not a precise translation below - Emilio and Frankfurt replaced the original version where Carletto and Paris featured in the Pan Am 103 tale. (The current U.S. version features not Emilio but an "old friend" and Frankfurt, but without reference to visiting Beethoven's house in Bonn as the reason for last-minute change of plans.)

"Pino leaves on a journey that should have started from Frankfurt, on a Pan Am flight bound for New York. But Emilio Chiarellotto, his dear friend visiting Frankfurt, convinced Pino to visit Beethoven's home in Bonn. Pino [missed] the plane and escaped the disaster of the [doomed] Pan Am 103 that fell on Lockerbie, Scotland, killing every passenger on board."

And as if the Leyers report relevations weren't enough, it just gets more crazy...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Unbelievable.

Apologies - failed to post the link to the Leyers report information:

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtop...

It's been brought to my attention that there may be some curiosity about whether or not some form of a private debate-argument has been occurring outside of the thread. The answer is no, there's not. For better or worse, all is silent (or at best the sound of chirpy crickets).

For those who do not travel to other threads, Franco Isman's article about the book and the misappropriation of his image as though it were a picture of Mimmo in spring 1944 at Casa Alpina has been published:

https://arengario.net/misc/misc258.html

A stand-alone English version is in the works so that those who do not use a browser with an auto-translation feature aren't forced to endure the hell of attempting to cobble together an ungarbled translation via online methods.

Below is a link to the English version of Franco Isman's recent article on the topic of the book after discovering the misappropriation of his photo and falsely presenting it to others in book presentations as though it were a picture of Mimmo Lella at Casa Alpina in spring 1944.

This is for those who do not use and don't intend to get a browser such as Chrome, or a browser add-on with auto-translation feature.

https://arengario.net/misc/misc258ENb...

(There is an "ENGLISH" button in the upper right corner of the original article, but ...)

Franco will work on English translations of his underlying 2003 and 2008 articles about his time at Casa Alpina. The misappropriated photo of him holding skis appears in both articles.

Franco's currently on a trip to Oman, of all places, and may not find the time to do it while on the trip.

Orig posted: Oct 18, 2019 05:52PM

I discovered that Mike had something to say after all in response to recent developments. The problem is that instead of posting them here, he posted them far, far away at https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re....

This needs doing for the historical record.

I intend to post links to the image snips of these posts as time allows [took a lot longer than I thought to circle back!, but meanwhile, here is the text:


Mike’s Comment Text from some time on 10-17-19:
This comment above is outrageous. It is based on a true story and I can attest most of it *(90%) is absolutely true.
I don't know who took the photo of Mr. Franco Isman and said it was Mimmo Lella. For anyone to suggest that my Dad and Uncle Mimmo were not at Casa Alpina is an insuilt. My brother and I personally stayed there and met Don Luigi Re in 1964 who remained a close friend of Mimmo until his death. This person (and I suspect it is MaryF) is a liar, fixated with some sort of personal reason to discredit the story and my father. I'm tired of it.



My Response as of a couple of hours ago [as of 10-18-19], after circling back to review a couple of pages and then to check whether “2 comments” on the review of ‘doni-rae’ was not a mistaken double post by me [...]:

Mike, you might want to respond over on your answer to "Is Pino Still Living...?" question thread at GR instead of lodging a grievance in an out of the way review where the probability is that no one but I will likely come across it ... and that you know is almost by chance.

My comment is most certainly not outrageous. Your attestation about what you believe, want to believe ... or even consciously believe you "know" is meaningless.

"I don't know who took the photo of Mr. Franco Isman and said it was Mimmo Lella."

There aren't a lot of daggum candidates, Mike. It was your father or you or Sullivan who misappropriated the photo, and it was Sullivan who falsely captioned it (or someone at his request) and put it into his presentation slideshow. Within the realm of unreasonable but outside theoretical possibility, [also could be] some knucklehead doing online research but ultimately acting on behalf of one of you. One question is, if it was not Sullivan or someone working on his behalf, who is it that gave it to him and represented that it was "Mimmo Lella, spring 1944, Casa Alpina". And as for guilty knowledge, the chance of all this time passing and Sullivan failing to come across one or both of Franco's articles after googling "Luigi Re" and "Casa Alpina" is infinitesimal. You do understand there is such a thing as site activity logs that show every time someone visited a particular page, yes?

I don't yet have definitive evidence that YOU misused the photo in your presentations, but it will be ruled out or in as time allows.

It is no "suggestion" that Lella Sr. and his brother weren't living at Casa Alpina during the time period covered in the book.

"My brother and I personally stayed there and met Don Luigi Re in 1964 who remained a close friend of Mimmo until his death. "

I don't care if you and your brother stayed there and met Msgr. Re - that proves nothing. The fact that your Uncle Mimmo was fond of Motta and met him is meaningful but, again, proves nothing more than they were in proximity.

