Providence, R.I.--Providence College alumnus Edward A. Iannuccilli, M.D. '61 has added "author" to an impressive list of professional credentials.

The first appointed clinical professor at the Brown University Medical School and a longtime fellow of the American College of Physicians, Iannuccilli had his first book published in July. Growing Up Italian: Grandfather's Fig Tree and Other Stories is a collection of nostalgic essays about growing up as an Italian-American in Providence.

Published in July 2008 by Barking Cat Books of Woonsocket, R.I., a division of New River Press, Growing Up Italian relates the wonders, joys, fears, anticipations, and mysteries of Iannuccilli's childhood.

From tales about family members and neighborhood vendors to recollections about the aroma of "gravy" cooking on a stove, Iannuccilli brings readers on an emotional journey to a simpler time in American society.

The author has sold more than 1,500 copies of the book, participated in book signings and talks, and been interviewed by local and regional media.

Approximately 400 people attended the book release party in late July at Caserta Pizzeria in Providence's renowned Italian neighborhood, Federal Hill. The first 200 copies sold out in no time, and orders were taken for 200 more.

"I'm almost giddy about this whole thing. It's a whole new world for me," said Iannuccilli, who is a retired gastroenterologist.
 
A lifelong reader whose previous writing focused on medicine, Iannuccilli submitted a freelance essay about his grandfather's fig tree to The Providence Journal seven years ago. The story was published and ignited a passion for reflective writing.

For several years, he wrote two or three essays annually and eventually decided to compile them in book form. Growing Up Italian is 144 pages and comprised of nearly 60 essays. Iannuccilli gratefully noted that each was critiqued and edited by his wife, Diane.

The setting for the essays is a three-block area in Providence's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, where Iannuccilli grew up in the 1940s and 1950s. His mother's grandparents immigrated from Italy to Federal Hill in 1908 but moved to Mount Pleasant in 1923.

One by one, family members, including Iannuccilli's aunt and parents, moved into the three-family home. Their strong Italian-American bond was enriched by other Italian immigrants in the neighborhood, as well as by Irish and English families, said Iannuccilli.

"It was just very safe. You didn't have to go anywhere--there was no need to travel to have fun," he said.

To have the ability to relate that upbringing has been gratifying to Iannuccilli, who is a member of PC's Providence President's Council.

"People call me and say, 'You wrote my story. Weren't those the good old days? Wasn't it fun? Wasn't it safe?'" he related. "It's an emotional thing for people."

The fact that he has been overwhelmed by reaction to a relatively recent hobby is not lost on Iannuccilli, whose reputation as a physician in Rhode Island is sterling. He practiced privately and was affiliated with Rhode Island Hospital for approximately 30 years, including serving as the director of medical education for 15 years and chairman of its Board of Trustees for six. He is a clinical professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown, where he has taught since 1972.

Noting that his writing has stirred a new round of learning in areas such as publishing and marketing, he said, "A medical degree opens the doors to a lot of things. As a doctor, you open the door and have patients coming to you. This has been quite different. Now I need to open doors . . . the doors to sell books!"

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