Spring

VAL CANIPAROLI is a ballet dancer and choreographer whose works are in 45 dance companies. For more than 40 years he has belonged to the San Francisco Ballet as a dancer and choreographer. “Lambarena”, his best-known work, is performed both to Bach and to traditional African music.

JUDITH SALERNO, M.D.is now president and CEO of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, in Dallas, TX. Previously, Dr. Salerno was at the Institute of Medicine and at the National Institutes of Health where she researched Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses affecting the elderly. A 1985 graduate of Harvard Medical School, she has raised three children and done volunteer medical work among the less fortunate.

LAURA TEDESCO, Ph.D., an archeologist with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. spent 16 months in Afghanistan as part of a U.S. team sent to identify ancient sites, bombed by the Taliban that the U.S. would later try to restore and preserve. Leaving behind her husband and two young children in 2010, Dr. Tedesco met with village elders and Afghan archeologists in war zones. She had to wear a bullet-proof vest and helmet for most of her time there.

CLAUDIO ABADO, the Italian conductor who led many great European orchestras, died Jan. 20 in Bologna. He was 80. Known for his support of contemporary music, he once said, “Music does not end with Puccini.”

JIM FREGOSI, an all-star shortstop with the LA Angels, died February 14 in Miami of a stroke. He was 71. Fregosi also played for the Mets, Rangers, and Pirates and later managed the Angels and the Philadelphia Phillies. He had a career average of .265 with 151 homers and 706 RBIs.

ANDY GRANATELLI, race-car driver and businessman, who made his STP brand famous, died of congestive heart failure Dec. 29, 2013 in California. He was 90. Mr. Granatelli designed and owned racecars and was inducted into 19 engineering and motor-sports halls of fame. In 2003, the Sons of Italy Foundation honored him.

WILLIE NOVELLI, actor, Joe Mantegna’s uncle, died January 7 at age 91. A decorated WWII veteran, he campaigned for U.S. Army Museum near DC. Mr. Mantegna insisted his character, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice in the 2002 CBS television series, “First Monday,” be named for his grandfather and Willie’s brother, Joe Novelli.