There's no need to pretend to or actually "suspect" who authored the post. How silly. You recognize me the same way I do you.

I am not a liar, and if you don't want to be on the receiving end of a defamation suit, you'll cease and desist deploying that word or any similar nonsense. In fact, I’ll have an attorney send you a warning [in due course] just so you grasp how dead serious I am [and how serious this situation is,, on the off-chance there's viable hope that you'll rein in your worst knee-jerk impulses]. That will bring this fraud into the public realm in a way that's in progress but taking an inordinate length of time.

The English translation version of Franco Isman's May 2003 article (far more clear and precise than what GoogleTranslate or add-ons tend to produce):

https://arengario.net/inte/inte41EN.html

Archived today:

https://web.archive.org/web/201910190...

This is one of two articles from which his photo(s) would have been misappropriated. Translation of the other from 2008 has yet to be posted by Franco but should be within relatively short time.

If anyone should be on the receiving end of a defamation suit, it is YOU... MaryF. For you to say that my Dad and Uncle Mimmo were never at Casa Alpina is vehemently false. A LIE. That's not one of those small things like the argument over whether Lake Val Di Lei, was a frozen lake, a pond or a creek. The point is MaryF, posting on-line that the whole story is a fraud and a hoax is overboard. I'm sorry that someone (and it wasn't me or my Dad) posted a picture of Franco Isman as Uncle Mimmo (and Mark Sullivan had no way of knowing it was not Mimmo if someone gave it to him saying it was). I pointed it out to Mark as soon as I first saw that picture. Unfortunately, things like that happen and they should be corrected. Just because Mr. Isman doesn't remember Mimmo or my Dad doesn't mean anything either. And YES, personally meeting with and spending an Easter Vacation weekend at Casa Alpina with Don Re does count, even though I was only 12 at the time. Bottom line MaryF, and I repeat, there were some things in the book that were fabricated to suit the narrative. It is after all, classified as "HISTORICAL FICTION", based on a true story. These falsehoods are minor in nature and do not change the extraordinary things that the protagonist, my father witnessed and experienced, all things that form the story. Those are: 1) That he and his brother were sent to Casa Alpina to get away from the bombing of Milan (right after surviving the bombing of the "Cristallo Theater"). 2) Dad was groomed by Don Luigi Re to learn the trails for his eventual job guiding Jews to the Swiss border (along with Giovanni Barbareschi whom my father did not like). 3) He was buried in an avalanche (twice) during these missions. 4) He was in Madesimo and witnessed the grenade explosion of children playing.
5) He did learn to drive from his friend Alberto Ascari who was also in Madesimo with his young wife waiting out the bombing of Milan 6) And they (Alberto Ascari and others) were robbed by bandits who stormed the hotel one evening.
5) He was summoned to Milan before his 18th birthday
(while Mimmo remained at Casa Alpina), and talked into joining the German Organization Todt by his Resistance fighting Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta. 6) He was wounded while guarding the train station in Modena while at boot camp. He did sustain a head injury and a nearly severed right index finger, waking up in a German hospital. 7) He was ordered back to Milan to convalesce and it was then that he got the job (through connections with Aunt Greta, who had been "smoozing with the German High Command), as the driver of the Military Nazi leader of Organization Todt. 8) He then acted (informally) as a spy, by reporting daily, to Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta, all of the places, activities he would frequent with the General. During this time (and it lasted approximately one year), he did fall in love with the maid of his General's mistress Dolly, 9) He did deliver an OSS Allied radio, along with the General's maid, concealed in the false bottom of a suitcase made by Uncle Albert, and secured it to the Nazi antennae directly below his parent's new apartment on Corso Del Littorio #8 (now Corso Matteotti). 9) He did single-handedly arrest his General, delivering him to the "Terza Zat Resistance" where he was turned over to the Allies. 10) He did then witness the desecration of Mussolini's body in Piazzale Loreto along with US Major Frank Knebel, who became a life-long friend.11) He witnessed the execution of Nazi collaborators, including the mistress of the General, Dolly. And finally...12) He did accept that final and daring under cover mission to escort and deliver "His General" to the Americans waiting on the Austrian Border driving over the treacherous Brenner Pass battlefields...(and I heard my father and Carletto Beltramini discuss that night many times while growing up).....MaryK.... You and I both know that very little to none of these events can be verified. My Dad conducted his espionage in secret. It is a fantastic story that has captured the hearts of millions who have read the book. For you to say that the entire story is a hoax is laughable. Most of it is true. My father was so disturbed and traumatized by what he experienced during the War, that he left Italy in 1950 vowing never to return. He never spoke about the War nor did he want to return to Italy, until he capitulated to his parent's demand that he return to Milan in 1962 to
settle a rift and reunite with the family. I don't believe he wanted to return and the move brought back bad memories and the Ghost's of War began to haunt him.
From the age of 12, I began hearing of my father's exploits from people like Uncle Mimmo, my Dad's Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta, my grand parents, Carletto Beltramini, Don Re and many others. We spent time skiing in Madesimo (my Uncle built a cabin there right next door to Casa Alpina). Yes, there are some embellishments, fabrications in the story. Mark Sullivan was kind enough to allow me to edit each draft and I corrected several of these embellishments, at least the ones that I was aware of, but Mark Sullivan chose to include them in the narrative to fill in gaps....none of them making any difference in the over-all story. But, TO SAY THAT THE WHOLE STORY IS A FRAUD AND A HOAX is truly defamation and I wish YOU would stop it......Michael Lella, Pino's son.

