What's in a Name?

All throughout my life, I have had to spell and repeat my last name for people because it is a bit unusual. It's actually a very simple name, a mere five letters, but not very common. So I can definitely understand the difficulty people seem to have with Pier Giorgio's name. Over the years, I have heard it pronounced in a variety of ways. The most common mistake is shortening his name to one word instead of two and referring to him as just "Pier." The example I find helpful is the name of Pope John Paul II. We wouldn't call him just "Pope John" or "Pope Paul." Likewise, Pier Giorgio's family and friends would not have called him "Pier." In fact, on the few occasions when he used a shortened version of his name, he would use the "Giorgio" -- but definitely not the "Pier." The first part of his name causes another problem for some people who think "Pier" (which means "Peter") is the French word for "father" and that he was a priest named "Father George." I imagine Pier Giorgio would get a good laugh out of that! Unfortunately, there are a lot of internet postings about Pier Giorgio that contain a lot of things that just aren't true. One of the nice things about working with the Frassati family is being able to get the real facts about Pier Giorgio and passing them on to you via the website: www.FrassatiUSA.org. In case you haven't seen it, there is a place on the website for Frequently Asked Frassati Questions ("FAFQs") where we try to clear up areas of confusion and satisfy your cravings for Frassati trivia. By the way, if you can explain what Pier Giorgio meant when he wrote, "a pawshake to Mime and Uadi," you have the makings of a real "Tipo Loscho!"