The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero - Hardcover

Coppola, Vincent

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0881461253 ISBN 13: 9780881461251

Publisher: Mercer University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Judge Anthony Alaimo s life is a metaphor for quintessential American values: courage, hard work, patriotism, compassion. This biography does not dwell in the realm of metaphorical; it plunges us into the day-to-day life of an immigrant family struggling in the depths of the Depression to become Americans, of an immigrant son putting his every dream on hold to pursue a greater passion: love of country. It carries us into the madness of air warfare, the horror of a screaming crash into the frigid North Sea, the terrible realization and burden of living with the knowledge that you survived when everyone else died.

The son of illiterate, but deeply religious Sicilian immigrants, US District Court Judge Anthony Alaimo shined shoes and cut hair in Jamestown, New York, to pay for his college education. (He was the Golden Gloves boxer attending the quiet Methodist College.) As a POW, he participated in the world-famous Great Escape, and later broke out on his own, making his way through German lines into Switzerland.

A mother s love, religious faith, and ferocious patriotism transform an impoverished immigrant boy into one of the Greatest Generation heroes. This book takes us inside the incandescent life and tumultuous times of Judge Anthony Alaimo, WWII bomber pilot, POW, and indomitable escape artist, whose fidelity to the law is equaled by his compassion and outrage at injustice.

About this title

About the Author:

Vincent Coppola is a former Newsweek correspondent and award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Esquire, Talk, Men s Journal, Rolling Stone, Worth, Atlanta, Georgia Trend, and other publications. He is the author of Uneasy Warriors: The Perilous Journey of the Green Berets and Dragons of God: A Journey through Far Right America. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Coppola served as a visiting instructor in journalism and creative writing at Emory University. He lives in Atlanta.

Review:

What makes Alaimo s story so poignant is that like most other World War II veterans, he didn t seek recognition or praise for his exploits during the war...but went home, went to college, then law school and pursued a career in civilian life which took him to the top of his profession...For those who love stories about people who have really `lived their lives ...this is a must read. --Historian Rolland Kidder, author of A Hometown Went to War

This excellent biography records the life and times of one of our country s true heroes, both in war and peace. --Former US Attorney General Griffin B. Bell

He lives his life the way we all wish we had the courage to live ours. --US District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood

About this edition

• Publisher: Mercer University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0881461253
• ISBN 13: 9780881461251
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 282