Michael, we are making progress, because initially you said that everything was true, and now you admit that something was fabricated. So now we are at the point where we need to establish how much has been fabricated. I have to say that you lost your credibility with me, when you first wrote in this forum that both your father and your uncle told you about the lake Di Lei, when at that time there was only a creek. So if the first thing I ask of a person turns out not to be true, that tells me that statistically chances are that there are many more that are not true. Regarding point 5, I've read in the biography of Ascari, that at the time he was in the Southern Mediterranean running oil trafficking ships back and forth between North Africa and Italy. I believe Franco Isman, when he says that the Lella brothers were not there, because his articles are dated 2003 and 2008, predating Sullivan's fiction by many years. Chances are that Sullivan bumped into them while doing his research and appropriated the stories and embellished them. There is another point that Franco Isman made, and that is the following. The apprehension of the Lella family fearing that Pino could be drafted to the Russian front, is a false historical detail, because there was no Italian front anymore. So another blunder by whoever worked to add historical details to a novel, trying to make it credible.

Oct 21, 2019 10:58AM

I'll have my (of course!) long response later, but it's worth noting that G and I disagree about the idea that had Sullivan been the one to purloin Franco's photos - and even accounting for how sloppy Sullivan is - he'd leave behind the "gold" that is all the authentic detail to be mined about Casa Alpina residents and staff.

I believe, as Franco asserts, that the Lellas had holiday property at Madesimo aka the "winter colony" as Lella Sr. refer[r]ed to it - NOT to be confused with Mimmo's decision to later build his own place at Motta - and that Lella decided to co-opt bits of historiography about the time and place but failed to conduct proper due diligence to give it an air of true authenticity. If he did, it seems to me that (someone else can come up with a better theory) his Id chose to mislead him to a decision against using said detail, as well as common sense stuff such as getting pictures with then-Msgr. Re before he died.

And there are numerous examples of where both Sullivan and Lella messed up in inexplicable ways when grafting fables onto history, and Sullivan's repeated decisions to materially change well-documented historical events to suit his preference. One might be grateful (or not) that Sullivan wasn't so consumed by hubris that he chose to materially alter events at the Esso station on 29 April 1945.

I actually do not necessarily disagree with Mary F. I'm just not sure who is the fabricator or the fabricators. So the part of my comment above "Chances are that ..." should be superseded by a "It's possible...". I do not know if that probability is a high probability or a low probability, because I do not have other elements to gauge that probability.

Oct 23, 2019 08:16AM

Part 1 of ??

Better to view via this link, given how GR platform compresses column width the usual way:

https://www.goodreads.com/community_a...

* * *

Keep headed in this direction instead of turning around (a first step would be to stop and get your bearings) - I say better late than never - and your father’s legacy may wind up seen as (to be timely and topical) a Rudy Giuliani of World War II era botched stolen valor stories.[1]

You should seek out a third party professional about how to deal with this, because it will get worse but steps toward mitigation may lessen the damage. If you don’t care about your own reputation but do care how this may wind up impacting your family in the short and long term - though something tells me that you were compelled to shove that consideration far down the list of what’s important.

“For you to say that my Dad and Uncle Mimmo were never at Casa Alpina is vehemently false. A LIE.”

Like “slander”, you show a persistent refusal to understand or accept the (actual) definition of “lie”. To be clear, something false/untrue is not by default a lie - it’s a matter of evidence of intention for others to be deceived. There’s always been evidence well beyond Franco’s assertion that the Lellas were not among the ~eight-ten other young people who were guests and lived at Casa Alpina aside from Franco during the period covered in the book (as compared to the several dozen plus in Sullivan’s fiction). You somehow seem to maintain a blissful, sometimes belligerent unwillingness to consider this because, among other things, you apparently refuse to conduct research. That’s something you share with Sullivan.

As mentioned in my shorter comment earlier, despite all the 'gold' [authentic info] in Franco’s articles, one or more nitwits chose to purloin photos and leave behind authentic detail that represents a small portion of evidence to support an assertion the book’s tales are poorly co-opted, then reimagined and “fully dramatized”, etc. aka fabricated by Sullivan. (He is free to produce the audio-video of his interviews to contradict this conclusion.) It’s fair to assess that the destructive Ids of multiple persons are at work. To write the equivalent of “I dunno - shit happens” in response to the photo misappropriation and misuse is extraordinary. More on that later.

