Born in 1923 in Italy, John Tagliabue came to the USA in 1927. After attending public schools in New Jersey he did both undergraduate and graduate work at Columbia University in New York. His professors included the poet Mark Van Doren. In 1945 he was on the first passenger ship (the Gripsholm) to leave New York after the war for Europe and the Middle East. He taught at the American University of Beirut, at State colleges in Pullman, Washington and Alfred, NewYork before receiving a Fulbright grant to work at the University of Pisa, Italy in 1950. In 1953 John began a long association with Bat...