Waterfall in the Heavens: Growing Up in Rural Sicily in the 1940's

(Paperback)

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Mario D'Arrigo transports his readers across time to life in war-torn 1940's Sicily as seen through the eyes of a young boy. In Mario's village the invasion of Sicily began with a wave of American warplanes dropping bombs indiscriminately. He recounts his parents' struggle with poverty and a passing War, and his mother's tenacious pursuit to emigrate to America to educate and improve the lot of her children. But how does a family in poverty raise the funds to pay for the passage of six on a ship to America Was it even possibleWhile he recounts the struggle of his parents, Mario reveled in the freedom that the time and place afforded him of days filled with adventures in a countryside unchanged for generations.Through it all shines the loving bond that Mario shares with his father and the strength that he admires so much in his mother. Waterfall in the Heavens, so named for the image that is conjured by the river of lava seen against the night sky during the eruption of Mount Etna, is a story of a young boy's adventure in an ancient and beautiful land, of a family's struggles of living in poverty in a small Sicilian village, and of a conviction to begin anew. But above all else, this is a story of the strength of a family and its pursuit of the American Dream.

Author Bio

Mario D'Arrigo is an attorney, a family man and the embodiment of the American Dream. He and his family came to America when he was a young boy following the end of the Second World War. Mario Spent the first 10 years of his life in rural Sicily where his parents endured a passing War and struggled hard to put food on the table, and to earn the money, find the means and make the journey to America with Mario and his three young brothers. He came of age in America and through happenstance, serendipity and perseverance, Mario forged a path toward fulfilling his family's dream of being the first in his family to be college educated. He earned a degree in and worked as an engineer with a large corporation before going on to law school and establishing his own legal practice in upstate New York where he has spent most of his adult life. Mario enjoys working with his hands, spending time outdoors, going out to dinner with friends, and spending time with his wife Elena, his children and his grandchildren. Having spent years writing technical legal briefs, he has turned his hand to more creative writing by focusing on recounting his extraordinary experiences in 1940's rural Sicily, experiences which helped to define and shape the person that he has become.