Shieldaig byPhoto Peter by Peter Teago Teago an carrannach The General Interest Magazine of Lochcarron, Shieldaig, Applecross, Kishorn, Torridon & Kinlochewe Districts NO: 368 September 2018 £1.00 PORTRAIT OF A VILLAGE Profile: Tony Caminiti Arrivederci, Tony by Peter Barr Lochcarron, August 9, 2018: As he sits on his balcony gazing out over the Mediterranean four weeks from now, Tony Caminiti will be raising a glass of prosecco to remember his wife, Carolyn, who died in Lochcarron in December last year. “Three years ago, on this same beach in Sicily, I watched her swimming out to sea until I thought she'd end up in North Africa,” Tony recalls, with a smile. “I knew that I wasn't a strong enough swimmer to reach her but I did wave a towel...” Maybe after dinner in the local trattoria where they spent so many happy hours together “on vacation,” Tony will return to his apartment and his “children,” cats Doonie and Ellie. Then he will sit down and work until late on his novel – a story set in Heaven which revolves around a season of “fantasy baseball,” in 1941, with a cast of characters including sporting legend Lou Gehrig, who died that same year. “God doesn't have a speaking part,” says Tony, “but Saint Peter has plenty to say for himself!” The plot may seem fantastic but when you piece together Tony's colourful life from his childhood in Brooklyn (New York) to north -west Scotland via Oregon and next month to his new home in the town of Porticello, near Palermo on the north-west coast of Sicily, it starts to make more and more sense. Like many novels, Tony's tale echoes his own life… When Carolyn was dying, she talked about the afterlife and how she hoped to find out “all the answers.” And like Carolyn, Tony believes that there must be “something higher at work.” (Continued on page 2) 1 (Continued from page 1) After looking at houses in England and Wales, Tony and “Carolyn was a spiritual seeker,” says Tony. “As a psy- Carolyn moved to Lochcarron in 2006. Tony had always chologist, she also saw what belief can do for a person,” he been interested in all things British, devouring tales of Robin adds, revealing that Carolyn once spent six months in the Hood and Sherlock Holmes since childhood. His father had Amazon forest, as part of a religious sect called Santo served over here in the Second World War and one of his Diame, which involves lots of singing and dancing – as well uncles had been killed in the Normandy landings on D-Day, as drinking psychoactive compounds which lead to so part of him had always been drawn across the Atlantic. “emotional and physical purging.” For him and Carolyn, Scotland was also their first chance to set up a new home together. Santo Diame may be hard to beat for spiritual drama, but in “Carolyn fell in love with this place as soon as she saw it,” recent years, Tony and Carolyn also attended Sunday says Tony, admitting it took him a little while longer. “It services at Courthill Chapel, the Episcopalian church in was like America in the fifties – very quiet and peaceful. Kishorn. Religion has been a big influence in Tony's life She loved the views, I loved the privacy, and soon we settled from his earliest days – after leaving high school, he spent down – we only locked the door one night a year when we two years at a seminary run by the Salesians, training for the brought back the cash from the Games.” priesthood. So maybe all of this explains why Tony has an interest in spiritual matters – in real life as well as in fiction. The annual Highland Games were just one of the local activities Tony and Carolyn threw themselves into – Tony Tony met Carolyn in Oregon, a few years after selling his was treasurer up until recently. Both of them also joined the tax accountancy business and leaving his native New York. writing group and helped out – washing dishes – on At first, he planned to start a new career as a farmer, but one Producers' Day, while Carolyn enrolled in several arts cours- of Tony's other dreams came true soon after settling down in es and also practised yoga. Oregon when he became a sportswriter for the local paper – another “vocation” which must have inspired him when “Carolyn was a great giver,” says Tony, and friends would writing his novel. often call round at their home in Kirkton Road for a chat, or she would visit their home. “She knew everyone,” adds At Carolyn's funeral, Tony recalled how they met, and in Tony. typical fashion he was totally frank about the personal details, as Carolyn would wish. “Carolyn had no secrets For Tony, Lochcarron has been home for more