Introducing Ken: An American in Milan

The sea in Salento (Puglia) gives the Caribbean a run for its money

Oh hi.

My name is Ken, and Thea has engaged me to give some insight to our adopted homeland for the Doing Italy blog. For my first post, I thought a little introduction was in order. My nutshell: raised in NJ, went to engineering school in upstate NY before falling into magazine publishing in NYC. Met a crazy Italian guy one night out at a bar, did the long distance thing for a year or so before deciding to see what Italy has to offer. That was in 2000 so officially I'm more Milanese than New Yorkese (that freaks me out a little).

A rainy Chemical Brothers concert in Milano with Bruno, Alberto, and Matilda

I'm passionate about horrible rock music (just ask anyone I've ever dated), food in general (shout out to all the various Asian cuisines and, of course, chocolate), Japanese fashion, books (much to my boyfriend's chagrin, who thinks I prefer books to him which could occasionally be true, depending on the book), modern art and dance, travel, and Isotta, our Siamese cat. Oh, and yoga! I just started taking classes and, with the fanaticism of a new disciple, have become a big proselytizer.

A winter wedding in Courmayeur (not ours!)

Bruno, Eros, me

My relationship to Italy has evolved over the past twenty years. Moving some 50 boxes of clothes, books, and records from the center of Manhattan, a place where I had a career, apartment, nearby family, many friends, and an extensive knowledge of the city, to a tiny hamlet just outside Milano, a place where I knew nothing and no one, not even the language, was a bit of a culture shock. It took me a while to shift gears from an incredibly multi-cultural city to a much more monocultural one.

One advantage to Italy and Europe in general is the ease of travel. It's more densely populated than the U.S. and well serviced by air and rail. I was lucky in that just after moving to Italy, Bruno, my partner, took a job as the manager of Italian pop musician Eros Ramazzotti (much as I love music, I'd never heard of him but he is, in fact, a worldwide superstar) and I held tight to those coattails as they travelled around Italy and the world. That cushy post came to an end ten years ago with the crash of the music industry and we subsequently opened a flower business (www.manifestoflowers.com). Flowers and nature have long been a passion of Bruno though I have a black thumb can kill a cactus at twenty paces with barely a sidelong glance.

My occasional brush with the rich and famous—it's all about the private jet

I'll be writing about all of the above and more over the coming weeks but if there's anything specific you'd like to know, please drop a line. I'd love to hear from you