Piero Frisani sailing with one of the kids with autism
Credits: Family photos

A Tarantino with heart and pirates

FLORENCE — How does a successful lawyer with three grown kids justify a plan to spend his entire summer sailing?  Well, of course he doesn’t need to!  But Taranto native Piero Frisani felt it was time in his life to give something back.  He landed on the idea of taking kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome on a cruise and fired off dozens of emails to organizations across Italy offering his time and his boat gratis.  He did not get a single reply.  Then he remembered reading about an Italia Viva deputy who has a child with autism and reached out through a connection.  The plan was adopted by ANGSA (Associazione Nazionale Genitori perSone con Autismo) and Frisani is taking kids for short spins, all over Italy with educators on board.  The project is called Buonvento but the sailing has not always been smooth.  Yet so far it has been a remarkable voyage, giving these young people new experiences in a beautiful setting.

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