Old World emotion in woman's life story

Monday, January 11, 2010
Michele Angermiller
SPECIAL TO THE TRENTON TIMES

COLUMBUS - Like some grandmothers, Rose Tangredi loves to tell stories about her childhood.

And like some grandmothers, she is told she repeats her stories too many times.

"I used to talk to my children about an almond tree that I would sit under when I would have lunch," said Tangredi, an 80-year-old Columbus resident. "They told me they heard that story so many times that I should just write about it."

Tangredi took the advice to heart, and is now a published author of a memoir titled, "From the Door to the Gate," a loving look back on her life in Southern Italy growing up in the town of Noepoli. The book, self published through Lulu.com, has become an international curiosity, attracting a fan in Italy who translated Tangredi's book into Italian.

"He liked the details in my book, and said it sounded like how Noepoli looked when he was a little boy," she said, adding that she did a telephone conference with a group of townspeople interested in her memoir.

A copy of Tangredi's book is on display in Noepoli, and a copy was bought by the Italian Educational and Cultural Center in Jersey City.

Tangredi started writing the book 15 years ago. "I started to write to tell about my childhood and how I grew up," she said.

As the words started flowing, Tangredi went on the internet to do some research, and discovered through other people's Web pages that there was an interest in the area she grew up. She began receiving e-mails from others who grew up in Noepoli, and found she had an audience.

The first half of Tangredi's book focused on her life as a "peasant." Tangredi lived in Noepoli from 1922 to 1934.

"I was born a peasant, and did peasant's work, but my father was in America and sent money, so I went to school," she said.

Tangredi paints a picture of her quaint village, where people still collected wheat left by reapers to make their own bread. "It was the way people lived in biblical times," she said.

The first half of her memoir was so vivid, people on the internet encouraged her to expand her memoir to a "second half." Tangredi complied, continuing the story after she left Noepoli in 1934 at the age of 12. She immigrated to America, eventually becoming certified as a teacher and witnessing "all of the big things that happened in the 20th century," she said.

Once she finished writing, Tangredi researched ways to publish her book. Self publishing seemed the way to go, but it seemed too expensive. She then discovered Lulu.com, a website that allows authors to publish their work for free.

"I thought I would try it," she said.

In 2004, Tangredi developed a webpage with a storefront advertising her book.

Tangredi chose not to take a royalty for the book, which is available on lulu.com for $9.52 (the price covers printing costs). She wrote the book as a way to preserve the history of the town.

"It's like when Agatha Christie wrote about the Orient Express," she explained. "If she didn't write about it, nobody would know about it."

For more information, and a free download look online at
http://www.lulu.com/product/media-dow ... with-rose-tangredi/588944

www.lulu.com/Rose