CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
Month 2002, Vol. 44, No. 4
Gerald Celente, founder and Director of The Trends Research Institute, is a future-oriented man. In 1997, we bought his book, Trends 2000, in order to "prepare for and profit from the changes of the 21st century." Today, business leaders read his newsletter, The Trends Journal, in order to get the jump on what is coming next. He speaks to groups and to television audiences about tomorrow. Yet, Gerald Celente appreciates that a promising tomorrow rests upon a foundation that was poured yesterday.
Zizi is a big part of Celente's foundation. Sister of his late mother, Zizi is the last surviving adult from the extended family that raised Celente. As "Honeyboy" (Zizi's pet name for Celente) progresses through his fifties, his relationship with his aunt is stronger than ever. In her he finds connections to his early life and the values of his close-knit family, as well as the wisdom and common-sense that Americans need in the century just begun.
Born in Italy, Phyllis (now "Zizi") came to America with her parents at the age five. Her mother and father moved to a section of New York City near relatives and surrounded by immigrants of the same ethnic group. Attractive, young Phyllis enjoyed not only the warmth of her family, but also the attractions of the vibrant city in which she lived. In 1939, she married Al Vallane, a genuine "character" who loved music, baseball, and kids. Phyllis and Al had five lovely children, but Phyllis did not lead a charmed life. Sadly, the young couple lost their first child, baby Cosmo, because of a medical misdiagnosis. Al was a hard worker. He managed to open two businesses of his own, but lost them both. Zizi lived the ups and downs of an American life. Neither cynic nor idealist, she interprets the events of the world around her based on her 83 years of life experience.
Celente, in contrast, requires documentation for his views. He quotes polls, studies, and statistics as he sorts through the familiar concerns of 21st century America: health care, decline of the family, hypocritical politicians, war and peace, work vs. home life, you name it. His conversations with Zizi challenge and sharpen his views and provide entertainment and enlightenment to the reader!
Stopping by to see Zizi one day, Celente explains that he was in Manhattan working with the television show 20/20 on a segment about the new generation of million- and billionaires. Prepared to educate Zizi about the wealthy and their "displays of self-centered grandiosity," Celente has the tables turned when his aunt reminds him that she lived through the "Roaring Twenties." She had long ago seen what greed could do to Americans and what it would do again. Celente is impressed with Zizi's insight and, for the benefit of the reader, bolsters her views with survey results.
The two cannot agree on smoking. Celente abstains and is an abolitionist. Zizi indulges and ignores her nephew's warnings and statistics. She dismisses his complaint that cigarettes have made the air in her home smelly and unbreatheable. Turning his attention from Zizi to the reader, Celente laments the legal system's hypocritical treatment of tobacco's much safer alternative, marijuana. Undoubtedly, "baby-boomer" Celente has not made this argument to Zizi, a proud member of the "greatest generation."
Hypocrisy in other areas, like state-sponsored gambling, irritates both Honeyboy and Zizi. Celente teases his aunt about "scratch and win Bingo," where her odds of winning are slim. The two compare lottery gambling as practiced before and after the government took over the "gaming" function. Before, the odds of winning were favorable because games were local. The danger of losing large sums was small since there was only one game. Gambling was both illegal and immoral. People who ran "numbers games" were racketeers, even when they happened to be Joe, the vegetable guy who delivered produce door-to-door in his beat-up truck. Legalization meant multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and the blessing of the government. What had once been sinful was now fun and wholesome! The government generously gave citizens the chance to lose big money each and every week on an ever-growing variety of games where the odds of winning were extremely low.
This is a book of love and discovery. When Celente visits, his aunt expresses her joy in the time-honored tradition of over-feeding him and presenting him with bags of home-made meals. Celente brings Zizi letters to fold and envelopes to stuff. Celente does not visit for the food or the paper-shuffling. He visits for the love. Through the meals they share, the tasks they perform, and the Scrabble games they play, Celente and Zizi discover a little more about each other and about themselves. Zizi has discovered the teacher within herself. Honeyboy is learning lessons in life that he was once too young and impatient to hear.
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