link back to Front
Page of Monte Capanno 1970
March 2, 2012: Mark Fissel visited Monte Capanno in Spring 2011, and his pictures with the Count ("Bepi") and of the castle, farmhouses and land now are available for viewing; follow this link. Mark provided this commentary on how these pictures came to be:
"These photos were taken at Monte Capanno on April 8, 2011. Lisa Aiello and her fiancée, Dewi, graciously arranged a visit with Bepi. We rendezvoused with them in Bosco (amazingly built up since the 1970s) and drove to MC, which (equally amazingly) has been preserved and protected. Count Vicarelli has worked hard to restore the buildings and maintain the agricultural setting. You’ll see in these photos how little has changed, and what has been worked on has been restored and/or improved tastefully, for example the little farmhouse, the well, and the chapel to name but three examples. After a tour of the castle and grounds, Bepi took us to La Fraschetta, his favorite restaurant, a vineria to be exact." Mark and the Count highly recommend this restaurant and encourage all who visit Perugia to dine there: Vineria La Fraschetta, Via Gramsci Antonio 37, 06135 Ponte Valleceppi, Italia 075 5928448. Mark continued: "While at La Fraschetta we met Bepi’s son, Giulio, a charming young man who (like his father) loves fast cars... He’ll inherit Monte Capanno. ...The Count mentioned that he’d like Cathee (White) St. Clair to execute that mural painting she contemplated for the main bedroom on the first floor. Bepi could also use some help cataloging the library. Perhaps a number of us could visit and help out a bit. Accommodations have changed a bit, of course. The big farmhouse is shut up. However, the small farmhouse has been converted and remodeled, as you can see from a couple of the photos. Anyway, perhaps at one of the reunions you might toss around the idea of going back to Monte Capanno and helping Bepi with further restorations. One last bit of information: Andrea Vicarelli is living in Verona."
.
June 3 , 2011: Marti Kramer has brought to our attention a very interesting YouTube autobiographical profile of the painter Maija Peeples-Bright, aka Maija Zack at the time of the experiment at Monte Capanno. In it she explains her path to becoming the artist she has become, including commentary about growing up in Latvia in the 1930s, refugee camps in Germany in the 1940s, her initial interest in mathematics, and her transformation into an artist at University of California at Davis. View this excerpt from "The Spirit of Woofdom" by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siUd2YtU49Y For more about Maija at Monte Capanno 1970, go here.
March 4, 2011: Mark Fissel has written to report that he and his wife Jodi will be visiting Perugia in early April and that they hope to visit Monte Capanno when there. We look forward to his report about the condition of the Castle, Bepi, and all the developments since any of us were there. Mary Zuccaro also has conveyed the news that she has relocated to Fresno, where she now works for the Veterans Administration.
January 24, 2011: News College records. Marti Kramer has brought to our attention that the Special Collections section of San Jose State University Library now has available for reading there at the Library (i.e., not online) 12 boxes of records concerning the New College program at San Jose State. New College was closely related to the Tutorials Program of SJSU, and many of the students at Monte Capanno 1970 received units from it even as theses same students primarily were enrolled at SJSU under the Tutorials Program. The online guidelines to these documents and their use specifies that they can be accessed for "research and educational" purposes, only. The Special Collections librarian with whom we have been in contact, however, has been quite welcoming and encouraged us to give a green light to Bay Area interested parties who may want to stop in and have a look. Most of the collection is listed as accessible, though the box with student records in it apparently is not. Scrapbooks, plans, reunion documents, and much more seems to have been kept and now seems to be accessible. Still photos may be taken of documents, so long as flash is not used. Read more about the collection here: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt838nf3pd/
The director of the Special Collections, Danielle Moon, suggests that users wanting to work with the New College collection contact her in advance to insure that the materials are accessible on the day you visit, and to doublecheck library hours with her. Write her at: Danelle.Moon@sjsu.edu
January 8, 2011: News from an old friend. Barb Hemsted, a Tutorials student and member of the original student group at Monte Capanno in 1970, has written from her home in Miami, FL to the webmasters to convey her memories of life on the farm there some 41 years ago. She writes:
" I know this is way out of the blue, but I was curious to look up the Monte Capano site today and started reading some of the memories, looking at pictures, etc. It brought back memories, and I also realized how much of the drama I missed, or at least wasnt aware of. (Maybe that was a good thing). Anyway, I have fond memories of so many...you (Linda), Gordon, Terre, Craig, Cathy, Cathee, and many more. David and Maya, not so much. One thing for sure, that whole semester was a wonderful, and valuable experience, and I am glad to have been a part of it. Gordon has done a great job of keeping the whole nutty thing alive. One of my weirdest memories was the car load of curious young Italians who "stopped by" to see if we fit the mold made so internationally famous by Charles Manson and his crew. Girls and boys living together without their parents apparently translated to the "devils dirty work" in Italian. On the bright side, the fried pork chops in Perugia were the most heavenly way to "pig out". What's a few more pounds? Those pork chops were irresistable."
