At the beginning of Elisa Speranza’s fiction debut The Italian Prisoner, young Rose Marino is poised on the brink of committing a daring social act.

Remarks delivered by the author at the nationally broadcast Peoples’ Filibuster for Gun Safety (24-7).

Bob Norris, a former Naval aviator, wrote a letter to an aspiring pilot. This pilot was accepted into both the United States’ Navy and Air Force academies, and wished to be a fighter pilot.

Hello friends, family, and faculty, I’m here to represent the only class at the high school that had one full normal year. I’m so grateful to be here today giving this speech.

Thank you everyone for coming out today. When I was thinking about this speech, I wanted to acknowledge what this community means to all of us.

Oh, to be a child again