There is far more evidence to contradict the notion that Mimmo or your father lived at C[asa]A[lpina] from autumn 1943 onward - not exactly the same as unqualified “were never at Casa Alpina” - than has been produced in support of bald assertions that a Lella ever lived at Casa Alpina much less for months each year. (I also don’t forget a far longer timeline than eight months mentioned by you more than once early [on], though it seems you grasped importance of the compressed timeline in the book re: guide work.)

And who is the source that Lella boys spent months each year at Casa Alpina for what, nine years as of autumn 1943? Doesn’t sound like one of the non-critical embellishments Sullivan came up with but instead one he was told. Problem is, like so many other times, Sullivan skipped due diligence. Historiography indicates Casa Alpina was only open two months a year in summer until 1943 when Father Re moved there permanently, and I’ve thus far located no information to contradict this.

[As of July 2020 in a webcast produced by the Jewish Historical Museum, Sullivan decided to refer to Casa Alpina as a "summer camp". Problem is the book depiction was different, and in a 1985 interview Lella (eventually) decided to refer to Casa Alpina as being a "boarding school" that he'd attended (whereas when he'd initially described it, he left out any mention of a personal connection of any kind). At any rate, it's reasonable to conclude Lella's info about what Casa Alpina actually functioned as was acquired post-war when he decided to inject himself into the lore about the place and Father Re.]

You and Sullivan ought to be worried about more than Franco. He isn’t the only one still alive who lived at Casa Alpina during the period in question … never mind Don Luigi’s living relatives, whom it appears no one associated with the farce ever bothered to seek out or (let’s pretend Lella’s tales were true) maintain contact with, because … why would any of you know about them and fail to name-drop for another layer to suggest authenticity?

[continued later - who knows how many parts]

“That's not one of those small things like the argument over whether Lake Val Di Lei, was a frozen lake, a pond or a creek.”

You’re right - an assertion by Franco and others that Mimmo and Lella Sr. never lived at Casa Alpina doesn’t qualify as minutia, and neither does (for one of dozens) how Lella Sr., you and Sullivan all failed to know, learn about and then use the other people who lived there or, another example, about Carletto’s brother Franco and when their mother died. (My comments on this topic in the recent past might be misconstrued as a firm belief that Sullivan chose to kill them off so the climactic choice to take the “suicide mission” made sense, when it’s just as or more probable that Sullivan simply chose to avoid relevant fact-checking.)

Maybe Sullivan decided a long time ago that plausible deniability meant admitting to research failures if push came to shove was better than acquiring evidence that’d reveal Lella Sr. did a shoddy job of co-opting bits of history and other folks’ lives … and “I didn’t know!” would be lesser of two evils … surely better than an admission down the road that he had sufficient knowledge to conclude the tales were mostly fables. What he doesn’t think through is that being forced to acknowledge repeated refusals to fact-check is damning even without all his false claims about scope and breadth of research.

[continued later ... I may just share a link to Google doc in light of how the platform compresses width of column]

Oct 26, 2019 03:49PM

I recommend using this link to view comments, because the viewable column width is much wider:

https://www.goodreads.com/community_a...

* * *

Part 2 of [to be determined]

Sullivan (and ample evidence to conclude you as well) chose to make stuff up and consider it acceptable speculation or, sorry, “[mis]informed suspicion” and then relay it as though it were verified fact or at least ”knowledge”.[1]

“I'm sorry that someone (and it wasn't me or my Dad) posted a picture of Franco Isman as Uncle Mimmo (and Mark Sullivan had no way of knowing it was not Mimmo if someone gave it to him saying it was).”

You do not “know” but may assert that it wasn’t Lella Sr. or someone assisting him, wittingly or no. And “posted” is a rather strange riff on “misuse in Powerpoint (?) slideshow presentations.” This sort of remark just makes matters worse. Were I you, I’d’ve skipped it. The second, parenthetical part of the statement is a bad idea - as though acquisition and ultimately mislabeling and misuse of the photo were some innocent mistake and a random third party handed it over to Sullivan, who in turn didn’t bother to consult any Lellas to authenticate it. Does that make sense? Hell no.

Seems to me that Sullivan, without any further investigation, was in a position to say “Huh. That’s no picture of Mimmo in his 16th [or rather 17th] trip around the sun, or even his 11th-12th trip around the sun.” (The 16th-17th trip assumes Mimmo in fact died in 1974 at the age of 47 - his DOB will be confirmed soon, along with relatives left behind by the disappeared Franco Beltramini. Sullivan has a cruddy track record in general of accurate reporting of folks’ ages and years of death - it seems to happen when it supports a different false narrative inside or outside the book.)