She continued to say that she and her husband love Miami, that their three adult children are all doing fine, and that the youngest among them, a daughter, currently is studying in Firenze, saying: "
my daughter is in school in Florence, Italy this year. Not much difference between then and now. Except, of course, that she is actually working very hard in a real school taking 21 real credits, getting great grades, and loving that beautiful city. Like ours did, her teachers also take them on field trips to see some of the world's most fabulous art, pick olives, attend fashion week in Milan, Cinque Terra, the chocolate festival in Perugia, glass blowing in Venice, etc. But, hey, we all got A's for our semester too!"
Barb, who now is known as BJ Smith, can be reached at:
bjsentink@gmail.com
July 2010: No MC-70
reunion this summer. Want to plan one for the future?
Webmasters are on Facebook and would enjoy hearing from friends and former
MC-70 residents and visitors there (or by email): gordo110@yahoo.com, or
lindabowen2@hotmail.com
May 11,
2010: It seems that Monte Capanno in 1970, or someplace quite like it,
continues to fascinate famous writers. The Washington Post today ran
a review of Martin Amis' new novel "The Pregnant Widow", which situates its fictional look back at those wild and crazy times in a
castle, in summer 1970, in rural Italy, in a fictional place named "Campania."
Hmmmm. Does this sound familiar? Has Martin Amis been cribbing
from our website? Could he actually have visited us there back in 1970?
Do any of you recall actually running in to an English guy our age by the name
of Amis during those times when we were hosting many wandering souls at Monte
Capanno? How about out on the road: anybody run into such a character?
The coincidences on the surface of this book (as reviewed: we haven't read it)
seem too odd to be accidental. Ron Charles, Deputy Book World Editor at
the Washington Post and our Gordo have corresponded today about Amis' odd take
on those times; and he and we remain interested in what any of the actual
participants in these experiments in 1970s think of Martin Amis' new book.
Visitors interested in
reading other novels that take a literary look at Monte Capanno 1970 and the
themes raised by it might enjoy a book by an actual resident at Monte Capanno
in 1970: Joel Agee's, In the House of My Fear (Counterpoint publishers,
2006). For a less sympathetic view of youth on the road in Europe in the
1960's and 1970's, there always is James Michener's The Drifters.
July 11, 2009:
Monte Capanno Reunion. A group of interested former residents of
Monte Capanno assembled at the St. Claire Hotel in downtown San Jose for a
reunion. For more information, write
gordo110@yahoo.com;
an extensive array of photos are available at his pages on Facebook.
The group gathered outside Original
Joes', on First St. in San Jose.
Pictured (front row): Linda Green Bowen, Cathee St.
Clair, Jan (Hammond) Gentes,
Mary Zuccaro, Sue (Rutz) Shaffer, Wes
Shaffer, Marti Kramer. Gordon Bowen in rear.
