Antony Markantonatos and Antoinette Radice

00:08 My name is Antoinette Radice. I'm 40 years old. And today is January 12th. We're in Sarasota, Florida. And I'm interviewing My Father Anthony. Markette. 877. It today is the same date are the 12th of January 9th 2006. Where is Sarasota at at the Circle and relationship to the papapa? I'm hurt at.

00:37 So Dad, why don't you talk about a little bit about where you were born? And and where you grew up for the early part of it's almost directly across from Sicily in brindisi in Italy about two hundred miles or so. It's it's a mountain that has very tall is very tall mountains and that even Napoleon knew that on top of the mountains. Google these gigantic for a tree because they were interested in shipbuilding in Naval fast. How long did you live there? When you left the island when I was 8 years old.

01:19 We left by a ferry boat about to get to the ferry boat that we had to go on a little row boat. And behind the rowboat. I dragged my little yellow ducky. That had been given to me by one of my cousins and the little children. I remember, we're also sad to see Angela leave the village and Uncle Jerry. My brother was with me and my mom was with me. The three of us were going to make a journey by, by ferry boat to Italy, By by Train, to, to Genoa. And from General, we were going to get the big, the big mail steamer there. Do we Leo, which took us to Cape? Town was a two-week Journey. All the way to Cape Town in 1936. What were your first impressions of of Africa, as a small child from an island?

02:19 Is a beautiful place you see that Table Mountain from the ship a long time before you ever get close to it. It was spectacular. My, my dad to meet us in Cape Town took us up to Table Mountain and reviewed from their Signal Hill, which is the little mountain lions head and Signal Hill fantastic. Wrestlers from up there. Your Cape Town is like the Revere of Africa. It's a beautiful place. Your father had gone to Africa ahead of you to start a business. Dad left left, Greece in 1928. Before I was born, I was still, I was still in my I was still at rental in my in my mom's I got time and and and we only got to go to South Africa in 1937 when he had established himself a little bit and had been running the small business that it has.

03:19 In this little town called Ron from dying in a prior to that. He had come to the UFO. He had to be to the United States. In 1940 to 1918. He had jumped ship the German ship, the Carpathia, the capacity of which had signal to the Titanic that there was a giant Iceberg afloat and that he was on the ship when all this was going on. It was quite a momentous time for him and when he got too close to New York, he jump ship, and that found his way to Sheboygan, Wisconsin and got working some place there. And finally, he working one of the steel moths finally. And that he was a very hard job because that she almost gave up a lot of heat, but he was a very strong man because he had grown up as that. He had been a carpenter. Really, he had been trained as a fine art Carpenter and and this was

04:19 No problem for him. He was a very, very strong person. And although he lost a lot of weight there during this. I have to steal North salary that we made was quite lucrative. Have you both a lot of woodworking tools, which she took back to the island of kefalonia, a 1918, with those some of those tools still exist in Africa, somewhere. And when when you got to Africa and you at you grew up with Uncle, Jerry tell us about the tell me about the the

04:50 Your life there as a child of the most fascinating thing in this little town called. Juan Fontaine was a mining town. Of course, a gold mine in town. Just like most of these towns. And the most remarkable thing was to see little little herds of black men walking with their blankets by the round them with a with a giant safety pin up at the top always in single file and with a stick in hand and walking along and such was awesome. It was kind of frightening 11 because they all carry this giant stick with a giant knob on the top of it. Cold at. Nope. Keurig was frightening to see these guys were all the time and a little kid that was told I was six foot. I know you went to school and had English nuns teaching you. So at this point, I'm sure you didn't.

05:50 Principal at the, at the public school. Recommended to my dad that we would do much better if we, he took us to the convent. And so, my dad took us to the convent and we we stayed at the convent for our Primary School to your school education from there. We went on to the high school which was 8 Miles Away. We have to take a train everyday, walk to the train station for 10 minutes in the one side and another 15 minutes on the other side and go to high school in that Manda high school was four years back. In those days. You send a text and tell me about Uncle Jerry what kind of a child or teenager? Was he?

06:32 He was always full of bees, you know, he hasn't changed much even in his life, but he was a people person and like me, you know, I was like an introvert, but he was a people person like today. For example, that isn't a soul in the town of lawn front and black or white. He doesn't know, unfriend job. And sometimes is he related to me recently? The other day? He was walking on the street and this black man of fifty years of age. When tapped took his hand and kissed him and said lost. Do you remember me? I am the man that you befriended & K food.

