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Remembering
DAN IANNUZZI
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Angela Baldassarre
Managing Editor, Tandem
(Originally published in Tandem, December 5, 2004)
Dear Dan,
The void your death
has left in my heart is massive. I still feel your presence in the
office, and it’s with great sadness that we continue the work you so
proudly began.
I’ll never forget
your kind words when I underwent my own personal health issues; you
alleviated my fears when I found the self-realization book you left
on my desk at just the right time. Your sincere concern brought
tears to my eyes.
But more importantly,
I’ll always remember your joyful expression every time I brought my
daughter into the office. She never left without you handing her a
plush toy. Those toys occupy a corner in her room, and I promise you
she’ll never forget the greatness of the man who gave them to her.
Before I met you, I
was a cocky Italian-Canadian writer who cared little about the
Italian community in Toronto. Then we met and talked about your idea
for Tandem, about your concern in reaching my
generation of readers. That’s when I knew that my responsibility
towards my other culture required I take part of this great
endeavour.
I promise to never
let you down.
***
Janet Bellotto
Assistant Editor,
Tandem
(Originally published in Tandem, December 5, 2004)
It was a sad and
shocking morning when I learned of Dan Iannuzzi's passing.
These past days,
while working at Tandem and reading the various letters that
flooded through the offices, were like the sea — vast and restless,
undulating emotions full of reflections, but they were illuminated
with anecdotes and tales of lasting impressions.
These days reflected
much on the life of a man whose career/life was spent to educate and
inform, bringing the community to the world in a sense — whether
that was bridging two lands across the ocean through media or
providing a place for the changing and growing multicultural
community to speak and be heard. As many have already remembered he
was a soul — fiercely working, but someone who simply cared and
believed. And it was with his passion that Toronto and beyond, the
generations, like myself, that have grown up with Corriere
Canadese, have benefited.
On a daily basis, we
are there at Multicom Media, a family bustling about its business...
In a place of employment that I entered almost two years ago, it has
given me a further sense of pride for my heritage and brought me
closer to my passions. In my experience, the vision founded by Dan
will continue both in memory and everyday pursuits that define
culture.
My last memory of Dan
in the office remains vivid, as he bids a humming goodnight, his
hand tapping the cubicle wall, that now echoes a grand player
bidding adieu as life's curtain closes. But his words and vision are
scintillating and coruscating.
With deepest sympathy
I send my condolences to Elena, Michael, the Iannuzzi family and
friends, and colleagues, for the loss of a great guy.
***
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