And the journey continues

Photo provided by Luca Guardabascio

On Wednesday November 19th, Luca Guardabascio presented his book, "Stones on the Ocean," at Oberlin College in Ohio. On December 4th, he will return to Detroit for another presentation. He plans to present the book in Philadelphia on December 13th and in New York on December 15th. The New York presentation will be sponsored by La Federazione Delle Associazioni Campane in USA.

Guardabascio is also busy shooting a new movie on the Italian American poet, Zach Aiko at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania. Click here to be directed to the official Facebook page of the movie.

Photo provided by Guardabascio

Photo provided by Guardabascio

Hilary Clinton has a few advices for you

I just wanted to share this article on former US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's speech at the Association of American Publishers this year. Her lessons are worth taking notes of. Click here to be directed to it.

Book Signing in New Jersey

Dr. Shellie Hipsky at the Pittsburgh Lauch Party for Inspiring Lives, LLC

Dr. Shellie Hipsky will be at The Summit Meditation Center on June 18th in Summit, New Jersey to discuss her fifth book "Ordinary People Extraordinary Planet." She will be hosting a book signing and an empowering talk, which would also be in honor of the late Clarel Radicella who left her own legacy and who is part of the book.
The event will start at 5:30 p.m. The Summit Meditation Center is at the 3rd floor of the MONDO building 426 Springfield Avenue Summit, New Jersey (908) 273-7776.
Please be there!!!
She will be attending events and will be doing photo shoots for two magazines in NYC while she is in town.

Luca Guardabascio Set to Work on A New Movie

Padula (Italy)

Luca Guardabascio is currently working on a movie, which he will be directing. It will be produced by Coimar S. P. A., a big production company in Padula, a commune in Salerno, Italy. This movie will be based on his upcoming book, which will be published by Historica Edizioni and the youngest editor in Italy, Francesco Giubilei, described as "a good friend with an open mind" by Guardabascio.
The working title of the movie is Padula-New York- Pittsburgh: Emigrazione Sangue Speranza (Padula-New York-Pittsburgh : Emigration Blood and Hope) and the subtitle is La storia di Joe Petrosino e del suo migliore amico Giovanni Esposito (The story of Joe Petrosino and his best friend Giovanni).

Luca Guardabascio, Pino D'aloia (actor) and Francesco Giubilei

"The story [will depict] the strong friendship of Giuseppe (Joe) Petrosino and Giovanni Esposito, growing up in Italy in Padula near the Certosa (the biggest monastery in Europe) with their friends until they decide to leave Italy to go to the United States to have a better life," narrated Guardabascio.
Giovanni, who is the first one to migrate to the United States, embarks in a long trip to Ellis Island, also called the island of hope, with this simple promise from Joe: "We will meet you there."
In the United States, he survives through illegal means whereas Joe becomes a New York City police officer and a pioneer in the fight against organized crime.

Nino Melito Petrosino in Joe Petrosino Museum

"This strong brotherhood of the two men will be described through the double face of emigration, and thanks to Petrosino and his honest way of life, Giovanni will understand the sense of his life," recounted Guardabascio.
The movie will mainly focus on the true story of Petrosino and will tell the amazing story of migration from 1860 to 1980.
It will also cover the Italian unification and the earthquake that hit the south of Italy (Irpinia) on Nov. 23, 1980 when a very old Giovanni Esposito comes back to Padula after years of building his life in the United States.
"It will be an important movie about the good Italian emigration in the world that produce true hero like Joe Petrosino a man who fight all his life against the Mafia," Guardabascio quoted.
The movie will also show non-fictional personalities like singer Enrico Caruso and former US president, Theodore Roosevelt.

Luca Guardabascio in Pittsburgh

"It will be a movie about legality, justice, love with some part ironic because the Italians are people who overcome all situations with passion and laugh in a 'Tragicomical' way'," explained Guardabascio. "The emigration will be described to remember all the men and women who built Italy and America in an honest way."
Guardabascio, along with the producers of Coimar S. P. A (Caputo, Cancellaro, Giobbe, LaManna), decided to film most of the movie in Padula as a way to pay tribute to this important and historical little village and the culture of the Italian people.
"The Casa Museo Joe Petrosino is a very important museum that you have to visit once in your lifetime because it is an example of memories against all the Mafias. The house was the original house where Petrosino was born and lived until 12 years old and where he cames back before being killed in Palermo (Sicily)."

Luca Guardabascio and Joe D'Andrea

Parts of the movie will be shot in New York thanks to different associations like the Lt. det. Joseph Petrosino Ass. Of America inc. and l’Associazione Internazionale Joe Petrosino, handled by his nephew, Nino Melito Petrosino.
Guardabascio also wants to shoot parts of the movie in Pittsburgh, where he was a Rooney Scholar at Robert Morris University in 2011.
"Part of my heart is there," confessed Guardabascio. "The people are nice, and I work with them on many projects, which was great."
"There are professors and filmmakers like Michael Di Lauro who helped me grow in my career. I love Professor Joe D’Andrea, the one who gave me suggestions with his emigration story to write this story."

