Medicine: Dr. Hustle
In early June, I accompany Giordano, his wife, and several members of his staff to the Rainbow Room in New York, to the 25th anniversary of the National Organization of Italian-American Women, where, along with Patricia de Stacy Harrison, the new president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Lisa Caputo Nowak, the first Italian-American female astronaut, Giordano is to be honored. The $20,000 donation for his work in cancer research has already been earmarked for a fellowship for a female post-doc at his institute.
In the velvet-flocked room overlooking the city, Giordano, wife Mina by his side, stands at the ready, tuxedoed and groomed, surrounded by well-wishers. The guest list is an Italian-American who’s who: Geraldine Ferraro, Governor and Mrs. Mario Cuomo, Joy Bauer. (“Who is this Joy Bauer?” Giordano is heard to ask. Explaining The View proves impossible.) Giordano is here for his research accomplishments, but also as an example of what Italian brain power — not brawn — can do. And, of course, he’s working; possible funding down the road is at stake. Playing to his audience in his acceptance speech, Giordano reminds them that there exists a long and esteemed Italian scientific legacy: Copernicus, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci. His cancer institute, along with many others, will work in this spirit, struggling to cure a terrible and devastating disease.
It’s a bit over-the-top, but the audience proves rapt. At the conclusion, several jump to their feet. Later, Giordano will tell me that Mario Cuomo sent word he’d like to meet with him privately to see if they have an ancestral link — a good opening for a future connection to the Sbarro Institute. In the ladies’ room, a well-dressed blonde with a Long Island accent and a history of breast cancer asks me if I can introduce her to the doctor. “He’s so elegant,” she sighs.
When I lead her to him, she presses her card into his hand, one of many he’ll pick up that night.
“Anything,” she tells him. “I’d love to help.”
Ilene Raymond Rush has written for a number of national publications, including Good Housekeeping, Reader’s Digest and Parenting. E-mail: mail@phillymag.com.