July
2, 2009, [updated August 6, 2010]: Webmasters have received
several letters from Mark Fissel
(mfissel@aug.edu ), former resident at MC-70 and, along with Wes Shaffer, an able researcher in the quest of the
subsequent fate of the missing members of that experiment. The topic of
much effort over ten years, finding "Gomar" was a large task, and the
news uncovered along the way makes for some unsettling reading. [We have
deleted some specific details here --including the former resident's name-- at
his request. The gist is shared here to keep the MC-70 community abreast
of the story while respecting the privacy of those involved]:
"Greetings,
gents. Back in 2007, Wes demonstrated that he hasn't lost any of his
research skills. He tracked down an MA address for Gomar. Sorry I
have been so long in getting back to you. Since then some of the
people-finding search engines have figured out how to pair up relatives,
etc., with the individual you are searching for. The bad news
is that is seems more likely that the fellow who was
prosecuted for a
Ponzi scheme, was indeed our dear old friend...
[Earlier, Gomar had been traced to] residences in Los Gatos and Marina
Del Rey, ... Tarzana, ... and Massachusetts. ...; we have learned that
these definitely were Gomar. The age and parents also match.
... The killer is that among all these is a
[deleted to protect privacy]
address,
and the transcript of the
legal proceedings indicate that the [Gomar]
who did this stuff did so for the most part out of his
[deleted to protect privacy]
home. Our Gomar is the only Gomar with a
[deleted to
protect privacy]
address.
One has to believe that Gomar would have entered his own name in a search
engine during the last 8 years or so. If so, he'd see our Monte Capanno
site. Perhaps he has indeed discovered what we have been doing but is
somewhat sheepish about contacting anyone given the trouble he's been in
(the court found for $7 million in damages, I think).
I have NOT called his parents because they might think we were tracking
him down for irate swindled investors. I am attaching the transcript URL
below, which really is unbelievable. It showed that the Gomar in
the legal document has a law degree and specializes in business, as was
the case with the MC70 Gomar. Say it ain't so, Joe.
MCF
URL: deleted on request from the
parties involved
June 27, 2009: Word has arrived from an internet
reader, David Kadarauch (
kadamendo@comcast.net ), offering more information about the formative influences that shaped MC-70
Professor David Zack. Anyone who has more information about the senior
Zacks, Arturo and Elena/Edith should feel free to write Kadarauch directly:
From:
Subject: David Zack
Hello,
I came across the web page on Montecapanno, and it brought back memories
of the Zack family in the late 50s and early 60s. At the age of 13 (1959)
I started studying the cello with his father, and met David only once or
twice, as he was already at university, and shortly thereafter teaching at
the
University of Puerto Rico. ( I distinctly remember his mother
showing me a journal he edited there called "Outlet" - it would be
interesting to see a copy, but perhaps none survive.) David somewhat
resented me, as I was his fathers protege, and the father, a very strong
personality, was terribly disappointed that David never showed much
interest in the cello (at least at that stage).
The letter on your website written by his mother is undoubtedly genuine,
but her name was Edith, not Elena. As her middle initial was E. perhaps
Elena was her middle name.
Amusingly, she refers to her husband as Arturo - in earlier times it was
always Arthur. Perhaps they were reinventing their names a bit. I
believe she died in 1984, and Arthur in 1985.
Poor David must have gone through childhood with the lid clamped down on a
seething mass of contradictory input. I am convinced his mother was a
lesbian, or at least bisexual - her dress, manner, and haircut all pointed
to this. And Arthur also had homosexual tendencies, as I discovered in
the lessons. That, together with the restrictive mindset of a smallish
Midwestern city in the 1950s must have been a lot for a sensitive,
brilliant young mind to deal with.
I would appreciate any additional information you have on his parents -
their lives in Mexico,
circumstances of their deaths, etc., as they were the ones I knew, and
have memories of.
Sincerely,
David Kadarauch (Berkeley, CA)
kadamendo@comcast.net
November 3, 2008: David Zack
Retrospective at Calgary, Alberta.
Istvan
Kantor (contact at:
amen@interlog.com ) has submitted
many photos from the David Zack
exhibit he assembled for an October - November 2008 show about Zack's mail art that
recently took place at the New Gallery, Calgary, Alberta. Two reviews of
the show from the
Calgary Herald and other local publications, including further background
about the life of David Zack and the origins and international influence of
his "mail art" or "correspondence art," also are now hosted here at Monte Capanno 1970: Calgary Herald review,
Swerve review.
Additionally, here is a link to a profile of Zack that Kantor provided:
http://www.ccca.ca/artists/artist_info.html?link_id=13323
August 21, 2008: New
pictures from 1970.