A person has only to see a picture of a young Carlo Dante and the resemblance between father and son in childhood and as adults to know Mimmo in his latter teen years cannot reasonably be confused with a sweet-faced Franco who was to “turn” twelve within a few months of when that picture was taken. How is it even remotely possible unless one suffers from a severe case of face blindness to confuse Franco Isman with Mimmo? How is it that you promote a late 1940s photo of Lella Sr. - captioned 1949 in one use - as though it was anything more than a pic that inspired Sullivan to work it into a scene in the book where “Anna” takes a picture of Lella Sr.? He looks *completely* different at ~23, never mind the stamp that reveals it’s a FISI photo, and yet you’ve claimed it’s a photo of him in his 19th trip around the sun. The photo of him walking on a Milan street post-war shows a face not a great deal older than as of June 1943’s identity card, so I’m not sure why you didn’t choose that one instead and call it “Pino on a rare day off from work schlepping ‘mon gènèral’ all over the countryside.”

Why do you in effect assert that no one possessed or had access to pictures of a Mimmo in his teen years if not spring 1944 in a winter setting … anywhere? Like most families even of modest means, Lellas were awfully fond of photo-taking and preservation, as your collection demonstrates.


“I pointed it out to Mark as soon as I first saw that picture.”

And when do you assert this was? I can’t imagine you failed to get a look at the Powerpoint until 2018, so ...? Be careful and avoid the same mistake as Sullivan when he committed to, for example, how the first time he saw Leyers’ name and purportedly declared him “a prime contender” for the antagonist role despite already having info he needed NOT to rule out Fischer (but even Fischer doesn’t work), and too oblivious or reckless to make sure the timelines and tales work down the road. People can keep track, you know.

“Just because Mr. Isman doesn't remember Mimmo or my Dad doesn't mean anything either.”

The hell it doesn’t. There were not dozens of people residing at Casa Alpina during the period covered in the book, contrary to Sullivan’s “informed suspicion” I suppose he’d call it whenever he made up certain bits. Franco has evidence to support his assertion that the guest residents numbered ~ten, including a draft dodger’s little sister … but no Mimmo or Lella Sr. in or out of a “cover” job of ski instructor as he has claimed. (I want to confirm that Lella Sr. told Sullivan this version and that it’s just another part that Sullivan chose to ditch like the supposed but not actual plan to get Lella Sr. a job with an officer in the German High Command (of the Wehrmacht) (which, btw, it appears Leyers was not as of his Italian assignment). I can only presume Lella Sr. wasn’t supposed to travel off-script in his interview for the Jan 2018 release of the Italian version, or Sullivan and you figured it wouldn’t matter. It does.)

You are bamboozling yourself and it’s past time to snap out of it. You grasp at straws and claim it’s a failure of Franco’s memory [but also that this] is [a lie/]worse than, for example, your early versions - plural - about why-how Lella Sr. (and you) failed to memorialize and keep track of Leyers’ name well before Dehlendorf’s and then Sullivan’s entrances, but instead Lella Sr. maintained to both men that he was driver to someone named Kaufmann. (And I found a long while back info on a man named Kaufmann who was a Nazi - not all Germans were members of the NSDAP, you know, incl. Leyers. Kaufmann held the rank of captain and served in Italy under the rather large RuK command umbrella. He was reported as a corrupt, nasty fellow who stole from and extorted people instead of doing his job … which was to requisition and pay for goods. That is, unless the person lied about stock-supply, in which case protocol allowed for confiscation as punishment - but doubtless an appealable determination because the bureaucracy allowed for mistakes or poor judgment. … and always the expectation of documentation of actions - no doubt with a large distribution list on the documentation - as per German persnickety, redundant protocol. Do you want to “hear” more? Didn’t think so.)[2]

[1] We seem to agree now that Lago di Lei didn’t exist until the dam was built in the 1950s and the valley/gorge flooded, so the prior claim “we know” the book depicts that lake in 1944 turns out to be a minor sloppy falsity. It remains unclear what much smaller body of water Sullivan had in mind when describing the valley’s “namesake” of ~800 meters long and fewer than 200 meters wide. Have no idea why he didn’t know or care enough about research to ditch any grandiose claims by Lella Sr. about routes in favor of an arrangement that tracked what would be authentic. I’m bad at geography, so without maps, etc. it seems Sullivan even rejected a variation on the same route that Barbareschi would’ve taken during a hike he referred to as "a little here and a little beyond" near Lake Emet. (Giovanni C. can check.) I can see how this wouldn’t be appealing to Sullivan in light of his “thing” for winter sports or, better yet, a different scenario altogether but more plausible because it happened: forming relationships with and sometimes bribing border station guards. Instead, author felt compelled to go with oh-so dramatic, treacherous full winter slogs for kilometers in snow through a (lakeless) gorge with untrained people (and no one wearing so much as seal skins, which I understand is quite bizarre).

