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Author
Mr. Joseph Bacarti, a first-generation Italian, is a fascinating gentleman who experiences the challenge of living with integrity, compassion, and joy in our twenty-first century while touting a family tree, which goes back to 1509 A.D.
During the reign of Mussolini, many of his people were applying for visas to America. Mussolini was so alarmed that he decided to conduct a “lottery” permitting only the fortunate winners to immigrate. Bacarti’s father, Giuseppe, a Carabinari (policeman), from the small fishing village in Southern Italy called “Vieste”, became one of three hundred to choose a winning number. Under these circumstances, in the early nineteen twenties his father, Giuseppe, was able to immigrate to the United States.
Before World War I, with immigration laws relaxed, Francesco, Bacarti’s maternal grandfather was able to travel with all of his family, including three-year old Tindara, Bacarti’s mother. Francesco, determined to give his future children a better life in the United States, made six more trips to America. The last trip, with his wife, Nunziata, and their youngest child.
Bacarti’s strong-willed mother refused an arranged marriage by her father, Francesco. On July 4, 1927, Bacarti’s parents, Giuseppe and Tindara, eloped. They eventually settled in Providence, Rhode Island, with their four children.
Later, Mr. Bacarti took advantage of the college G.I Bill and graduated from Bryant College with a B.S. in Management. In 1957 he moved to San Diego, California. He made many trips back to Rhode Island to visit his parents, brother and two sisters.
In 1953, while serving in the Air Force as a Staff Sergeant, he visited Vieste where he met many of his first cousins, aunts and uncles. He came away with a great admiration of the ambiance of the area and knew he would return in the later years.
On September 10, 1976, he posed for photos with his ailing father and his brother, Matthew, and daughter and son, Kim and Barry. That day Bacarti told his father he would return to visit Vieste. He did exactly that in 1995 and 1999 with his wife, Betsy.
Bacarti started writing Tinera of Vieste in 1996 and finished in 2005. He created his star character, “Tinera”, by using the first three letters of his mother’s name, “T-I-N”, i.e., Tindara, and “ERA”, which denotes the
sixteenth century “era”, giving us the fictional name of TINERA.
Mr. Joseph Bacarti is a life member of THE MILLION DOLLAR ROUND TABLE. He has been affiliated with the New York Life Insurance Company for the past thirty eight years. He is also a member of U.N.I.C.O., a National Italian fraternal association. One of U.N.I.C.O.’s yearly endeavor is the awarding of scholarships to deserving high school seniors who excel in academics and athletics. The award is named after Brian Picollo, A Chicago Bears star player, who died of cancer.
Mr. Bacarti lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, with his wife, Betsy. He has two children, Kimberly and Barry. Barry & his wife, Donna, have two children: Johnny and Antonina (Nina).
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