Immigrant Secrets

My father never mentioned his Italian immigrant family. Never. We only knew - or thought we knew - that his parents died in the 1930s. Except they didn't. I spent decades working with records managers, archivists, and genealogists on the technologies used to preserve information. Despite this, I never spent any time looking at my own family history. The only thing my father ever said about his family was that his parents died in the 1930s. Once I began the search for my grandparents, I mostly ran into frustrating dead-ends - until the release of the 1940 Census. My grandparents magically appeared in the Census - but as "inmates" at the Rockland Insane Asylum - along with an extended family of aunts and uncles and cousins, all living within driving distance, but never mentioned.What happened? Who were these people? And why all the secrecy?The book is part mystery, part family history, part historical reconstruction. The story in the book of the search itself is a rather typical family history journey, albeit one that revealed things I never could have imagined about our family. The story in the book of my Italian grandparents is in fact a story. But it is, as they say in the movie industry, "based on a true story." As Christian columnist and New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans said in her 2018 book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, "Origin stories are rarely straightforward history. Over the years, they morph into a colorful amalgam of truth and myth, nostalgia and cautionary tale."

Like many of their greatest generation compadres, my parents, Joseph and Sallyann, quickly headed from New York City to the suburbs in the 1950s shortly after they were married. They arrived in New Jersey, and began their own personal population explosion, having six kids-John, June, Joseph, Jennifer, Jeffrey, and Jeanne-within an eleven-year span. Yes, all Js. It was a typical story of life in the suburbs. Imagine the television show The Wonder Years set in New Jersey, and you can get the picture. On The Wonder Years, you always had a feeling there was some untold story concerning Kevin's father Jack and his father. Bit by bit over the years, the backstory is revealed. Kevin's father was born in 1927. He grew up during the Great Depression, served in the US Marine Corps during the Korean War, and worked as a product distribution manager at NORCOM, a somewhat mysterious large military defense company. Later, he started his own business building and selling handcrafted furniture. In the last episode, it was revealed that he died of a heart attack in 1975. There are certain parallels. My father was born in 1925. He grew up during the Great Depression, served in the US Navy during WWII and worked as a business analyst at Union Carbide, a somewhat mysterious large chemical company. Later, he started his own business with a friend, but I have no idea what they did. In my father's last episode, he had a heart attack in New York City in 1987 shortly after officially retiring. There is one significant difference between Jack Arnold in the Wonder Years and my father. My father had no "backstory." My father never mentioned his family. Never. We only knew - or thought we knew - that his parents died in the 1930s. Unless you knew my father -- the consummate family man -- you will have no idea how weird this was. And therein are the seeds of my quest to unravel our family history mystery. In a pair of ship manifests, I discovered my father's parents, a pair of Italian immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1920s, intent on grabbing their share of the American dream. In the 1930 Census, I found a family of four - my grandparents, my father and his brother -- with a tenuous foothold on that dream, operating a small fruit stand in Manhattan. After that, I had mostly frustrating dead-ends -- until the release of the 1940 Census. My grandparents magically reappeared in the Census - but as "inmates" at the Rockland Insane Asylum, never to reemerge. And through my entire lifetime until my father's death, there was no mention that he had an extended family of aunts and uncles and cousins, all living within driving distance. What happened? Who were these people? How did their lives go so awry? And why all the secrecy? This is a story about my efforts to use genealogy to discover the truth about our family and a reflection on the impact of secrets on our lives. It is also the story of what it means to be an immigrant - and the impact that "otherness" and mental illness can have on the vulnerable. And lastly, it is my attempt to think through the "why" and "how" of my father, 34 years after his death.

In 1950s Chicago, a boy hides in his closet to escape a father's habitual rage. There he conjures up another paternal figure in his artistic Italian grandfather, Canio Grieco. With his wondrous tricks and stories of "Italy," his library and drawings, his baseball and opera, Canio becomes the model of creativity for the lonely, introverted grandson who learns to survive through ingenuity, imagination, and electricity. Canio's Secret is a coming-of-age story about young Greg's struggle to find solace in his mother's Catholicism and break free of his father's anger. Told through intimate portraits of parents and grandparents, nuns and janitors, friends and local characters, and their unsettling, often humorous, encounters, it is also the vibrant portrait of a multi-ethnic neighborhood soon to be scattered by white flight. As the older writer ponders his grandfather's influence, the memoir becomes a meditation on Canio's enigmatic advice, spoken in the summer of 1953: "Happiness is all that's required."

