Stories of unsung artists, poets and political activists, particularly those of Italian and Mexican descent, populate the bookshelves of Marci Merola’s Logan Square home.
“I’m all Italian but in love with South American culture,” says the writer and photographer, who heads up the American Library Association’s Office for Library Advocacy.
Among her favorite revolutionary women is Italian photographer Tina Modotti, the Italian immigrant turned photographer turned lover of Edward Weston, as well as a Socialist spy. “I absolutely fell in love with her after reading ‘Tinisima,’ a historical novel by Elena Poniatowska,” Merola says. “(Modotti) was everywhere, doing everything.”
Books and art grace every room: On her dining room table lays a gorgeous coffee-table book of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Southwestern paintings; on the shelf in her kitchen, “The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book,” and Nelson Algren’s “America Eats” (among others). And in her office are fiction, folktales and poetry, many from small presses such as Cinco Puntos Press out of El Paso, Texas, and Chicago’s own Dancing Girl Press.
“Here are some more on uprisings!” she says with a laugh, scanning her books.
The advocate for reading loves reading about advocacy.
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