07:12 He's a good person.

07:17 Do you do you remember your your high school at yours when you decided to you? Because I didn't know you were wanting to college and they were kids coming from the East Ron and we would get together at the at the train station of the high school, which was called to his job and we would all work together down to the school and we would be playing jazz. Each one had his own instrument to play with these were, these were not the real instrument sounds that we made with our hands and our lips and March to the tune of these various tools that we would play to the school sometimes and sometimes not releasing the local song, you know. Sorry, Miranda knows some of the American songs that have been transposed into the Africans, are the English.

08:17 But not so much. The Greek. The Greek was sort of Forgotten. You were not encouraged to speak week too much. You know, you are a foreigner, you know, so you had to kind of watch watch your p's and q's, you said that you couldn't get into trouble. And of course, once in a while, they would be trouble, you know, a group of them might attack. Do you know, if you have to defend yourself or run? I've done both of them were very fast and I think Uncle Terry and I are going to tell you a grocery aisle, kind of a scholarship from the agriculture department and and that we were going to be to be sent to the United States. I was going to go to North Carolina State College, in Raleigh North Carolina. The only way that they could get us across from England to the United, to New York was on the Queen, Mary. And the only way we could get there.

09:17 Watch pissed off. So we traveled with the Minister of Finance on the queen marriage. That was only a five-day Journey, wonderful ship, beautiful ship. The previous journey to Southampton was made on the Cape Town, Castle about the 35,000 tonnes ship was beautiful. We cross the other, we had the crossing of the, I quite a ceremony, you know, that was kind of kind of wonderful who even had a fancy dress ball. My colleagues dressed me as a mommy and toilet paper and carried me into the hole as a rigid mommy and I got first prize for the novelty Prime.

10:04 Somebody has been and is that when you got to NC State, was that where you met Harry? Pillows your best friend to Raleigh North Carolina. He's what he was. One of the of the Greek Americans living in Raleigh North Carolina, and he befriended all the Greek boys that ever arrived in Raleigh North Carolina. He was relatively poor and oftentimes, he only had bean soup to offer to us and for which we were very grateful because we even had this that sometimes he was a wonderful person, you know, one of the remarkable things is that, our friendship lasted, all these years until recently to his death. We had gone together in the E, on the intercoastal waterways. We actually went to take when down to Wilmington North Carolina and pick Capri Suns sailing vessel. It was a 32 ft.

11:04 Which had just had a new engine diesel engine put in and and we decided that we had to take this ship to Norfolk Virginia. Well, I said to Maya, friend, I said, you know, let me buy some maps. I have a few dollars if we buy the map, so that $40 you said. No, we don't need. That's not be nothing down. The Intercoastal. Waterway is 100 times as we don't need one. We don't need no Maps. Well, we hadn't gone. A few miles. When we come to a fork on the, on the well, just down the Coast Guard vessel comes by that he was the guy that said, which way, which way to Norfolk and they pointed the way. Well, that was not the lost a lot of our problems. We ran onto us and back at one point and the 45-foot V came along. We said, hey, could you give us a tow off of this and back? And they did wonderful people, you know.

12:04 Joy to encounter that willingness of of these dear people to be of help to us and they pulled it off in no time flat back on our way off. Well, we're not in Albemarle sound. This is a gigantic sound. It's about two hundred miles in diameter and we were following this 45-foot catch. They were a wooden teak boat and they were we were following them because they knew the way and we were behind them and

12:39 We have to zigzag in order to stay with the wind. Otherwise, we overturn, and as the captain of duet to said to us, you know, if you guys had a problem since I could not have turned back to save you guys, you know. Anyway, we got to to the next airport. I forget which one is bought and there we found all kinds of boats that travel in the bay. In all them all found. One of them had jettisoned, all their equipment because they were in danger of sinking. It was a motorboat. But with a high, the high of 23 story, hide fishing guide deck and they had thrown all their equipment overboard because they were in danger of sinking. Anyway, you and Harry of speaking to each other. At the end of this trip when he was doing,

13:39 Downstairs and get me something down in there and then when I did that, I became so horribly. So horribly seasick from the diesel fumes. I couldn't help him at all. But anyway, we proceed and went to this town and then we found the next time I forget which one it was, but we found a South African boat with South Africans in it. They had come from Cape Town, and they had gone into a hurricane when they left Cape Town and the hurricane strip them of all their rigging and they had to be towed back to Cape Town to have their rigging set up again. Yes, I'm Betsy. And we drove together some San Pedro, and some, I drove by and we had a wonderful time around, Tucson, Arizona.

