The privilege of writing an autobiography is usually reserved for the famous or infamous. Now, an expert in life stories turns his focus to his own story. The author connects his personal life with relevant aspects of the history of Italian Americans in the U.S. and his Italian ancestry. By combining genetic analysis, genealogy, and the history of southern Italy, the author builds a unique, multilevel context for his life story. This account follows events growing up in Brooklyn and his academic career teaching in programs in the U.S. and abroad. One of the first foreign teachers in the Peoples Republic of China, this distinguished educator also served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and graduate program head in the U.S. and Turkey. This work is extensively illustrated and appends his last unpublished work on "Life Stories" as well as his doctoral student tree.