Luca Guardabascio in Pittsburgh

Guardabascio would love to make use of some RMU students and professors for the movie, including Di Lauro, John Radamacher, Jim Vincent, Lutz Bacher, John Lawson and Helene Vanhala. He would also love to work with Joe Hale, Ray Zapparoni and Steve Troutman because of their technical talents.
He described the RMU president, Greg Dell'Omo as a "super nice friend who loves Italy and who is another good example of the wonderful things Italian American people do in the United States."
"I would also like to collaborate with American artist like George Nista and teachers like Paola Basile, Ida Mansourian and Viviana Altieri of Mondo Italiano, people who can give me more input to film my movie."
"But one of my best friend and part of my crew is Lisa Nutt, a very strong woman who will be translating my book in English and Spanish and who will be the best production assistant on set I've ever had in my life."
His goal is to go back to RMU next fall, give lectures on the topic, show his next documentary and try to organize the movie in the best way with the people he considered his best friend.
He is currently working on the screenplay along with Stefano Stanzione and Giovanni Cancellaro. Luigi Spagnol, the "maestro," is supervising the project. They are currently holding a contest and looking for a female writer who can collaborate and give the screenplay the right touch it needs.
Guardabascio mentioned that the book will be ready in a couple of months. In addition, in the upcoming weeks, he will be a guess at Cancellaro's hotel, Villa Cosilinum, which has a great view of Padula. This will help foster his imagination for the movie.

All photos are provided by Luca Guardabascio

Audio Documentary- Gay rights vs Religious rights

In this audio documentary, religious leaders and gay rights activists share their point of view on the conflict between gay rights and religious rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-iSG4CzCE0

Inspiring Lives With Dr. Shellie on Youtube

The first episode of Inspiring Lives with Dr. Shellie is now available on youtube. Stay tuned for more videos.
Moreover, Shellie Hipksy is sending out a CALL FOR INSPIRING AND EMPOWERING WOMEN for her next book. If you know a woman whose work has inspired you or if you are an empowered woman please contact Dr. Hipsky at contact@shelliehipsky.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JigEE8OxPJc

Guardabascio gets awarded for his book

Photo provided by Luca Guardabascio

Luca Guardabascio is praised for his latest book, Ancora Un'estate o Un'estate Ancora, for which he received multiple awards. But, Guardabascio is not stopping here. He is already working on multiple projects, including two documentaries and another book.
"I am editing two documentaries about Christianity," stated Guardabascio. The first one, titled Angela Volpini: Dove Posarono I Suoi Piedi, recounts the story of a young girl whom the virgin Mary appeared to and spoke to to help Italy come out of all of the problem caused by World War II. The virgin Mary told the girl: " I came to teach you the way to be happy on this Earth."
The second documentary recounts the story of Francesca Lancelloti who had the holly spirit inside of her and performed several miracles.
"She came from her little town in Basilicata region, Opido Lucano and went to Rome to help people in the name of God," related Guardabascio.
"We filmed part of the documentary that go on Rai 2 in a special named TG2 dossier called, Saint Michael and Francesca: In the Name of God," he said.
Guardabascio is also working on a horror story with another writer named Stefano Stanzione. The book, Johnny Carnage: The Sadness of the Devil, will be part of a trilogy a
Lastly, Guardabascio will be showing some of his short films in the Palestrina Movie Club Film Festival. There will also be a presentation of his book.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Planet

Photo provided by Dr. Shellie Hipsky

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Planet is Dr. Shellie Hipsky's latest book, which focuses on a dozen of interviews with people who have overcome challenges in their life and are able to inspire others through those challenges.
Hipsky began writing this book while promoting her fourth book, Mentoring Magic, with her cowriter, Dr. Claudia Bavaro. She was at the Ray Leonard's radio show, which is broadcasted in 75 countries and is also named "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Planet." Leonard introduced her to Clarel Radicella, the woman who inspired Hipsky to write this book.
"I was supposed to talk with Clarel about marketing my book," said Hipsky. "As we began to talk, her life story fascinated me, and I started writing her story."

Photo provided by Dr. Shellie Hipsky

Racidella was a mother of three who was diagnosed with AVM and a brain aneurysm, and founded mindyourbiz.org. She had helped a lot of people and in her own way made a great impact on her surrounding before passing away from cancer in July of 2011. She is survived by her three children, and Hipsky had a chance to write her story, which keeps her legacy alive.
"I think people will be uplifted," said Hipsky about what the readers would think of this book. 25 percent of the revenue of this book goes to the charities featured in the book and the Homeless Children's Education Fund, an initiative dear to Hipsky's heart, which she has raised over $35, 000 to support.
In her own way, Hipsky is a living, breathing image of her own book. Because of the academic challenges she faced in high school, she realized that there needed to be a different way of teaching, and decided to dedicate her life to teaching others about this new way.
Her three previous books, Arts Alive! Textbook, The Drama Discovery Curriculum and Differentiated Literacy and Language Arts Strategies for the Elementary Classroom focus on the goal of educating and how to teach using creativity and meeting the needs of the students.
"Every child has a gift to give to the world, and teaching can help with that," explained Hipsky. Her mission to globally entertain, educate and inspire sums up this goal.
Aside from writing books and articles (approximately 100), Hipsky also teaches at Robert Morris University. She does multiple public speaking, such as at  Pepperdine University and the University of Oxford in England. With her foundation as an Associate Professor of Education, Dr. Shellie Hipsky is a co-owner of a wonderful (soon to be launched) e-story book company for young children, Learning Mountain.
Most Importantly, Hipsky will soon be hosting a talk show, "Inspiring Lives with Dr. Shellie Hipsky." One of her first guests will be Alicia Kozakiewicz, a woman who was abducted at 13 years old after chatting with a stranger on Yahoo chat room. Kozakiewicz is now working at Carnegie Mellon University and teaching teenagers around the country about internet safety. 
To learn more about Hipsky's inspirational life and work, please visit her website at http://www.shelliehipsky.com/ and her Amazon author page at http://www.amazon.com/Shellie-Hipsky/e/B002P8TLY6/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1