14:39 We looked around and we decided to come back. Well on the way back this gigantic storm system was coming off the Pacific. The whole sky was black except for a small segment of the Horizon where the lightness and the last and I came through.

14:58 And I went to the back to rest while he was driving and I got so caustic. I could not help him drive one. Stitch all the way to Raleigh go all the way to Raleigh non-stop. We only stopped at the restaurant over garage to refuel and he drove all the way back. God blessing. You and he were a little Oscar had couple. We had some good good words, almost broke it up, but we made up, you know, we was nothing really tell me that your favorite family vacations.

15:37 Well, you know.

15:39 We made some epic Journeys. We went to South Africa. Of course. We went to Greece a couple of times just to visit the old island of kefalonia. We hadn't. I hadn't been there in 40 years and the end. I was overcome by Tears.

16:04 It's my return to my Village and that you're related to so many people in one small village that Village had been ravaged by an earthquake. So it was sort of in trouble by the time you saw it, but it was in trouble because the earthquake of 53 had demolished the top most of the houses. And so you you came to these ruins instead of homes that might have stood for the three B. There's rebirth now and we discovered that my other daughter and I discovered that half the people buried there with Mark Anton offices and then we thought we were the only markantonatos in the world, you know will be drawn up here in the US Marine and I Without Really knowing any family so your New York and elsewhere.

17:03 Anita's have been everywhere, you know, they go from China, all the way to Chile and Argentina. You will find them everywhere. They are they are everywhere. I can follow need this out everywhere because they, they try to do better than what they can do on the island. Of course, the island once upon a time, there was a lot of Agriculture which was done by have in the tan tools. Well, those went to say on the people important to all the vegetables and fruit. And so they were, there was nothing to grow there. And, you know, it's just rocks and mountains, and it's tough. Really making a living on an island like that. It is a beautiful place and it made a big impression on all of us. Really loves to tell me a little about Mom.

17:55 Well, you know, I met your mom in rustenburg. 1956 was when I return from the United States have to study after ncstatecollege Lady of 18 years of age and hand. One of the people at the at the restaurant where I ate and frequent has introduced me to your mom. And I from that moment. We kind of never parted, really, you know, it was that was it, you know, it's like a goddamned shown the way, you know, we got married in a fever for years later. We were married and and we left in 1962 to return to the United States. I was going back to NC State College for PhD degree. That didn't work out as planned because I had been out of school for too long and I was somewhat Rusty. And so I kind of lost my my assistant shipping.

18:55 Got a job. So, I took a job with the college. My professor law. Professor took me in and help me to get my green card you if, you know, and so we stayed and we've been it's been a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful stash. And of course, we we left Raleigh, North Carolina, 1962, to go to work with American cyanamid, in Princeton, New Jersey. And we were there for close to 40 years in Princeton, New Jersey. And her children went to school and grew up and died and that got married, and that it's been a wonderful year. Now. We're inside a result. Of course, in Sarasota must be one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. I beat you a number of places, and this Takes the Cake in so many ways. It has everything you wish for the beaches. I'll just supervise the little days and the little The Greenery, is it just astonishing?

19:54 And up that beautiful parks and we take the marinas little doggies, for a walk at the, at the, at the park and ride at the base Bayfront Park. And that's it. Just wonderful everyday is like a totally different seed. The sky changes, the sea changes, the color of the water completely different. Sometimes. Go to ring and sparkly with little millions of Lights coming off of it and then the giant old buildings reflecting a lot and see if it's wills and inspires one. You know, as I said to my wife loved by God, sent us to come a beautiful place last year. It's it looks a little like like grease in some ways with the rock recovery very much, beautiful. Everytime I go by,

20:54 Passage, that's just like if alonia the island of kefalonia, I said, just like the beach and it brings tears to these beautiful little scene inside a marina. Takes you to see the dolphins are. So she text me regularly because she's a member of the she has a membership if you knows because they're doing such wonderful work. That's a that's a Mote Marine facility building a whole new building but it's wonderful, you know that, you know, and they want to participate with the audience that surround them. And of course we are discouraged once in awhile, and they'll do they look fancy tricks, you know, that's wonderful animals.

