Richard Gambino grew up in the
Red Hook section of
Brooklyn, New York; his father was an Italian immigrant. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at
New York University. In 1973, Gambino founded the Italian-American Studies program at CUNY/Queens College. It was the first known offering of its kind in the United States. He published a study of the Italian-American experience titled
Blood of My Blood: The Dilemma of the Italian Americans in 1974; it was well received and has become a classic text. That same year, he co-founded
Italian Americana with Ernest Falbo and Bruno Arcudi. In 1999,
HBO made a fictionalized film,
Vendetta, based on Gambino's non-fiction book by the same name, about the
March 14, 1891, lynchings of Italians in New Orleans. The film starred
Christopher Walken,
Edward Herrmann, and
Bruce Davison. Gambino's play about
Walt Whitman,
Camerado, and another about
Pope Pius XII, were performed in
the Hamptons on Long Island. on January 12, 2024, at the age of 84. == Published works ==