A Man Who Walked the Mountains

Born in poverty between the two world wars, a young village boy soon loses his father at the tender age of four. With hardly any means to feed her seven children, his mother takes a risk and relocates her entire family to the uncertainty of the city of Genoa. This boy grows into a man, piling the responsibilities that his father would have carried onto his young shoulders. This mind-set to stand in his father’s stead affects him strongly throughout his life. He grows into a serious, strong-minded young man with an unbending work ethic. Working in the hot furnaces of the iron forges, he discovers a knack for all things mechanical through a twist of fate. The patron of the factory, Signor Carletto Grondona, notices this sixteen years old talent with his hands and apprentices him to help repair his racing cars during the Pontedecimo - Giovi. He realizes his first joy as a mechanic. Unable to continue on this line, a life-times regret, he subsequently finds employment with the railroad. War and its horrors soon find him and his new bride. His experiences instil in him a sense of justice, right over wrong. His struggles during the war to protect his wife and child affects his ability to speak about his feelings, and the only way he can fully express and escape his demons is through painting and the love of the mountains. As he nears the latter part of his long years, he relocates due to family needs from his beloved Genoa to Abruzzo. Here, by sheer chance, he encounters the beauty and serenity of the mountains. Drawn to them, he develops a relationship with nature which led to him becoming the man who walked the mountains.