Alumni Spotlight Frank Viviano, Class of 1965 Sam Viviano, Class of 1971
Frank’s dream began as a 10-year old, with a subscription to National Geographic. He wanted “to grow up and travel all over the world, and write about people in foreign countries.”
He is most proud of his work tracking human trafficking from China to Europe. “It is such a heinous crime. I was trying to unlock their methods and their financing and how they pulled it off. If those articles helped law enforcement authorities look for these guys or somehow brought people to their senses in those countries where young women and children are trafficked - that would be my greatest accomplishment.”
Younger brother Sam loved comic books, and aimed to be a cartoonist for Mad magazine.
And he is an author with seven books published in 14 countries.
Brothers Frank and Sam Viviano both attended De La Salle Collegiate, both attended the University of Michigan, and both have fulfilled childhood dreams.
Frank Viviano
Frank says his parents believed in Catholic education and wanted their sons to attend De La Salle. “They wanted us to go to a school that would make demands. They took seriously the motto Builders of Boys, Makers of Men.”
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nee. “I haven’t won, but would love to have that.”
Frank also noted the role of De La Salle in educating the children and grandchildren of immigrants. “In the 1960’s, we were almost all first or second generation. We were often the first in our families to go to college. DLS gave these working class children an opportunity to become part of the middle and professional class and to have meaningful careers.”
But war has wearied him. “The war in Iraq was tough. I needed some time off. I thought I’d do travel writing for a while, but even that got me kidnapped. I was kidnapped in Guatemala by the drug mafia. In 2012, I was kidnapped by angry tribesmen in western Burma. Trying to get away from war was not as easy as I thought.” It was getting away from war that led Frank to Italy. “I was in Bosnia, and to get away, I’d hitch a ride on a tank and spend a little time in Italy.” These days, Frank lives in northern Italy, where until recently he owned a 900-year old, 17-room former convent in
Frank graduated from the University of Michigan in 1969, and completed a Ph.D. in American Studies in 1977, also at Michigan. His career in journalism and as a foreign correspondent began in 1977. He has been a witness to some of the most important historical events in our lifetimes: the overthrow of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines in 1986; the protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing in 1989; the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. He has seen war in the Middle East and the Balkans. His work has appeared in more than 200 newspapers and magazines, and he is an 9-time Pulitzer Prize nomi-
Frank Viviano on assignment for National Graphic at the height of the war, interviewing young Iraqi soldiers, out of uniform, trying desperately to find a way out of Mosul before its defenses collapsed. (Photo by Ed Kashi)
