The Authors
BILL DAL CERRO
A native of the Grand and Ogden neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, Bill Dal Cerro is a teacher, writer and researcher who has been extensively involved in the local and national Italian-American community over the past 15 years.
Dal Cerro is President of The Italic Institute of America, a national educational non-profit, and was an Associate Producer of "And They Came to Chicago: The Italian American Legacy," a PBS documentary which he initiated and supervised.
Bill was a reporter and columnist for Fra Noi, Chicagoland's monthly Italian-American newspaper, where he wrote a column, Sempre Avanti, highlighting positive achievements of Italian Americans across the country.
Bill studied Film and Journalism at Columbia College, Chicago, and received degrees in English and Education from Northeastern Illinois University. His articles on Italian/Italian-American history have been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Los Angeles Times as well as in such periodicals as Primo Magazine.
DAVID ANTHONY WITTER
David Anthony Witter is a Chicago-based freelance writer, photographer, blues musician and teacher. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Living Blues, New City, the Chicago Reader, Bay Area Music Magazine, Primo, Ambassador Magazine, The Italic Way, Fra Noi and the Italian-American Experience, an Encyclopedia.
Witter holds degrees in Writing from Columbia College, Chicago, and Secondary Education in English from Northeastern Illinois University. He currently teaches at the Chicago Public Schools. Other upcoming works include Oldest Chicago from Lake Claremont Press and The Best of the Chicago Blues Annual from the University of Illinois Press.