Life In Abruzzo is a not-for-profit ETS cultural association
(listing within RUNTS , Italy’s Single National Register of Third Sector organisations pending processing)
Associate Members!
If you think you have the skills or contact book to help us grow our association and be considered an Associate Member in our 2024 intake, do get in touch!
SAM DUNHAM
Sam is a very lucky midlife ‘mamma’ to 12-year-old A, and juggles her work as a self-employed freelance SEO consultant / copywriter and EFL teacher. She founded Life In Abruzzo in 2007 and is the creator of the English in the Woods initiative.
She began her first virtual enterprise in 1996 after studying at UCL and subsequently worked in the music and charity sectors before becoming a web marketing consultant and digital nomad, with clients worldwide.
Hot on the heels of Brexit, Sam moved full-time to Italy and splits her time between Rome and a little house in a frazione called Bascianella (TE) which she bought in 2003.
Her 2 most recent articles about Abruzzo are for Entangled Landscapes, but she has written for various media over the years, including The Guardian, The Local and Italy Magazine. She has also worked with and advised journalists from The New York Times and Channel 4. She was awarded Words of Wine European Blogger in 2017 from Il Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini d’Abruzzo.
Skills & Knowledge: SEO, Content Creation, Web Marketing, Photography
Nationality: British
PETER AUSTIN
Pete has been visiting Abruzzo since about 2001, and has had a house in Tagliacozzo since 2004.
His particular interest lays in the history, art and culture of Abruzzo, and he has built up a large specialist collection of books on the region. Combining his own photography with an impressive collection of classic images from the past, Pete has built up a large photographic database of Abruzzo. This allows him to provide often uniquely informative and visually interesting content to the Life in Abruzzo community, on the website and via social media.
He has frequently provided information and images to the descendants of those who emigrated in the past and have not yet been able to visit their ancestral homelands.
Skills & Knowledge: Photography, Research, Archival Digitalisation
Nationality: British
RITA SALVATORE
Rita Salvatore (Ph.D.) is a senior researcher in the Sociology of Tourism at the University of Teramo (Italy), where she teaches “Environment and Territory”, and Adjunct Faculty at the American University of Rome, where she teaches “Food, Rurality and Local Development”.
She was visiting researcher and lecturer at the ITW (Institut für Tourismuswirtschaft) of the University of Applied Arts and Sciences of Luzern (Switzerland).
She is a member of the steering committee of the IRENA (International Research Network on Agritourism) and President of Slow Food Abruzzo.
Alongside her research and publication activity, she has developed a particular interest in the analysis and social planning of sustainable tourism paths, with a focus on participative processes and communitarian development. Her most recent research project concerns “new generation agritourism” and the requalification of abandoned villages in fragile areas by young entrepreneurs.
Skills & Knowledge: Sustainable Tourism, Slow Food, Rural Development
Nationality: Italian
FRANCIS CRETAROLA & CATHERINE LEE
Catherine Lee and Francis Cratil Cretarola have been working, travelling, and living in Abruzzo for over 25 years.
They’ve assisted and/or guided culinary tours of the region, produced a program on the regional cuisine for Philadelphia-area public television and the Comcast network; supported, produced, and promoted Abruzzo-related cultural events (mainly traditional music but also chefs and wine producers) in Philadelphia and its suburbs, New York City, New Jersey, and Delaware; consulted on articles about the region in Saveur, Elle, and The New York Times; and (since 2007), operated an Abruzzese-themed trattoria, Le Virtu , in South Philadelphia.
Francis has written about Abruzzo in a personal blog and for Food Republic. Francis’s paternal roots are in the region (Castiglione Messer Raimondo) and the couple spend part of their year (whenever they can) at their home in Penne.
Skills & Knowledge: Writing, Marketing, Food and Wine, Restauranteers, Tourism, Ancestry
Nationality: American
RODDY NEWLANDS
After many years working as a rare books specialist for auction houses and internationally renowned bookdealers, Roddy now splits his time writing content for various online platforms and engaging in web design, graphic design and digital marketing for a variety of clients.
Currently dividing his time between Rome and his house in Abruzzo, Roddy has been a regular ‘behind the scenes’ contributor to Life in Abruzzo since its conception in 2007, working in a technical and strategic capacity, as well as contributing articles and graphic elements for the website.
Skills & Knowledge: Digital & Web Design and Marketing, IT, Content Creation and Management, Research
Nationality: British
NUNZIO MARCELLI
Nunzio was born in Anversa degli Abruzzi where he returned, after graduating in economics at Sapienza University, to found a cooperative, La Porta dei Parchi and put into practice his thesis on the recovery of marginal areas through pastoralism.
His counter-current ideas of returning to ethical, organic, solidarity-based and genuine agriculture and breeding promote him as a “philosophical shepherd”, known and recognised for his commitment to the territory and to the traditions of Abruzzo and the central Apennines.
Skills & Knowledge: Pastoralism, Rural Development, Sustainable Tourism, Economics, Transumanza, Cheesemaking
Nationality: Italian
MICHELINO DELL’ELCE
Michelino is from Lanciano where he practices law, having his own independent practice. Most of the cases he takes on are civil, including contracts and sponsorship, but he also occasionally takes on criminal cases. He is one of those rare breeds of lawyers in Abruzzo in that he speaks English!
He has experience in writing and social media creation for topics such as law and sports, in his spare time he is a basketball coach.
Skills and Knowledge: Civil & Criminal Law, Social Media, Proficiency in English
Nationality: Italian
HONORARY HEAVENLY ASSOCIATE
Italia di Bascianella, who once upon a time asked Sam if she could write something to help bring people to the region and encourage those in Abruzzo to stay.
Italia was an incredibly generous neighbour, Nonna and much admired cook in the village and surrounding area. Always active and busy, many of her afternoons were spent cooking delicious snacks for local children and her grandchildren who she babysat for after a morning in her orto. Here are some of her recipes that began the blog, Life In Abruzzo.