In spite of the efforts of Charles Siragusa and his involvement in various investigations, Salvatore Lucania was never interned. He died of a heart attack at Naples airport on 26 January 1962. He is buried in St John’s Cemetery, Queens, New York.
‘Never have been a jerk and never will be a jerk.’ (L.L.)
On Wilma Montesi (1932–53)
No concrete evidence has ever emerged that Wilma Montesi attended a party at the Capocotta estate, in Tor Vaianica. The geographical proximity of the estate and the stretch of beach on which her body was found was the only very feeble link with Montagna and his friend Piero Piccioni.
In fact, the sole foundation of the hypothetical accusation was based on Montagna’s past as a fascist spy, confidence trickster and (especially) procurer, and on the fact that Piccioni was the son of the Foreign Minister, Attilio. The case was stuffed full of false testimonies and clockwork ‘confessions’. Anna Maria Moneta Caglio launched the fashion for ‘super-witnesses’, who are, even today, indispensable figures in any judicial frame-up.
The case was exploited by the ‘left-wing’ of the Christian Democrats led by Amintore Fanfani (and keeping the Italian Communist Party and its press as ‘useful idiots’) to assume control of the party (recently bereft of its leader, Alcide De Gasperi), ousting the tendency of Piccioni, whose career was severely compromised by the scandal.
On 27 May 1957 the Venice court acquitted all the accused. The sentence described Anna Maria Caglio as an unreliable witness and a compulsive liar.
In the sixties and seventies, Piero Piccioni became one of the most important composers of Italian film soundtracks. In the nineties, to everyone’s great surprise, he became one of the household names of so-called ‘lounge music’ and Exotica and the Sixties Revival subculture.
Update 2004: Piero Piccioni died on 23 July 2004 at the age of eighty-two.
The case has never been solved. Who killed Wilma Montesi?
On Joe McCarthy (1908–57)
In its session of 2 December 1954, the United States Senate officially condemned McCarthy’s work, with a majority of seventy-seven to twenty-two. That put an end to his career as a witch-hunter. The senator succumbed to rancour and alcoholism. He died of hepatitis in 1957. He is buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery of Appleton, Wisconsin.
On certain inexplicable mediumistic phenomena
Steve Cement is clearly recognisable in the film Lucky Luciano by Francesco Rosi (Titanus, 1973, soundtrack by Piero Piccioni).
Salvatore Pagano, aka Kociss, appears in the film To Catch a Thief by Alfred Hitchcock (Paramount, 1955).
The film on the Fifth Offensive was made in 1973: Sutjeska, with Richard Burton (in the role of Tito), Irene Papas, Milena Dravic, Ljuba Tadic and Bata Zivojinovic. Colour, 87 minutes, the most expensive production by the Yugoslavian cinematic industry.
Thanks to
Wu Ming 5 (Riccardo Pedrini), for his help, brainstorming sessions, and documentation on filuzzi and boxing.
Cinzia for the cover of the Italian edition.
Andrea Olivieri for his advice and translations into the Triestine dialect. Marco De Seriis for other linguistic advice.
Fabrizio Giuliani for information on the KGB. Giuliani has translated from the Russian the book by Yevgeny Primakov, Storia del Kgb (3 vols.), Hobby & Work, Milan 1999‒2000.
Annamaria Cattaneo for the material on pigeons.
Istituto regionale ‘Ferruccio Parri’ per la storia del Movimento di liberazione, via Castiglione 25, Bologna.
Biblioteca comunale dell’ Archiginnasio, piazza Galvani 1, Bologna.
The partisan fighters Mirco Zappi (36th Garibaldi Brigade) and Carlo Venturi ‘Ming’ (‘Red Star’ Brigade), for the material they supplied to us.
Vitaliano Ravagli, for the epos and his friendship.
Daniele Vitali, Luigi Lepri, Alberto Menarini and Gaetano Marchetti for their inestimable work in defence of the Bolognese dialect.
Roberto Santachiara, hasta siempre comandante!
54 contains explicit homages to the following ancestors and colleagues:
Beppe Fenoglio (1922‒63), Auguste Le Breton (1913‒99), Léo Malet (1909‒96), Walter Chiari (1924‒91), Edwin Torres and Brian De Palma. We thank them too.
Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to Giap, our electronic newsletter. You can subscribe at our website:
www.wumingfoundation.com
We beg the forgiveness of the friends ‘vampirised’ in the noveclass="underline" Stefano ‘Zollo’ Colombarini; Fabrizio Giuliani; Alberto Rizzi; Leo Mantovani; Maurizio Melega; Giovanni Azzoni; Luca Mariani; Federico Martelloni.
In the name of Salvatore Pagano we thank: Lawyer Carlo Ercolino, for his patience; Salvatore Capozzoli and Davide Staiti for their company and moral support in Poggioreale prison.
Begun in May 1999, during the Nato bombings of Belgrade.
Delivered to the Italian publishers on 21 September 2001, awaiting the escalation.