fA face he'll
| U
f By KATY KOONTZ
k Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Checking the mailbox can be the
| highlight of any student’s afternoon if
£ there’s at least a card waiting for him,
V but after getting a letter and personal
> invitation from the White House, it’s just
ft never the same again. ..
p That’s what happened to Mike
5 DeMarco (4th-political science) on the
$ afternoon of the Texas A&M game. After
> the Lions’ loss, he went back to Alpha
* Chi Rho, where he is a pledge, and a
3 letter from President and Mrs. Carter
3 was waiting for him. The envelope
contained an invitation to see Pope John
II at the White House Oct. 6.
"I opened it up and flipped out,”
.‘j; DeMarco says. “The whole fraternity
I; went wild.”
* DeMarco is the national president of
•)! the Catholic Youth Organization, and so
Ji he wasn’t as surprised as one might
£: think at getting the invitation. ;
As the president of CYO, DeMarco
says he has traveled “pretty much all
r-over the country and out of it, too.”
, Among other places, he’s been to the'
j Dominican Republic, Italy, France,
I Switzerland and Ireland since his
j election in November 1977
Because of his CYO affiliation,
DeMarco says, “I knew I could get to see
the Pope, but I was thinking of going to
New York to see him there at first.”
So although he was planning on seeing
the Pope, he didn’t really expect the
White House invitation. After he got it,
he switched his plans to Washington
instead.
The reaction of most of his fraternity
brothers was surprise, he comments. “A
lot of them,” he remembers, “said,
‘You’re going to see the Pope?’ ”
The invitation allowed DeMarco to
take only one guest, and his immediate
dilemma was which of his parents to
ask. Following protocol, he finally
decided to take his mother, who, he says,
was thrilled at getting the chance to see
the religious leader in person.
"I come from a real Italian neigh-
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'Million dollar business' just way to pass the lime
; : k
iversity student mingles with pope and president
m
** «■ -.
borhood in South Philadelphia, and
everyone there was really excited, too,”
DeMarco says. “There was an article in
my hometown paper about it with a
picture,” he adds, “and they even taped
a copy of the picture to the cash register
at the local meat market. Everyone
knew.”
The morning he was to meet the Pope,
DeMarco took the bus to Philadelphia to
meet his mother. The two of them then
took the metroliner into the capitol city.
“The train was coming out of New
York, and there were a lot of foreign
speaking people on it. They were all
from the embasies in New York and they
were going to see the Pope, too. ”
When he got to Washington, DeMarco
went to the South Lawn where the
program was to be held. “I didn’t know
what to expect,” he says. “The place
was big it was humongous. ”
But even though he was in
Washington, D.C., remnants of life at
j
r
never forget
t-- y ( *-
Penn State were close at hand. DeMarco
had to wait in line at the White House
from 2 to 2:30 before he was allowed ir
the gates.
“Someone told me there were aboul
1,400 people there,” he says. “They were
all the president’s friends, prominenl
democrats and Catholic leaders.
“First the president gave a speech,”
DeMarco explains. “He spoke of the
Pope as a poet and quoted some of his
poems. He also said that the Pope’s visit
emphasized his pastoral role. In
words, he was dealing with people on a
one to one basis and not just leading a
great mass of people.”
Then the Pope spoke. “He said we
should stop nuclear warfare and stop the
production of nuclear arms,” DeMarco
remembers.
After the speeches, a reception line
formed, and some of the audience, in
cluding DeMarco, filed up to see the
Pope and the president.
a weekly look at life
in the University community
A sunny smile lights up R. F. Perotti’s
face (left) as he moves through a day
filled with the musty smell of old books,
(above) and the chance to tinker with
old watches on the side (right and
below).
“I was so engrossed in meeting the
Pope while I was standing in line that I
actually forgot that the president was
standing next to him,” DeMarco says. “I
was at a loss for words when I got to
Carter so I just said hello, shook his
hand, and walked on by
DeMarco then kissed the Pope’s ring
and the man blessed him. The Pope also
blessed some rosary beads, a cross
DeMarco brought with him from friends,
and his own medalian as well.
Next, the Pope walked through the
crowd to see the people who could not
meet him in the reception line. “People
were shouting ‘Poland!’ and waving
papal and Polish flags,” DeMarco notes.
“People were even holding up babies,
and some of them had presents wrapped
up for him, too,” he continues.
DeMarco says what he will remember
most about about the visit will be the
Pope’s face. “I was looking at him so
intently for an hour and a half,” he says.
