Art, Bionics & the Malocchio

vic fortezza
3 min readMay 25, 2024

Child musical prodigies have been common through the ages. Here’s something new out of Ghana, from a nypost.com article by Adriana Diaz, reworded by yours truly: Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah began painting when he was 6 months old, and was one year and 152 days old when he became the world’s youngest artist, according to Guinness World Records. He’s sold 15 pieces so far. Photo from NYP:

And from the world of medicine, Long Island’s Jordan Marotta, five, became the youngest-ever recipient of a top-of-the-line bionic arm. Article by Alex Mitchell, photo from NYP:

To leftists, no one will ever be liberal enough. Headline from nypost.com: “Woke $63K-a-year NYC school that boasts about its commitment to DEI targeted by hateful anti-Israel graffiti.” Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Makes me glad my parents couldn’t afford such an institution — pun intended.

Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on OTA in NYC, ran a flick I’d never seen, The Evil Eye (1963), an Italian thriller starring Leticia Roman and John Saxon. It’s the story of a young woman who witnesses a murder that happened ten years earlier, and the creepy things that happen to her thereafter. Since I’d never heard of it, I suspected it would be awful. Quite the contrary, the location shooting in Rome and cinematography, which director Mario Bava handled, were first rate, making up for lapses in plot and characterizations. The late Valentina Cortese provides a good jolt to the proceedings, as she so often did. I was completely unfamiliar with the female lead. Born in the Eternal City in 1941 as Letizia Novarese, the lovely Roman’s career began in 1960 with an appearance in G.I. Blues and ended in ’69. She had the title role in Russ Meyer’s Fanny Hill (1964) and did guest shots on primetime fare as diverse as F Troop and I Spy. She also was in at least one French movie and five German. There are 27 titles under her name at IMDb. She is a mom of one, still among the living. Photo from Google Images:

Mario Bava, a stalwart of Italian cinema, was born in San Remo in 1914. He began as a cinematographer in 1939. There are 79 titles under his name in that category, 39 as director, 21 as writer, 36 in special effects. His career ended in ’79. He suffered a fatal heart attack in ’80 at 65. His most notable work is perhaps Black Sunday (1960), Brit horror icon Barbara Steele’s breakout film. He was married from ’38 until his passing, a father of two. Here’s a quote attributed to him: “In my entire career, I made only big bullshits, no doubt about that.” But often fun. Photo from GI:

Can’t leave out Barbara Steele, now 86, photo from GI:

It was another gorgeous day for curbside business. My thanks to the folks who bought and swapped books. Here’s what sold: The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action by Wendy Northcutt, Depression 101: A Practical Guide to Treatments, Self-Help Strategies, and Preventing Relapse by John D. Preston PsyD ABPP and Melissa Kirk; two kids’ books; The Templar Salvation by Raymond Khoury; The Tenth Justice by Brad Meltzer; and an illustrated edition of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson designed for the YA audience.

My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts

Read Vic’s Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza

--

--

vic fortezza
vic fortezza

Written by vic fortezza

I was born in Brooklyn in 1950 to Sicilian immigrants. I’ve had more than 50 short stories published world wide. I have 13 books in print.

No responses yet