Joel Agee has sent in three new pictures
he has found of his family's time on the farm at Monte Capanno with us.
Two are small group shots with students Terre Eakins, Terry MacDonald, Mary
Zuccaro, and Jan Hammond included. The wild Australian, Denny Kelly,
appears in all three. But, unfortunately, Joel himself was behind the
camera shooting these, and isn't among the subjects photographed. The
pictures now are placed among a re-arranged set of photos of guests who
visited Monte Capanno in 1970, and can be viewed by following this link to our
Photos of guests page. (The new pictures are near the bottom of that
page).
August 10, 2008: New word from Tutorials people from 1967-69.
Webmasters have in recent months received
word of new interest in thinking about the Tutorials Program at San Jose
State. This summer our inbox brought us this:
Linda - I
don't think you and I ever met, but I was a student in the Tutorials in
Letters and Science Program in 1967-1969. One of my friends forwarded your
web address to me. I was at the gathering in Santa Cruz in July 2002 that
Merv
Cadwallader mentioned in the note posted on your web site. I am
attaching several photos of that
gathering. I also have prints of each of my classmates taken in 1969
that someday I will try to scan and perhaps post. Seeing as next year will
be the 40th anniversary of our graduating from Tutorials in Letters and
Science, I may work with some of my cohorts to get together and celebrate.
I agree with the tone of your web site, that these were grand and (to me)
successful experiments in education. Thanks for organizing and maintaining
this. I am passing the link on to some friends and perhaps we can generate
more content in honor and memory of those days!
Mark
Silberstein:
Silbermud@aol.com
Read more
recent discussion by (non-Monte Capanno) graduates of the Tutorials Program
at San Jose State by following this link.
June 4,
2008: David Zack Retrospective Show.
Istvan Kantor --aka "Monty Cantsin"--,
longtime associate and collaborator with David Zack, has written to announce
that a show he has organized to display Zack's works will open at
The New Gallery, Calgary, Alberta (Canada) on October 10, 2008.
He continues:
"it will be based mostly
on the works I collected from David throughout our collaboration from 1976 to
the late 80's, but also will include material I received from others as
contribution for the show, as the gallery is not very big it won't be a
monumental show just a smaller scale commemorative retrospective, but it will
be extended through the internet and the publication of a catalog,
I'm still collecting stuff and if any of you of the Monte Capanno project
would like to include something please let me know, I'll definitely link the
Capanno site to the exhibition and include it also in my intro to the
exhibition and catalog."
Kantor can be
reached at
amen@interlog.com , or by mail at:
Istvan Kantor
163 Sterling Road Unit 3B
Toronto, Ontario
M6R 2B2 Canada
Kantor also
expressed interest in attending the next Monte Capanno 1970 reunion.
Unfortunately, webmasters are unaware of a plan for one in the near future.
Perhaps in 2009?
May 23, 2008:
From Concord, CA, the Monte Capanno 1970 website has
received email from Mitch Ward (Tutorials, 1965-67), in which he assesses the
Tutorials experiment in general and finds great value was added to his
education, especially in the area of critical thinking. Read more by following the link.
Separate from the item
above, from Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) we also have received a large packet of materials written by David
Zack from the 1960's to the early 1980's, courtesy of his daughter, Rose. These
reflect his "mail art" and other aspects of his life. All are
PDF files linked here, and include:
-
Zack's resume, which along with the usual
things includes some humorous entries, e.g. a listing of a referee entitled
"General Schmuck."
-
A series of
unpublished poems and other unpublished
writings by David, including: "The Game," "Birthday 42," "My Horoscope,"
"Diabetes," "Would you rather be an under-water diver or a dead man afloat?,"
"What will be written on Cavellini's tombstone?," "Why do Italians all talk at
the same time?," "Railroad Images," "The Shell," and parts of a review of a
concert by Nicolas Kynaston.
-
Calgary Art Trends, a May 1980
grant proposal to the Calgary Regional Arts Foundation.
-
An essay entitled "Calgary
Process," which seems to be from about the same period.
