A book preview by Jim Leonhirth

C.S. Pietro arrived in New York harbor in 1908 with his wife, infant daughter, and $50. Within just a few years, Pietro was receiving acclaim as "Society's Sculptor." Within just a few more years, he was dead as a victim of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.

"On the Edge of Fame: An Italian-American Passage," examines the lives of four Italian-American cousins, including Pietro and his wife, who arrived in the United States near the turn of the twentieth century and became involved directly with the social, political, and cultural elites of the era.

The nonfiction book also examines their lives in the context of the population shifts during this era that had a role in passage of the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, and the approval of Prohibition.

The book also examines the effects of poverty, affluence, and love affairs on the lives of these cousins.

C.S. Pietro works on a bust of Enrico Caruso while his brother,
C.S. Paolo, stands in the background.

C.S. Pietro received extensive press coverage for a commission
to do a commemorative bust of J.P. Morgan.

The book principally looks at the lives of Pietro Cartaino di Sciarrino (C.S. Pietro); Stella, his wife and first cousin; and Paolo Cartaino di Sciarrino (C.S. Paolo), his brother; but it also deals with their many relatives and Jeanne Bertrand, a French immigrant who was Pietro's student, lover and mother of their son.

Among those with whom Pietro developed working and personal relationships were William Howard Taft, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Henry Ford, environmentalist John Burroughs, Helen Gould, whose father was Jay Gould, and Evangeline Booth, whose family established the Salvation Army.

Pietro also received, among others, commissions for work for the Morgan and Vanderbilt families, boxer Jack Johnson, and opera singer Enrico Caruso.

The book examines how Pietro was able to make these forays into the upper circles of politics, finance, and culture. Of particular interest is how these immigrants were able to find success at a time of almost overwhelming Italian migration.

Also of interest was the transition underway in the art world at the time, particularly illustrated by the Armory Show in 1913.

*About the Author *Outline *Sample Chapter