At any rate, I don’t expect anyone to spend time figuring out this mystery that is inconsequential compared to all the whopper screw-ups and falsehoods Sullivan injected into the stories that are explained by poor research and reckless abandon in pursuit of a hit book, but all the weird discrepancies do add up to a considerable pile of meaningful evidence that renders remarkable his decision to repeatedly misrepresent how much research was conducted. He wielded that falsehood like a cudgel outside the novel too, esp. when confronted about the swap of Kaufmann for Leyers, which I found almost hilarious - not quite, but almost.

[2] I’m well-versed in the tales that Sullivan has botched about the transformation of Kaufmann from a person’s *name* into a simple noun - misdeclared a homonym no less - and claimed Lella Sr. never heard his name used, then the various cockamamie iterations to explain the swap of Kaufmann for Leyers and not being mindful about what he wrote in 2006, 2009 and then 2016-17. All this on top of your version of the tale in which Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta planned the whole spy game, to meet and work for an officer not being “serendipitous”. Even if that version weren’t floated, someone fails to recall that all these people to include the aunt-uncle, Mimmo, the parents and even Carletto would be in a position to remind Lella Sr. and even you of the officer’s name. Remember, you claim to have been privy to extensive details via family lore from Lella Sr. and these people as of the early 1960s - occasionally asserting early on that “my never father talked about it”. There’s just too much irreconcilable nonsense on the record, Mike, and you’ve never kept track of your own let alone what was produced by Sullivan.


* * *
Addition: 10-29-19 at 10:51A (if using West Coast time)

By the way, this is the picture of sweet-faced Franco in Winter 1944-45 within a few months of when he'd "turn" 12 (which would be early April 1945):

Mary, regarding the indirect Barbareschi testimony (thank you for the link https://www.possibile.com/non-tempo-g...), it's interesting that that writer implicitly confirms there was no Lake Di Lei during the war. He also states they were rescuing the refugees going through lake Emet and pass Emet, which was a much closer, by the way, than the hypothetical borders Sullivan describes. Lake Emet measures approximately 300 m in directions north-south, and the same in direction east-west; so it's not possible those dimensions could have been mistaken for the 200 m by 800 m given in the book. It's also impossible that after Val Di Lei they would go through pass Emet, as Sullivan writes in one of the rescues. One possible explanation for the invented dimensions of the invented lake Di Lei, is that, whoever was researching plausible stories to put in the novel, thought that before the dam was built (i.e. during the war), there was a smaller lake; then this person proceeded to measure the size of the gorge, and came up with the 200 by 800 meters dimensions.

Yay, it was successful. I've no idea whether this will be successful - posting the image - but ... perhaps Franco or you could fiddle with a similar search and then insert the approx. route that Barbareschi and the kids would take for one of their hikes "a little here and there".

As should be apparent, this was searching (by foot) the route folks would take from area of Lake Emet to Innerferrera *today*. I believe the first mention was on p. 95 by Mr. "Bergstrom", before the creative fiction that is the interaction with and threat from "Tito". (I still don't know why Sullivan chose to inject the book with evil banditi characters as though a good substitute for his decision to omit historiography of spalloni-smugglers with whom Father Re dealt ... at least in terms of legend if not pinned down historiography.[1])




[1] And this is according to not just the Madesimo local government [Tourism Consortium] folks, who aren't exactly discriminating about sources of historical info. At least one goofball on staff actually refers inquiring minds to this blasted book in relation to Msgr. Re.

Remember to use this alternate route to these pages where you are free to "edit" your posts and the viewing width is wider:

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I have no idea whether this is useful - remember, I'm geographically disabled - but from http://www.via-alpina.org/en/stage/262, there is:

"Detailed route description

[...] Walk through the lonely Niemet valley, which was frequently used in earlier days for smuggling between Italy and Switzerland, to reach the Niemet pass. This pass is also the Swiss/Italian border. Don’t forget your passport or i.d. card! Pass the Emet lake to reach the hospitable “Rifugio Bertacchi CAI” hut. The trail then continues to the north and passes the Andossi lake to the Monte Spluga lake. It is always worth while to make the detour to the high-altutide area of Mount Spluga. Next, the trail leads alongside the lake and through the imposing and historically significant Cardinellschlucht ravine to Isola.
(Bündner Wanderwege BAW)"

This is a "shorter" post to cover a few interim follow-up topics while they're on my mind.

"From the age of 12, I began hearing of my father's exploits from people like Uncle Mimmo, my Dad's Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta, my grand parents, Carletto Beltramini, Don Re and many others."