-
A revealing May 1979 two
page letter from 74 year old Elena
(presumably Zack's mother) to Ruth (one of Zack's wives, and mother of
Rose Zack), in which Mom conveys understanding for the difficulties Ruth had
with David, comments on the impact of "the cultural Revolt of the '60s" on
David. This new item is especially worth reading, as it includes a frank
assessment of the man, including the following: "I
feel he allowed himself to think brain-activity was the sole object of living
and denied the importance of the heart and what, in old anglo-saxon are called
the guts, in building a sane and full life. And perhaps good old
commonsense. He and I always had a close relationship but in recent
years it is strained for I have tried repeatedly to awaken a sense of reality
in him... Now that he is 41 years old I must accept the fact that he is a
grown man and not receptive to motherly criticism."
-
An
organ concert review.
-
Some other published
Zack papers from 1980, complete with marginal
comments by David, and a line drawing apparently by him, all focused on the
San Francisco art scene, and related topics.
February 23, 2008:
From the San Francisco, CA area, the Monte Capanno 1970 website has
received a letter and some of Maija's art from that
period from Maury Polse, one of David
Zack's students at Laney College (Oakland) in 1968. Polse fondly recalls
the Zacks, and their "Rainbow House" in San
Francisco's Fillmore District. To read more, and to view the piece of
Maija's art he owns, go here.
September 22, 2007:
Monte Capanno 1970 has received news from Monte Capanno. The Count
has been injured in an auto accident, but now is out of the hospital and is
recovering at home. We wish him a speedy recovery. Read more about
it, and view pictures of the Count today, by following this link.
July 14-15:
The Monte Capanno 1970
reunion 2007 took place in
Glen Ellen, CA. Hosted by Marti Kramer, martiLK@aol.com,
a good time was had by all attending. Pictures
of the event are linked here.
April 28, 2007: Joel and Susan Agee have told us of the birth of their grandchildren, Johanna
and Beckett, to daughter Gina and her husband, in Los Angeles. Check out
the cuties, and our first glimpse of Gina since 1970
here.
March 3, 2007: Count Giuseppe Vicarelli has sent some wonderful pictures of Monte Capanno
over the years, and a nice set from the 1990s and 2000s now is available
here: follow the link. Included is one group shot with Andre, Giuseppe,
and La Contessa at a large family reunion a few years back. The pictures
were given to Cathee when she and Greig visited in summer 2006.
January 4, 2007: Happy New Year, everyone. Webmasters have had a lovely winter so far,
chiefly visiting the Shawnee, Kansas home of our new granddaughter, Maggie (who was born last
month), and her family.
-
We recently have
received an inquiry from a researcher, Justin McKeown, who is looking into
the life of David Zack. McKeown's email to us has been posted to the message board.
If anyone wants to help him out, he left his email address there.
-
We also are delighted
to report that Cathee and her husband Greig visited Monte Capanno in 2006
and were hosted by the current Count, Giuseppe Vicarelli, son of La
Contessa. Ample gorgeous pictures from both Cathee and the Count
await posting here. She also produced a stunningly moving DVD about
her return to Monte Capanno. Write her at: stclair@usamedia.tv
April 30, 2006: Mary Zuccaro has a new email:
maryzrn@comcast.net .
Change your address books.
March 20, 2006: Out of the blue, yet another of the residents at Monte Capanno in 1970 has
found us: Terry Tarrantts, known and remembered as "Tall Terry" at MC-70.
He wrote:
"I was telling friends
about the interesting memories of interesting people and events during my stay
with the community of Monte Capanno and found this website that Gordon put
together. Flooded with memories. Being at the farmhouse was one the many
experiences of my life that has lingering influence. So Hello! to
everyone who remembers "Tall Terry" That's me Terry Tarrantts. Including
you Gordon"
Terry didn't leave an
address. Webmaster's seek his involvement with the project.
December 7, 2005: Happy traveler Lisa Aiello, a Canadian friend of the current Count of Monte
Capanno (i.e., Bepi), has written
again to convey that the repairs
to the castle of Monte Capanno (about which she reported earlier in 2004
and 2005), now are complete. She can be contacted at:
lisa.aiello@rogers.com
October 16, 2005: New memories on various topics have been added to the Memories sections
lately, including:
