His house was severely damaged by the quake. He and his family are now renting an apartment in Pescara,Abruzzo's - a modern city on Italy's Adriatic coast.

VOA: standard.2010.04.06

But two years ago, my friend Cristina Di Benigno invited me to lunch in her village near Corvara, a tiny, little-known ruin of a town in Abruzzo, about an hour by car from the port city of Pescara.

WSJ: Dan Fante on Silent, Ancient Corvara, Italy | Traveler's Tale