21:54 And relate to them so easily, intelligent and beautiful. And I think everyone likes, so I highly highly intelligent and they're always interacted with them. And, and if left to the humans, they would become dependent upon them. And and the people that normally do not want you to feed any Dolphins anyway, because they tend to become dependent on humans for their food and feed it. And they don't want the animals to become dependent on them. But they take good care of the animals. One of them had to have swallowed all of these them and that they had to treat them for months and months and months and hand feed them and nurse them back to health. Again. They do wonderful work and it said if you ever have any extra money,

22:54 It's good to to donate a little truth and dare to do such wonderful. Great organizations. Migraine is wonderful, even though if you love my cat Alex Agassi the dog holds a special place in your heart. Tell me why Agassi is so special and remarkable.

23:24 When I was in Africa, we used to have dogs who will watch dogs and we fed them. Well, my mother would buy good. Dog meat for them a day with you, on that dog meat, and they would look after the premises at night.

23:44 But little Agassiz, this little Bichon is not a watchdog. He's a people dog. He is the most Charming little dog. You I had ever met.

23:57 And I had to take care of him after my daughter, got him because he had been injured. His hip has been injured by in a car accident. And he had been deserted by his previous owners and Marina documents, one of them at one of the rescue places. And I had to carry him from mail box to mail box around the block when we first got him.

24:23 So that he could he could do his business on the mailboxes as we walked around me, carrying him and putting him down every so often. Thank God. I was much stronger than I thought, because I'm old and decrepit, but he was like, 18 times when we got 25. Good feeding. We cook for him every day. Of course, he doesn't eat dog food, especially the one that they discovered has been poisoning, 100 dogs. Anyway, he is the most Charming dog I have ever met. And, you know, we have a relationship. He seems to be able to read my thoughts in my mind, and there's a wonderful affection and love between us.

25:10 And no matter what I do to him. He has never been to me.

25:14 He must think I'm a bigger off a dog than he is a very much alike. That's the funny part. You were diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and even got undergoing treatment. Would it what have you learned from from your experience?

25:40 You know, your mom was stricken with that breast cancer before that. I've year, before that and died. And we we had to go out to Moffitt Tampa, quiet and die and that's kind of colored colored mine.

25:58 My my life somewhat in that in that there was quite a lot of pain in it. I will not have it. I will never been to a hospital up until this point. You know how to hold. Your mom is 67 to hospital up until this point, you know, where we're going to doctors and hospitals in sidewalk. When I had this problem, the biggest problem I had with my the biggest phenomenological problem here to be the swelling of my leg. I had lymphedema in the upper part of my right leg as well as the bottom part. I and I couldn't even get to a doctor because I didn't have a doctor down here. We've been here now for two years by then and I didn't he hadn't been to a doctor because I was real and I hadn't had a medical examination. I thought of medical physical examination in the past 10 years.

26:58 91 and dime. And so, I couldn't even see a doctor for a month. Fortunately. I went to a rheumatologist about this problem because I always had that Rheumatology this pseudogout in my knees. And and so, the Rheumatology said, how do you know this terrible? Swelling, we've got to do something about, is it? We have to be sure that it's not a Venus Robin, because if it's a blockage, we have to have it taken care of right away. So, she sent me to the hospital and they are the doctors discovered.

27:31 They did a blood test and I discovered. My psia was 330.

27:39 Off the chart really, you know, people

27:45 So that the hospital save me to a urologist. And I, and doctors ologist and into Internal Medicine specialist. And that urologist, they discovered, they put me through a lot of tests and discovered that my my prostate cancer had metastasized to the bone of my bone structure.

28:12 And so they put me on palliative treatment which is to get to give home Islands to two people and this keeps up the the the cancer from from becoming more. Vigorous. It tends to quiet it down and they brought the PSA numbers down to about 6, I believe from 330 and the whole Mountain stopped working and they put me on an extra hold on, for a short while. My oncologist in, recent, in recent times about you, maybe two or three months ago. He's put me on chemotherapy. I'm on taxes are now and text it to you. Or we got powerful chemical, it'll destroy all your white blood cells of your red blood cells and they have to keep you alive by giving you injections of procrit folk with bills out the red blood cells in your body so that you have a little bit of energy.

