Allow Mark to entertain and educate your group at your next event.

“I grew up in two worlds. At home, my mother maintained many rich Sicilian traditions. In school, and on the streets of Brooklyn, I was American.”

Mark Hehl, January 2020

Italian American Speaking Topics

Italian American traditions, quirks and superstitions

North America is a bastion of immigrants. Except for those of Native American ancestry, we all can trace our heritage back to somewhere else, whether our ancestors came on the Mayflower or a slave ship, into Ellis Island, JFK Airport or across the Rio Grande.  Our immigrant ancestors blessed this continent with varied cuisines, customs, and traditions, while bringing their strong family values. Through assimilation into the American mainstream these traditions are slowly being lost. Each culture has its set of quirks and superstitions, some are shared among other cultures and others are unique.

Mark Hehl, the editor and author of the book – Ameri Sicula: Sicilian Culture in America, will share his related findings relative to Italian – Americans of yesterday and today. This will be followed by a lively group interactive discussion of some additional traditions, quirks, and superstitions.

The dilemma: to emigrate or stay and the perilous voyage to America circa 1900

Much has been documented about the experiences of immigrants after they arrived in North America during the mass migration period from 1880 to 1920. There is less information available about the agonizing decision to leave everything behind and venture into the unknown.

Mark Hehl, the author of the book An Immigrant’s Dilemma, will take us back to this time and explore the factors that caused these individuals to make this agonizing decision. He will also explain what conditions were like abord these ships in steerage class for immigrants. Mark will also provide a glimpse into his third book Ameri-Sicula: Sicilian Culture in America.

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