“It was overwhelming because I was
only ten rows from the front about 45
to 50 feet.”
The scene of the Pope standing next to
Carter with the White House in the
background was moving; DeMarco says.
“And there were sharp shooters on the
White House 'roof with“binoculars, as
well,” he adds]
Security was tight, he says, but none in
the crowd got out of line. “I think there
was a' demonstration going on outside
the gates during the ceremony, though,”
he notes.
“It was kind of touching,” DeMarco
says. “It seemed like no one wanted to
leave and he didn’t want to leave either.
“I think the older people feel more
privileged in being able to meet the
Pope,” DeMarco says. “Just being in his
presence is an honor for them.
“Younger people haven’t experienced
enough of their religion to feel the same
way. I feel it, but in a different way, than
my grandmother would have. ”
“I’m not really a religious person,” he
notes, “But I am if I look at it in per
spective.”
History shelved in tiny bookstore
ByKATYKOONTZ
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
The one-room shop nestles inconspicuously one flight above
a laundry on Beaver Ave. Its yellowed, peeling paint and
wooden floors go well with the collection of old books that fill
the ceiling-high shelves. And the old pictures and memorabilia
on the walls complete its antique image.
R. F. Perotti, owner of the tiny rare book store, is a part of
the old world atmosphere as he hustles about the shop pointing
out special books and prized editions.
Most of Perotti’s books are first editions or collectors’ items,
including works of American fiction, history, art and music.
For example, he owns, a copy of the first American-compiled
encyclopedia of music and musicians.
A copy of Webster’s Grammer from 1807 was Perotti’s oldest
book, but he recently sold it. Now, the oldest work in his
collection is an 1965 edition of Joe Miller’s Jests, a joke book
first printed in England. Perotti’s copy is of the first American
edition.
First editions can be unusually interesting, Perotti notes. In
his copy of The Life and Times of Edgar Allen Poe, for
example, a picture of Henry Longfellow with a wine glass
appears. Perotti explains that some people were upset because
Longfellow did not drink, and so from the second edition on,
the wine glass has been removed.
One of his favorite books, however, is not one of his oldest.
Its printing date is only 1967, and its author is Perotti, himself.
Titled, Important Firsts in Missouri Imprints, the book deals
with works published in Missouri from 1808 to 1850 and is the
oi\ly book Perotti has written. '
Perotti has been collecting and selling books as a hobby
since 1929, when he worked in New York City. He spent his
lunch breaks and vacations buying books from dealers and
then trying to sell them.
Perotti has lived in New Orleans and .Kansas City as well,
although he was born in Atlas, Pa.
“I’ve been all over, but now I’m back in Pennsylvania
because I liked it here arid I wanted to get back,” the former
Treasury Department clerk says.
Perotti has sold over 10,000 books in the last half-century,
and he has had some of his books for 25 or 30 years. “I don’t
While most of the world watched Pope John Paul II on television, -ion
Mike DeMarco (4th-political science) received gave him a close-up view of the
visiting pontiff.
“You could make a million dollars in this business if you
could find the book people wanted to buy,” he says. The trick,
though, is finding what will sell. And it’s not easy.
One book, an 1839 narrative of Zenas Leonard’s adventures
in Clearfield, Pa., would be worth about $lO,OOO if another copy
could be found, he notes. Only one copy, in a college library,
has been traced.
The mostr expensive book Perotti now owns sells for about
$6O or $7O and is a 1929 edition of an art book in its first English
printing. Formerly, it was printed only in Russian.
Perotti has sold books for several hundred dollars apiece in
the past. The highest-priced one he’s ever sold was the first
book of poetry printed in Wyoming and it was listed at $450.
Perotti sold it to Pattee at a discount and it became one of
about 100 of Perotti’s books sold to the University.
In his heyday as a book collector and dealer, Perotti put out
seven catalogues to attract customers. These catalogues
netted him thousands of sales, and he has sold most of his
collection.
Now, however, his business is less of a profit-making one and
more bf something to pass the hours.
When the shop is quiet, which is most of the time, he reads
the American history books on his shelves and fixes antique
watches—another item he collects and sells in the same shop.
Perotti also follows football, especially the'Nittany Lions.
“Maybe Joe should read this book here,” he says, jokingly,
holding up an old treasure bearing the title, Functional
Football. ’
“Maybe,” he adds, “he wouldn’t have been so embarrassed
at the last home game if he had.”
buy too much now,” he says. “It’s too expensive to travel
around to the dealers.”