29:12 Otherwise you if you fall apart after the infusion of that chemotherapy and so all that, that I feel a little bit down. Maybe I feel a little nauseous. Maybe I feel a little strange. But after that, I pick up and with the with the injection off the procrit once a week, which helps my physical condition that gives me energy. Like a, I go get her. You got to rest a little bit in between buddy. I'm very well by my my mental attitude and my physical condition couldn't be better. You know? And, and just before that, I had this terrible terrible pain before the chemo. I couldn't move, I couldn't take my sock off and put my son.

30:12 God, because my leg was so hurtful and stiff. And now I'm very well. Thank you. That's great. And I think your mental attitude has had a lot to do with your success. Your positive person have a very positive attitude. You have to thank God, you know, some people have negative attitude, not a good thing to have because if you want to be successful you have to have a positive attitude because it'll carry you through your faith and hope will carry you through Bobby, and you have to have a good old times. You message, Isaac.

30:53 Top 10 minutes. Do you want to keep going? Do you have any, do you have any words of wisdom? You want to pass on to me? Although that's pretty, that's pretty wise. What you just said anything that you'd like to pass on to Maureen? And I as you both have a wonderful, wonderful little angels as children to ask about your mom at 12.

31:18 We offered.

31:21 Think of all you've done for us and that we get a little Cherry Now High. Sometimes, you know, what wonderful children you have. You have grown up to be from Little, you both will beautiful. And today, you are even more beautiful. And we're very proud of you and your husband do to you. He have these wonderful children to us. He's just like my own Sake O. The family, is your husband. God bless you and I both love that you've made him so much a part of the family and and we appreciate everything you've done. You you went and helped him. Build his practice, physically putting up walls and sheetrock and building, an x-ray room, using all of your many talents to help them Thrive. So I was in such bad shape that I couldn't.

32:21 How to use it to the same extent. As I'd helped Michael in his practice name, that has been my biggest, my biggest concern, give you much help in moving into a new house which required a lot of work and you have to do it all by yourself with a little facts to help from Michael mama's mama's big help sewing curtains endlessly for for the whole summer. So, you did a great job. Since your house is looking just like a little Palace. I was inspired, you know, you and Mom are very creative and you taught me to do what I like and end be bold. And that's I carry that with me, your color of sent your sense of color in your, you no sense of style. And those are all things that that I take with me from you. So I can appreciate that. Your grandfather had them to, you know, he was a great guy often. He actually built his own house plans. He drew sketched his own house plans.

33:21 And they built houses and churches, especially from the foundation's right up to the roof and everything in, in the Greek, Orthodox church that you find today. He was capable of sculpting, all those various sculpted units and Granny. Angela was very creative 200? Or was she a painter? She twerked. She actually was the Greek, Chef. Granny Angela Lola clothing from the time. We were little until later in years and her sister. She was the chef, the Greek chef at the United Nations whenever Greek do a Greek affair.

34:21 Put on she case at all the goodies from The Baklava, all the way to the Moosa car and the pasticcio macaroni and everything else. Checks your mom. My mom must have died from auntie auntie. I think one of his claims to fame is that you're known for the best baklava. That anyone has ever tasted some do almost every way in the world made us. So, you know, it's automatically makes me very famous. I think I'm losing, I'm lazy. And I may be a little worried the house and I'm going to have to have you take all night at Legacy in the future. You will have to be the great baklava. Sure. I'll do that stuff.

35:15 Do you have a, do you have a moment of your of your life that was maybe the proudest moment or or anyting issued ID in approximately? And I forget that. Yeah, I think 1987. I was awarded the American cyanamid Achievement Award which which meant that I had to choose something noteworthy for them and it was a very proud moment for 22 receipt with that. I took us all the way to New York City dressed in Dallas rental at the Plaza Hotel and then there was a boil and so on and it did not do that. Big shots of the company made speeches and so on and so on and it was

36:15 Play The Splendid moment of my work in Korea. It's not every day that sell them and I, and I, and a rare occasion, and I thank God that it happened to me that he was kind enough to help me to do whatever. Help me to get this little toward, you are an exceptional scientist. So to do everything you do a hundred and 10%, which is resourceful person. You are creative, you have talents Beyond any that I ever had. And you have many, many more talents. God has been so kind to you in spreading all his talent, he gave you just a fistful of time. Most people have, only a couple of Thailand's me. I think I only have two or three, you have a whole handful of Uno.

37:15 And every day you show some of them. Thank you Dad and thank you for everything that you passed on to me. Have a wonderful journey in life that I love you.