As of when is Father (Monsignor) Re one of the folks who told you stories about Lella Sr.'s exploits while at Casa Alpina and elsewhere? Assume the addition seemed timely and topical given the above comments. To the best of my recollection - and I will need to check the extensive compilation of your remarks - you've not previously included him in the sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting list of folks you heard talk about tales of derring-do (but apparently not family members' Fascist Party membership or the mandatory fascist indoctrination of Lella Sr., Mimmo and Cicci, much less the active persecution of both foreign and Italian Jews from 1940 onward that made life miserable long before their lives were under imminent threat, etc., etc.).

And who is among the "many others" whom you heard discuss the subject? That is, aside from Knebel who, it's worth mentioning, you once declared took steps after the war to ensure that your father was recognized for his actions. This, like the "grand daughter of the violinist", was once mentioned and then disappeared into the ether, never to be invoked-trotted out again (to my knowledge thus far). Even more strange and yet par for the course, the claim about Knebel securing recognition of Lella Sr. was devoid of relevant detail like, oh, Sullivan's Victor Daloia botched fabrication about finding a Silver Star and citation in his father's attic for acts of bravery at Monte Cassino on behalf of the Tenth Mountain. Victor apparently decided - on a much smaller scale than Sullivan, to be sure - that "go big or go home!" is the best practice with a tale of stolen valor by proxy. (Yes, I've concluded until established otherwise that's Victor Daloia's despicable fiction rather than Sullivan's who, once again, would've had to CHOOSE not to fact-check because he didn't want to know.)

* * *

At any rate, I'll add Msgr. Re to the list of people who, bewilderingly, never ever heard or uttered the name of "mon gènèral" that Sullivan elected to fashion into not only Lella Sr.'s sidekick but also a "mysterious", "second most powerful German - sorry, 'Nazi' - in Italy, member of the German High Command [of the Wehrmacht], yet also somehow the (relatively lowly) commander of Org Todt['s operating group there] and (best of all) Hitler's left hand", as well as murderer, slave master and gold thief who escaped justice at Nuremberg by (super secret!) testimony against his boss Speer. ... and who also managed to escape much notice in Italy - both during the war and after. (See, most references to him in the press and other historiography are neutral or even positive.) Not so much as persona non grata status did Leyers suffer in post-war years.[1]

Yes, yes, well, I can see all this IS all rather a lot to swallow once you lay it out that way, and isn't it nuts to believe none of this [and dozens upon dozens of other things] would ever be noticed/put together?

[1] May I remind you that Leyers worked for Deutsche Fiat post-war - yet another authentic detail erased from history by the author for what I consider obvious reasons - and that Leyers traveled to Italy numerous times with and without his wife on business and holiday post-war. Valentin Schmitz was crystal clear about this in our exchanges, as well as his dismissal of the notion that Sullivan would've acquired info from the meeting on June 15, 2015 that Leyers was facing prosecution for war crimes, etc.

This IS a lot to swallow Mary F....and I will address just one thing for now: 1) I am 67 years old and the exact recollection of the conversations my brother and I had with Monsignor Don Luigi Re at Casa Alpina are foggy and vague at best. In fact, I didn't even remember the those encounters until my brother pointed them out to me. Just like my grandparents, our parents often sent us out of the city (Milano) to Madesimo and yes, to Casa Alpina. We weren't formally enrolled there, it was mostly on weekends or maybe an Easter break or two, 1963 or 1964. I don't remember if Uncle Mimmo or my Dad drove us there. We could have been placed on the train (which happened frequently even at that age). At any rate, I do remember Father Re as this benevolent white-haired Priest who spoke to us about Dad and Mimmo when they were teenagers. I can tell you only that he gave us a sense of admiration for their ability as skiers, hikers and MOUNTAIN GUIDES. I don't recall him specifically speaking about WWII or guiding Jews to their safety. When I mentioned that "we spoke to Father Re", I did not mean to imply that he confirmed everything about my father's exploits guiding these escaping Jews over the Alps. 2) Later in life, it became clear to me that Dad did indeed escort and GUIDE JEWS over the Alps from Casa Alpina. For one, he told us about this and secondly, so did Mimmo, Cicci, Nonno Michele, Uncle Albert and Aunt Greta! My Dad was well-known for having done that by many family friends!! It only stands to reason that when Father Re spoke of Dad as being a teen MOUNTAIN GUIDE, it was DURING THE WAR and guiding escaping JEWS.....

Mike,

As I've told you before - more than once starting 2017 - I'm not impressed by family lore. Many folks engaged in fantastic revisionism of their personal and family history during and after the war.

Unfortunately, you've established that you are as credible as Sullivan, which means not at all credible, and so heavily invested in the project - you for decades, by your collective admissions - that you'll do and say just about anything in steadfast disregard of mountains of contrary evidence.

I'll lodge a follow-up inquiry with Bruce about his recollections, but I seriously doubt he'll issue any retraction(s) or material revision(s) from the information provided in June 2017. And even if by some miracle he does, it wouldn't make a difference but to add to the rather sizable archives.

