The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero [Hardcover]

Vincent Coppola (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Judge Anthony Alaimo s life is a metaphor for quintessential American values: courage, hard work, patriotism, compassion. This biography does not dwell in the realm of metaphorical; it plunges us into the day-to-day life of an immigrant family struggling in the depths of the Depression to become Americans, of an immigrant son putting his every dream on hold to pursue a greater passion: love of country. It carries us into the madness of air warfare, the horror of a screaming crash into the frigid North Sea, the terrible realization and burden of living with the knowledge that you survived when everyone else died.

The son of illiterate, but deeply religious Sicilian immigrants, US District Court Judge Anthony Alaimo shined shoes and cut hair in Jamestown, New York, to pay for his college education. (He was the Golden Gloves boxer attending the quiet Methodist College.) As a POW, he participated in the world-famous Great Escape, and later broke out on his own, making his way through German lines into Switzerland.

A mother s love, religious faith, and ferocious patriotism transform an impoverished immigrant boy into one of the Greatest Generation heroes. This book takes us inside the incandescent life and tumultuous times of Judge Anthony Alaimo, WWII bomber pilot, POW, and indomitable escape artist, whose fidelity to the law is equaled by his compassion and outrage at injustice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

What makes Alaimo s story so poignant is that like most other World War II veterans, he didn t seek recognition or praise for his exploits during the war...but went home, went to college, then law school and pursued a career in civilian life which took him to the top of his profession...For those who love stories about people who have really `lived their lives ...this is a must read. --Historian Rolland Kidder, author of A Hometown Went to War

This excellent biography records the life and times of one of our country s true heroes, both in war and peace. --Former US Attorney General Griffin B. Bell

He lives his life the way we all wish we had the courage to live ours. --US District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood

About the Author

Vincent Coppola is a former Newsweek correspondent and award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Esquire, Talk, Men s Journal, Rolling Stone, Worth, Atlanta, Georgia Trend, and other publications. He is the author of Uneasy Warriors: The Perilous Journey of the Green Berets and Dragons of God: A Journey through Far Right America. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Coppola served as a visiting instructor in journalism and creative writing at Emory University. He lives in Atlanta.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: Mercer University Press (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881461253
• ISBN-13: 978-0881461251
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,188,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Vince Coppola's journalistic career spans more than 25 years; he spent ten of those years at Newsweek. Coppola was lead reporter in Newsweek's early coverage of the AIDS epidemic, the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the Atlanta child murders.

Coppola has written three non-fiction books, "The Sicilian Judge, Uneasy Warriors/The Perilous Journey of the Green Berets and Dragons of God/A Journey Through Far-Right America. Dragons documents the rise of neo-Nazis and other domestic terrorist groups that culminated in Timothy McVeigh's attack on the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City.

He is an award-winning writer who has written feature stories for magazines including Tina Brown's Talk, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, Worth, Atlanta.

In 2007, Coppola was selected by former U.S. Attorney General Griffin B. Bell to write The Sicilian Judge, a biography of one of Bell's heroes: U.S. District Judge Anthony A. Alaimo. Alaimo, who immigrated to the United States as a child, served in World War II as a bomber pilot, was shot down, imprisoned for two years in the infamous German POW camp, Stalag Luft III. He took part in the Great Escape and later escaped the Nazis on his own. Decades later, he oversaw the clean-up of the cruel and inhuman conditions in Georgia's state prison.

In 2007, Coppola co-wrote A Purpose Under Heaven, an Information Age allegory that casts truths about a world where we no longer know our neighbors, where families split apart, where predators roam the Internet, in a form readily accessible to readers.

In 2006, he co-wrote Grandfathered In with Dr. Stan Winokur, Atlanta's first board-certified oncologist. Though intended as a personal memoir, Grandfathered-In, is now part of the curriculum for first year medical students arriving at Wayne State University

In 2003, Coppola wrote Risk Revolution with CEO Derek Smith. Risk Revolution is a road map for risk reduction and prudent policy-making in the Information Age.

Coppola's personal memoir of his mother's battle against cancer was awarded a William Allen White Gold Medal for service to readers by the University of Kansas.

He is an honors graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism,

He has two children, Gabrielle, a Brown University graduate who is a business reporter for Bloomberg News and Thomas, a pre-med student at Hamilton College. He lives in Atlanta.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary life!, April 25, 2009

By 

D. Dodd (coastal GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero (Hardcover)

This book will appeal to many kinds of readers. It has everything - history, adventure, and biography. I began thumbing through it expecting to set it aside and read the whole book in an afternoon. What a life. And what determination. The first half of the book is excellent - it covers Judge Alaimo's WWII experience as pilot and German POW (he was involved in some of the real life events which were later used in the movie "The Great Escape"). It took guts and amazing luck for a skinny, half-starved, young guy in ragged clothing to escape the Germans and make his way to Italy and Switzerland. After returning home and completeing law school, he applied the same hard work and determination to his legal career. The latter half of the book will be of great interest to legal history and civil rights buffs. However, it's general enough that all readers should enjoy it and it certainly covers a tremendously important time in our history. But primarily, this book is about character, determination, love of country, love of family, hard work...in short, all the values we look for in a real hero.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personification of the word "hero", January 19, 2009

By 

Andrea Magnuson (Jamestown, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero (Hardcover)

Anthony Alaimo's sister, Frances, was my grandmother. Instilled in the siblings was the value of prayer, hard work, responsibility, love of country, devotion to family and proper decorum. Coppola's book describes the incredible works and experiences of a man who came from this type of background. I pray there are people from my generation who have his courage and honor. In my own office, I keep a picture of my grandmother on my desk to remind me to focus on my work and do the best I can do. This book will also hold a place in my office as another powerful nudge.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, February 27, 2009

By 

Salvatore Mulia "Trevi Sal" (Westport, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sicilian Judge: Anthony Alaimo, an American Hero (Hardcover)

The biography of Judge Alaimo is truly inspirational and makes me proud to be an Italian American His life story is amazing and should be required reading for young people today. Judge Anthony and his family were true patriots and they demonstrated it not in words, but in their actions. Vince Coppola has done a masterful job of describing the heart and soul of a judge whom I expect will finally get the recognition and adulation he justly deserves.
Bravo and complimenti Mr. Coppola for a great read about a great man.