than a from anyone,” says Tony, as he describes how his second decade, but it's time to move on, leaving behind lots of wife told him he needed to see a psychologist, presenting memories – and their two custom-made pool cues. Sadly, him with what seemed like a thousand names of therapists to Carolyn was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and although choose from. And out of all those names, by accident, came she went into remission a couple of times, after Carolyn – a therapist who specialised in eating disorders, chemotherapy, “she knew her days were numbered,” says whose biggest attraction for Tony – at least to begin with – Tony, “and I knew my days in the village were numbered.” was simply that she was a woman who lived nearby. “At Deciding not to try more chemotherapy and live her life as first, I was nervous,” says Tony. “When I went round to see normally as possible, Carolyn also tried mistletoe therapy her the first time, I hoped there wouldn't be a Mercedes and was able to go on safari in South Africa last year outside, because that would mean I'd be paying big bucks for “against doctor's orders.” Just a few months later, she was the sessions. But I soon heaved a sigh of relief when I too weak to venture from home. In her final days, she also noticed the Nissan.” planned her funeral and “held court” in bed, looking over Loch Carron, surrounded by birdsong and trees – and her A few years later, happily married, Tony and Carolyn – a friends. “She also tried to teach me all the household stuff “beach girl” from Laguna Beach in southern California – fell she usually managed herself,” Tony adds, “including how to out of love with their country. “It wasn't the world we grew brush the cats.” up in,” says Tony. “In Oregon, I think we were the only unarmed house around – all our neighbours had guns.” Leaving will be difficult but Tony will remember 2 an carrannach Published by An Carrannach Society, Lochcarron. Chairperson: Joanna Macpherson Deputy Chair Roger Cundiff Editorial Content Material for publication must be emailed to Michelle Teago at [email protected] or a phone call to 01520 722688 Sub Editor Joanna Macpherson Area Representatives: Applecross: Lenore Small 01520 744 337 Kishorn: Carol Cocks 01520 733 213 Shieldaig: Lucy Kerr 01520 755 368 Torridon: Features: A Word from the Church/On Reflection Gardening – To be confirmed Nature Notes – Hatty Arthur – Lochcarron with fondness because it is where Carolyn found 01520 722 551 Email: [email protected] happiness, and both of them discovered so many new Advertising: [email protected] friends. On Tony's table is a book which teaches how to Local Rate: Entertainments, Sales, Services, Trade “read and think Italian,” but until he reaches Sicily, only the Whole Page £28, Half page £18, Quarter cats hear him practise. As a boy, Tony was discouraged page £10 Out of Area Rate: Please email us for prices from speaking Italian, even though both his parents were fluent and all his grandparents were born in southern Italy. Mailing: Hilary “Post” Rooke “You're an American,” his family told him. “Speak Distribution: Anthea Zell American!” Treasurer: Alec Cormack Mackays Cottage Strathcarron In recent years, Tony and Carolyn visited Sicily three times IV54 8YX 01520 722603 and took Italian lessons while they were there. Soon after [email protected] she heard the sad news about Carolyn, their language teacher Insertions: Births, marriages, deaths, Maricetta got in touch with Tony and encouraged him to acknowledgements. Congratulations, thanks notices – No charge move there, so when he first arrives in Porticello he will Subscriptions: 11 issues post paid, U.K. £25.00 have an instant family – in addition to Doonie and Ellie. He Europe £54.00 Australia £66.00 also hopes his daughter Corrie will come from Chicago to Canada and USA £60.00 Contact [email protected] visit, bringing his grand-children with her. Material intended for publication must include your name and address. Tony signed a six-month lease to rent an apartment during a visit to Sicily early this year. During this initial period, he Please note we can now accept copy in any format.. plans to explore the whole island before he decides where to settle. He has no fixed plans yet, however. “I'll either enter CLOSING DATE FOR THE a monastery or spend my time chasing women!” he jokes. OCTOBER 2018 ISSUE Unlike most other residents of Wester Ross, Tony says he'll MATERIAL MUST BE RECEIVED BY miss the rain here, and has not ruled out the option of NO LATER THAN 15TH SEPTEMBER PLEASE returning to Scotland.