John Nassivera
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John Nassivera (born 1950) is an American author, playwright and college professor.


Early life and education

Nassivera was born in Queensbury, New York into an Italian American family who came from
Forni di Sotto Forni di Sotto () is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had a populatio ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. He received his B.A. from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
in 1972 and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
in 1977. He also studied at the
University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. He lives in the historic
Jenks Tavern The Jenks Tavern, also known historically as the East Rupert Hotel and the Hotel G. Jenks, is a historic public accommodations house at the junction of West Dorset Road with Vermont Routes Vermont Route 315, 315 and Vermont Route 30, 30 in Rupert ...
building in
Dorset, Vermont Dorset is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,133 at the 2020 census. Dorset is famous for being the location of Cephas Kent's Inn, where four meetings of the Convention that signed the Dorset Accords led ...
, and part time in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.


Career

Nassivera then returned to New York to teach literature at Columbia University and become a Fellow in Columbia University's Society of Fellows in the Humanities. Nassivera was active in the theater, both as a playwright and as a producer. As well as his work in New York, he was co-founder of the Dorset Theater Festival in Vermont, a professional theater company that has presented a number of plays that were then produced in New York off-Broadway and on Broadway. Nassivera produced a number of plays with Broadway and off-Broadway producer Edgar Lansbury, including Nassivera's play ''All the Queen's Men'' starring Elizabeth Ashley, ''Without Apologies'' starring Carrie Nye, ''Advice from a Caterpillar'' starring Ally Sheedy, and ''Grace and Glory'' starring Estelle Parsons. Nassivera's play ''The Penultimate Problem of Sherlock Holmes'' starred Keith Baxter and run off-Broadway at the Hudson Guild Theater. Another of Nassivera's plays, ''Making a Killing'' was presented at the Access Theatre at 390 Broadway, and later at the Limelight Theatre in North Hollywood. His play ''Phallacies'', a farce about Sigmund Freud and Gustav Jung, ran at the New Playwrights Theater in Washington, DC. Tony Award-winning actress Adriane Lenox starred in his play with music ''The Jazz Club'' at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami.


Academic career

Nassivera, in his later life, returned to literary studies, the history of religion, and non-fiction writing. His Ph.D. dissertation was in medieval studies and was titled ''Amo Ergo Sum: A Retrospection of Medieval Secular and Spiritual Lyricism'' and is available on line. The work is a study of the transition from pagan to Christian ideas of love and the role that forms of proto-psychology played in both secular and religious poetry. His most recent books are ''The Devil's Dictionary for an Ungodly Age'' and ''God.org: Why Religion Really Matters''. He has authored the book ''Sacred Stones, Sacrifice and Scandal: Temple Mount, Golgotha, and the Kaaba and their role in world peace''. He has published in such monthly journals as ''Echos du Monde Classique'', ''The Mediterranean Review'', ''The Boston University Journal'', ''Paideuma'', and ''America''. Nassivera has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Canada Council on the Humanities, and has received a
Walter Cerf Walter Cerf (May 14, 1907 Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany – October 26, 2001 Leicester, Vermont) was a professor of philosophy, better known by Vermonters as a Philanthropy, philanthropist of arts, education, historic preservation and social services. ...
Award from the Vermont Arts Council."Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts - Previous Recipients"
Vermont Arts Council. He writes regular Commentary pieces on religion and society in the Pulitzer Prize winning paper The Rutland Herald.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nassivera, John Living people 1950 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American theatre managers and producers Columbia University fellows Boston University alumni McGill University alumni People from Queensbury, New York Columbia University faculty American people of Italian descent American male dramatists and playwrights American organization founders American medievalists