The dramatic real life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China’s 1949 Communist revolution—a heartrending precursor to the struggles faced by emigrants today. “A true page-turner . . . [Helen] Zia has proven once again that history is something that happens to real people.”—New York Times bestselling author Lisa See NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY Shanghai has historically been China’s jewel, its richest, most modern and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class when Mao’s proletarian revolution emerged victorious from the long civil war. Terrified of the horrors the Communists would wreak upon their lives, citizens of Shanghai who could afford to fled in every direction. Seventy years later, members of the last generation to fully recall this massive exodus have revealed their stories to Chinese American journalist Helen Zia, who interviewed hundreds of exiles about their journey through one of the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From these moving accounts, Zia weaves together the stories of four young Shanghai residents who wrestled with the decision to abandon everything for an uncertain life as refugees in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. Benny, who as a teenager became the unwilling heir to his father’s dark wartime legacy, must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. The resolute Annuo, forced to flee her home with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the U.S. in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. And Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America. The lives of these men and women are marvelously portrayed, revealing the dignity and triumph of personal survival. Herself the daughter of immigrants from China, Zia is uniquely equipped to explain how crises like the Shanghai transition affect children and their families, students and their futures, and, ultimately, the way we see ourselves and those around us. Last Boat Out of Shanghai brings a poignant personal angle to the experiences of refugees then and, by extension, today. “Zia’s portraits are compassionate and heartbreaking, and they are, ultimately, the universal story of many families who leave their homeland as refugees and find less-than-welcoming circumstances on the other side.”—Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

Named one of 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 by Thinkers50 A Wall Street Journal Bestseller "...this guide provides readers with much more than just early careers advice; it can help everyone from interns to CEOs." — a Financial Times top title You've landed a job. Now what? No one tells you how to navigate your first day in a new role. No one tells you how to take ownership, manage expectations, or handle workplace politics. No one tells you how to get promoted. The answers to these professional unknowns lie in the unspoken rules—the certain ways of doing things that managers expect but don't explain and that top performers do but don't realize. The problem is, these rules aren't taught in school. Instead, they get passed down over dinner or from mentor to mentee, making for an unlevel playing field, with the insiders getting ahead and the outsiders stumbling along through trial and error. Until now. In this practical guide, Gorick Ng, a first-generation college student and Harvard career adviser, demystifies the unspoken rules of work. Ng distills the wisdom he has gathered from over five hundred interviews with professionals across industries and job types about the biggest mistakes people make at work. Loaded with frameworks, checklists, and talking points, the book provides concrete strategies you can apply immediately to your own situation and will help you navigate inevitable questions, such as: How do I manage my time in the face of conflicting priorities? How do I build relationships when I’m working remotely? How do I ask for help without looking incompetent or lazy? The Unspoken Rules is the only book you need to perform your best, stand out from your peers, and set yourself up for a fulfilling career.

The purported guidebook used by tens of millions of illegal immigrants to enter the United States successfully and prosper once there, a satire on Americans who have lost control of their borders and not on foreigners.

Berlin's Immigration SecretsIf you dream about greener pastures overseas but find the immigration procedure to be a daunting one, Berlin's Immigration Secrets will provide you with the guidance needed to successfully achieve your goals. The author Erez Agam presents a complete guide to the immigration process in Germany based on his own experiences, including several little-known facts and insights. In the form of a memoir, Agam narrates a story of perseverance, dedication, and resilience, demonstrating how to efficiently tackle the bureaucratic procedures involved in the immigration process and highlighting the difficulties you are likely to face. The essence of the immigration experience and the mindset required to overcome obstacles remain the same no matter what your end goal is, and this book will help you build a new life at your chosen destination.

This alphabet picture book companion to the popular B Is for Brooklyn weaves together a multitude of immigrant experiences in a concise, joyful package. For readers of Dreamers by Yuyi Morales. What do African dance, samosas, and Japanese gardens have in common? They are all gifts the United States received from immigrants: the vibrant, multifaceted people who share their heritage and traditions to enrich the fabric of our daily lives. From Jewish delis to bagpipes, bodegas and Zen Buddhism, this joyful ABC journey is a celebration of immigrants: our neighbors, our friends.