Dr. MaryAnn Diorio is a widely published, award-winning author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry for children and adults. Her latest children's book, THE DANDELION PATCH, deals with the topic of Eminent Domain. Her latest fiction release for adults, A SICILIAN FAREWELL, is Book 2 in THE ITALIAN CHRONICLES trilogy. Book 1, THE MADONNA OF PISANO, won the prestigious Silver Medal for E-Book Fiction in the 2015 Illumination Book Awards Contest. MaryAnn and her husband Dom are the parents of two wonderful daughters and grandparents to five rambunctious grandchildren.
When I was a young teen, I started a club with some of my high school girlfriends. We named the club The AGCs, which stood for The All-Girls Club–a simple name for a club comprised of ordinary teenagers with an extraordinary purpose: … Continue reading →
Children thrive on ritual. Just think back to your own childhood. Did you recite the same prayer every night before falling asleep? What about asking your mother to read the same book over and over again “just one more time”? … Continue reading →
“A house needs a grandma in it.”—Louisa May Alcott Nonna Anna stepped into my seven-year-old life with laughter, love, and lore. As the day of her arrival from Italy approached, my heart swelled with excitement and anticipation. It would be … Continue reading →
My mother-in-law was a wise woman. Once, when my husband and his older brother were young children, they had a terrible argument. As a means of helping them resolve their differences, my mother-in-law made each of her two boys wash … Continue reading →
“A teacher affects eternity.” ~ Henry Adams Almost always she wore a simple black dress, but the black only made her gentle, smiling face shine ever more brightly. A splash of white trimmed her hemline for, almost always, her slip … Continue reading →
As a young child of nine years old, I listened intently, wide-eyed with delight, as my father read the lilting verse from the musty, second-hand volume of The Oxford Book of English Verse. How his voice danced with the rhythm … Continue reading →