Book chronicles borough’s Greek-American experience
Author Perry Giuseppe Rizopoulos with his ‘pappou’ Pericles Rizopoulos.
Photo courtesy of Perry Rizopoulos
718.863.0222
Mark Lippold
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, DECEMBER 1 BTR 4-20, 2018 17
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A new book captures the
Greek-American experience
in the borough by detailing a
story of triumph in the face of
adversity handed down from
grandfather to grandson.
Perry Giuseppe Rizopoulos
recently published Wheat
Songs: A Greek-American
Journey, which is based on
conversations he had with his
grandfather Pericles at his
grandfather’s Pelham Parkway
home about the elder’s
time in 1940s war-torn Greece.
The recollection features
the borough as the jumping off
point for an immigrant’s story
that stretches back decades
and then leaps forward to the
present.
The tale is seen through the
prism of conversations Rizopoulos
had with his, ‘pappou’,
Greek for grandfather leading
up to Pericles’ transition
to Heaven, and is augmented
by a diary kept by Pericles’
brother Panayiotis.
As much as it is a harrowing
tale of survival and ultimate
success in America, it
also provides a window in the
borough’s Greek-American
community, which actually
outdates the well-known Astoria
Greek community, said
Rizopoulos.
While much of the book
takes place in Greece, the
story-telling takes place in the
borough, and the borough is
more or less a ‘character’ in
the book, said Rizopoulos.
“I am an Greek-American
and an Italian-American, and
I fell like if someone asked me
how much do I know about
Greece or Greek history, I
would say I know a lot, but
ultimately I know the most
about the Greeks from Mickle
Avenue,” said the author.
He added: “For me, I understand
Greece only through a
Bronx Greek lens…it is very
much situated around Pelham
Parkway.”
Playing a major role in his
‘pappou’s’ life was his faith,
and the Zoodohos Peghe Greek
Orthodox Church is mentioned
in the book as having
a central place in his grandfather’s
heart.
The book chronicles Pericles
capture by Nazis during
the World War II, his escape,
and Pericles’ joining an army
during the Greek Civil War
that followed World War II.
The oral history began as
an ‘ethnography’ study for
a graduate-school class that
Rizopoulos took.
The class was asked to
share a story about how our
grandparents have shaped us,
and Rizopoulos thought about
being shown his great uncle’s
diary when he was 11.
“Within a few moments
of sharing the story with my
classmates, it felt more meaningful
and felt like something
I could return to,” said Rizopoulos.
“My pappou and I sat
down and we agreed to do the
oral history aspect of it for
graduate school.”
This ultimately began
Rizopoulos on a fi ve-year writing
odyssey that resulted in
Wheat Songs.
The title of the book is derived
from an account where
Pericles, as a child, while
working on his family’s farm,
was entertained by his mother,
who sang songs to keep the
children’s spirits up as they
harvested wheat.
Rizopoulos teaches philosophy
at both College of Mount
St. Vincent and Manhattan
College.
He is currently pursuing a
doctorate in Interdisciplinary
Studies at Teachers College at
Columbia University.
Perry Giuseppe Rizopoulos is the
author of Wheat Songs, which
chronicles the Greek-American and
immigrant experiences in the borough
through the eyes of a grandson
and his grandfather.
Photo courtesy of Perry Rizopoulos
• Business Advisor
• Business Brokerage
• Licensed Realtor
• Franchise Consultant
• Franchise Developer
1438 Outlook Avenue, Suite 3 • Bronx, NY 10465
C: 718.863.6800 • F: 866.480.7103
mark@prudenceba.com • www.prudenceba.com
link
/www.prudenceba.com