Donna Marie Ferro is the granddaughter of immigrants from the Ligurian Region of Northern Italy. She honors and pays tribute to them in her writings as they are her inspiration. Her first book, Italy The Embracing Circle, Il Circolo, My Past, My Future, is nonfiction and it includes many zany, fun filled adventures by the author with her mother, daughter, and cousin spending summer vacations throughout “The Boot” and Sicily. Her book begins in 1971, she kept journals and would share them with her friends. Until one day her mother said to her, “Donna Marie, that is a book, promise me you will write it and share it with others.”  And so she did!, The book intertwines the history of Italy and stories about her beloved Italian family as well as the many silly antics that go along with traveling in Italy. Her second book is the first part of a trilogy, the title of these books is called, The Reindeer Dog. The author passionately believes in the theme of this books that it does not matter where you come from nor the configuration of your family, all that matters is that your heart is surrounded by those you love. She offers this book as her gift to children and for the “Big Kids,” adults. The next part of the trilogy is titled, “Diego and The Goofy Witches of Beigua.”  Beigua is a forested area way up high in the hills of Liguria, where her grandparents grew up. Her Nonna, Grandmother, Maria would tell her stories about the goofy witches who lived there. None of them were mean but definitely goofy! The theme of this book is quite timely. It is about diversity and bullying. The author firmly believes, “When we come from different cultures and backgrounds we are stronger as we have different perspectives on how to solve a problem as we do not all view things the same way.” The other theme of this book has to do with bullying and how to respond to it whether it is you or someone that you know that is being bullied. The last book in the trilogy is called,” Santa and His Merry Companions “which is in the process of being published. The theme of this book is forgiveness. When we learn to forgive we are able to open our hearts completely to love.

Donna Marie was as an educator in the California Community College System for 40 years. More than half of her career was dedicated to developing programs and services for students with disabilities. During her career, she was a champion of bringing equal access in education to students with disabilities.  Her testimony on this subject in Sacramento was used by California lawmakers in drafting and passing legislation which became a forerunner of the national Americans With Disabilities Act. Her belief is that everyone should have equal access to education. She is now retired and has developed a new passion and new career as an author. She is grateful for the rich legacy of her Italian family both here and abroad and she is reminded daily of them and all they gave to her and now some of those stories have been brought to life in her books. She welcomes the readers and says, “Come join me on my adventures and those of the Goofy Witches of Beigua! I will be waiting for you on my balcony in the little village of Alpicella just below the hills of Beigua where the little old owl named Luna hoots at the moon!”