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Boardman family identifies with story
A character in the latest books is named for Dominic Vechiarelli of Boardman.
By Denise Dick
Photo
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Members of the Vechiarelli family, from left, daughters Amy Mancini and Beth Vechiarelli-Cooper, parents Dominic and Carol Vechiarelli and daughter Nanette Ungaro gather around a framed and signed poster of one of best-selling author Adriana Trigiani’s books. One of the characters in Trigiani’s last two books is named Dominic Vechiarelli for the Boardman man.
BOARDMAN — Members of the Vechiarelli family relate so much to the characters in the books of best-selling author Adriana Trigiani that they’ve forged a friendship with the writer.
Carol, the mother of the family, was the first to read one of Trigiani’s books, and she told the rest of the family about them.
“It was ‘Lucia, Lucia’ and it just jumped out at me,” Carol said.
From there, the whole family — parents, Carol and Dominic Vechiarelli of Boardman; son, Dominic of Cleveland; and four daughters, Beth Vechiarelli-Cooper of Canfield, Gina Vechiarelli of New York City and Amy Mancini and Nanette Ungaro, both of Poland — have read all of Trigiani’s books.
Though the Vechiarellis share the Italian heritage of Trigiani’s characters, family members say the books resonate across cultural lines.
“Youngstown is all about family, and for the people in the books, it’s all about family,” Ungaro said.
Trigiani creates characters that are laugh-out-loud funny and those that bring tears to your eyes, Carol said.
“They’re characters like people in your family,” Mancini explained.
But the Vechiarellis’ relationship with the author doesn’t stop at reading her books.
“In 2006, Adriana was having a book signing in New York, and I called my sister Gina, who lives in New York, and told her, ‘You have to go to that book signing,’” said Vechiarelli-Cooper.
At the time, there was a contest to win a lunch in New York with the author. Gina went to the book signing but got up to leave before it was over, drawing Trigiani’s attention.
The author inquired where she was going, the two chatted, with Gina mentioning the contest. Trigiani told her to forget the contest and gave Gina her telephone number.
From there, the family set up a lunch with Trigiani in the Big Apple.
“It was a three-hour lunch,” Carol said. “She talked the whole time, and we talked the whole time.”
They’ve kept in touch ever since. The family has visited Trigiani’s home, and the writer and her daughter even joined the Vechiarelli clan for dinner in New York the night before Thanksgiving.
Trigiani is making a stop on the book tour for her latest work Thursday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Youngstown. The fundraiser for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County is sold out with about 470 people expected to attend.
Before writing her 2009 New York Times best-seller, “Very Valentine,” Trigiani e-mailed Carol — to ask permission to give one of her characters the name of Carol’s husband, Dominic Vechiarelli. She stopped in Youngstown on that book tour, too.
“At first it was supposed to be a secret,” Vechiarelli-Cooper said.
“I saw the e-mails, so I knew,” Dominic said.
“Very Valentine” is the first in a trilogy and the second, “Brava, Valentine,” was released last week. Dominic, the character, is a tanner, living in Italy, and continues in the second book, which begins with his wedding to the title character’s grandmother.
“He’s a lot like you, Dad,” Mancini said.
“He’s very romantic,” Ungaro added. “He serenades Valentine’s grandmother.”
The family played a minor role in that scene, too.
“I told Adriana that my dad plays the accordion, and she has the character playing the accordion and serenading the grandmother on a catamaran,” Vechiarelli- Cooper said.
When “Very Valentine” was released in paperback, the Vechiarellis were called upon again.
A section at the end of the book, titled “Eat and Read, Bonus Recipes Inspired by the characters of ‘Very Valentine,’” includes recipes from and named for Vechiarelli family members.
Those include “Glamorous Gina Vechiarelli’s Pizzelles,” “Donetta Clemente Vechiarelli’s Stuffed Squid” named for the siblings’ grandmother and “Bella Beth Vechiarelli-Cooper’s Chocolate Biscotti.”
denise_dick@vindy.com