Despite his varied collection, Perotti doesn’t See much local
interest in his shop. “I can go about two weeks without selling
one book locally,” he says. “I don’t sell enough here to pay for
the rent.” He relies on his retirement pension for that.
Perotti says that professors should have more interest in
supporting a rare book store. “Old-time professors used to be
scholars. You couldn’t keep them out of the bookstores,”
Perotti comments. “Present-day professors are just in
terested in having a job,” he adds.
Thursday, Oct. 11 12
YOU'RE SURE.YOU'RE
NOT INTERESTED IN
WOMEN'S SPORTS, MARCIE?
I SHOULD PROBABLY WARN
YOU, JOAN. THSYDONT
, &VS YOU MUCH VMS TO
j seme IN AROUND HBRS.
: THEY PUB ON TUB WORK
* FROM DAY ONB!
WHAI JOELT YOU'RE
mALLXDom YOUR
LrnW BIG EVENT/
s •
UNIVERSITY CONCERT COMMITTEE UNIVERSITY CONCERT COMMITTEE
LU C
LU Z
E S
1 fjn anticipation of the upcoming con- |
8 cert in Eisenhower Kuditorium, The Uni- %
S versity Concert Committee would like to §
z J m
8 once again remind its audience of the 3
I importance of abiding by University fire I
I and safety regulations. |
5 Eisenhower Auditorium is an excep- m
tionally fine facility and provides an ex
cellent setting for concerts. However,
because some persons •in past audi
ences have not exercised good judg
ment by refraining from smoking, con
suming alcoholic beverages, and lighting
matches, the Concert Committee has
found it necessary to restrict the type of
show it will present in the Auditorium.
Thursday evening’s concert should be
excellent, and the Committee asks your
* full cooperation so that we may again §
| utilize the Auditorium one of the finest |
o concert halls in Pennsylvania. 3
P o
cE §
W Q
§ Thank You and Enjoy, g
8 o
H °
| The Concert Committee 1
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d m
UNIVERSITY CONCERT COMMITTEE UNIVERSITY CONCERT COMMITTEE
LsrmßYmi
HAPPEN TO KEEP
ON A VERY STRICT
LAVNDRY SCHEDULE?
Alert consumers spot the bargains in Collegian ads.
4
*. V •*
i'll SENP YOU
MY FIRST RECI
MHT'ANP ONE Of
S OCHS JUST rASS£O y
OUT TOM ITS .ZL
- ■
A ~ When completed, the circled words will
Iform a quote from Shakespeare.
1 School org.
4 Elevator man
8 Paving material
14 Spare or floating
15 "A many splendored thing"
16 Goddess ot wisdom
17 Slightly more than one quart
19 Teeter
20 Meaning ot Latin "amamus”
21 Consume
23 Mare meal
24 Memos
27 "The Winter’s-":W.S.
30 Rose area
31 Storehouse
35 Make ajar, poetically
36 Algae product
38 Times without war
39 -nothing
41 Trilby
1 Ship's stem
2 Fork feature
3 Early son
4 Martini garnish
5 -pole
6 Got a Secret"
7 More calm
8 Savor
9 Had a snack
10 Resistor of sorts
11 Topological feature of Arizona
12 Med school course
13 Corvine calls
18 Knowledge
22 Total
25 Girder
26 Film units
27 Ancient attire
28 On the left, nautically
29 Girl'sname, meaning "lioness”
32 "Gesundheit" elicltor
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3
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3
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3
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kronic
42 Benedict -
43 Cheap marbles
44 Iron
-45"A11 the world": W.S.
46 Men In uniform
47 Some beans
48 Substitute
52 Bones
53 Ordinal ending
56 Queasiness
60 Famed poet ot Germany
62 Body's Immunity device
64 Of the lips
65 Hammer parts
66 French article
67 Segal and von Stroheim
68 Classify
69 -dedeux
33 North Pole explorer
34 -Kefauver
36 "-In Her Ear": French farce
37 Deity
38 Wooden dowel
40 Stating opinion as fact
41 School member
43 Accidents
46 Obtain
47 Checkbook item
49 Ship parts
50 Beginning for national or lace
51 Pass out
52 Gawk
53 Fly high
54 Grease: combining form
57 Menu item
58 Writer Ferber
59 Some votes
61 Exclamation of doubt
63 Beginner
UOJ
V kfonfclV/ krantc
The Daily Collegian Thursday, Oct. 11,1979—1:
(icsswcid
DJUDJ>| /
by Mibe §berb
(Answers in tomorrow's Collegian Classifieds)
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