By Natalie Taylor
Philip Gambone was born outside Boston, a third generation Italian, the oldest of four boys. He grew up near grandparents who had emigrated from southern Italy, imbued with a strong Italian heritage. His maternal grandmother, Nanna, left an indelible mark because of her continued belittling of Phil’s father for not being a worthy son-in-law. Phil and his brothers witnessed many squabbles between the two and the nasty words of Nanna, who harangued her son-in-law in Neapolitan dialect. These interactions left a powerful mark on Phil and, in retrospect, a feeling of great sympathy for his father.
Phil went to Harvard and became the first family member to receive a college education—a BA in English, followed by a Master’s in Theology. For many years he taught high school English and writing at the University of Massachusetts. He was drafted during the Vietnam War and passed the induction physical without a problem, but when asked about his sexual preference, he acknowledged that he was gay. This got him a 4F—ineligibility to serve in the armed services. No explanation was provided, so he told his parents that it was because of dental problems. It took many years before he was able to come out to both his mother and father, and when he did, found them sympathetic and understanding.
The silence about his personal life was paralleled by his own father’s reluctance to speak about his war years. His father had served in the Fifth Armored Division during WWII, had been to Europe, and had participated in major events, but never spoke about any of it. It was as if that time of his life did not exist. Phil’s mother stated more than once that the experience had been so terrible, he did not wish to revisit it.
When his father died in 1991, Phil discovered his father’s scrapbook and a history of the Division. Looking through photos prompted a desire to learn more about the father he truly had never known. The desire lay dormant until 2010 when Phil went to Canton, Ohio, his father’s birthplace. He visited his father’s boyhood home, his high school, the church where the family had worshipped. Thus began his search for his father’s story through places he had been. Two years later, he attended a reunion of veterans of the Fifth Armored Division. Of the original 13,000 men, only 13 remained. Phil interviewed most of them and through their recollections began constructing his father’s “lost years.”
He began scouring through letters, journals, and diaries trying to reconstruct his father’s life during the war. Finally, unsatisfied with the information, he decided to visit the different places his father had been, beginning with Camp Perry, where his father’s journey had begun. From there, he continued to other camps in the U.S. and then Europe, tracing his father’s journey. At every step, he gathered more information about what it would have been like and devoured history of WWII and the experiences of the men who were there. Without having his father to ask questions about what had been, he relied solely on places and the written memories of others who had gone through the same places and experiences. The book that came of this, “As Far as I Can Tell,” perfectly explains Phil’s dilemma—how do you piece together a life of someone who did not share? You put it together indirectly, bit by bit.
But how and why did Phil end up in San Miguel? In 2019 he decided to spend spring break south of the border because he had studied Spanish and wanted to experience Latin culture. Mexico was an interesting and close destination, and he started with Mexico City. Someone suggested that he should take a side trip to a lovely colonial city only four hours away. Phil cannot recall who said it, but says it’s the best advice he ever had. He spent five days in San Miguel and fell in love with the city. “When I retire,” he said, “I’ll come back here.” In 2020, he came for a month, and now—after a hiatus because of the pandemic—he is here for three months. He loves the beauty of the city, the openness and friendliness of the people. They are all interesting, interested, welcoming, and more than that, regardless of their age, they are “awake!”
Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the U.S., English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Translator. www.natalietaylor.org. Contact: tangonata@gmail.com.