Franco Isman's latest article, while I'm here (posted over at Philip's review as well but not yet in the comment section of mine):

https://arengario.net/misc/misc261.html

Mike, I'm taking the liberty of copying over your latest spleen-venting from Dec 3, buried pages deep in the Amazon reviews at https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re..., which apparently you chose to circle back and delete (and I won't bother to ask why):



My response:

"My initial post started out with this sentence: 'Mike, I hate to see it much less say it, but you really are a coward.' That may seem harsh to some, but it's deserved [at this point].

As I've said before, Mike - I understand that you feel compelled to vent your spleen. I also understand why you've chosen to bury these remarks pages deep into the reviews where they are unlikely to be noticed, instead of putting a single one on any of the top default reviews or another prominent place."


* * *

Giovanni C is free to copy over his own response.

Look Mary...Now you're stooping so low as to call me a "coward:" Why don't you confront me personally and we'll see who is the coward (209) 480-8671.

posted Jan 12, 2020 11:05AM

Michael wrote: "Look Mary...Now you're stooping so low as to call me a "coward:" Why don't you confront me personally and we'll see who is the coward (209) 480-8671."

Did I not write that I hate to think it let alone say that you're a coward? I won't allow you to pretend as though it's my fault that you've elected for years to avoid top default review spaces, and that you repeatedly choose not to come clean or provide material, meaningful, accurate information in defense of what Sullivan, your father and you elected to do.

This is the first diversion you've come up with that I can recall being remotely clever. I've spent enough hours transcribing an eye-opening ~four-hour interview of your father in 1985 on the topic of life before, during and after the war. I have no interest in spending more time on doing the same for whatever nonsense it is you may have in mind during a phone call. You must know that I'd insist on recording and transcribing it for future reference.

And *I* stoop low? How do you manage to pretend that you've not said worse about but routinely fail to direct *to* me (and this is crucial) remarks without any basis whatsoever other than your desperate fear transformed into anger at me disseminating information about which you've chosen to remain clueless for decades but also information that in essence reveals you eagerly participated in and promoted not just a sloppy contrived work of over-the-top fiction but in essence a literary fraud?

Would you like me to post a compilation of snips showing nasty, baseless comments of yours to include the nonsensical and offensive suggestion that my actions "must be for political and ideological reasons, perhaps even anti-Semitic ones"?

I had reason to call it exactly what it appears to be and is when you elect to vent your spleen and call me "crazy" in an out of the way place over a month back to feel better instead of responding here to (at minimum) various pieces of breaking news since October. [1]

Instead of copying over links from a selection of the additional posts that you chose to evade instead of respond to (from early October, it was: https://www.goodreads.com/community_a...), I'd rather you register as a private researcher at the USHMM site (https://collectionsrequest.ushmm.org/...) and then I'll send you link(s) to the recordings of your father's July 1985 interview with The Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute about attitudes during the second world war ... an interview Sullivan in effect declared didn't take place. I trust you'll also recall a comment you once posted about the grand daughter of "the violinist" (though your father was evidently not shy about referring to "Elena Napolitano" in 2018), who you wrote "[found] and request[ed] an interview with my father in the mid 80's [sic]" - a lady that you insisted he refused to talk to ("At the time, he refused to talk about it.").

[1] That is, other than to in effect call Franco Isman a liar - which would have to include the other fellow still alive who lived at Casa Alpina during the time in question and knows that neither Mimmo nor your father lived there - and to correct and walk back the not terribly consequential assertion made a while back to suggest Father Re corroborated your father's stories. I'd much rather you clarify a past assertion that Frank Knebel ensured that your father was officially recognized for supposed but not actual acts of derring-do. In fact, had any such thing occurred Sullivan would've been eager to do more than suggest Knebel had planned at one point to write about your father's story.

That's it Mary...I'm taking the advice from others who view your insulant posts....I'm not going to engage anymore with your nonsense. You ARE flat out CRAZY!!!!!!!!!

Wise, Michael. Hoping I no longer receive alerts...and it is about this negativity. Regardless of any imperfections, I loved this book. It will be among those books that I most remember.

I loved the book, so I did some digging to put faces with names. I stumbled across this feed. Now I'm upset by all the arguments. Regardless, it was a great read!

Thank you Celia and Linda. The arguments have been promulgated by one person and she's on a mission to denigrate the success of the story. She's nuts and I'm not engaging with her anymore. Glad you liked the story....and don't worry, most of it is true. the falsehood and embellishments were "minor in nature" and do not change the over-all story. The characters did exist and for the most part, they were portrayed accurately. I can attest to knowing Mimmo, Cicci, Michele. Porzia, Uncle Albert Aunt Greta, all close relatives. I also knew and met Dad's friends, Don Luigi Re, Carletto Beltramini and many others not mentioned. The book is rated "historical fiction" for some of the minor embellishments and dialogue that Mark Sullivan created. Other than that, it's a novel based on a true story....period.