Nicholas Gage (1939- )
"Nicholas Gage, his actual name is Nikolaos Gatzoyiannis, is a Greek-born American author and investigative journalist. He was born on the 23rd of July, 1939, in the village of Lia, Epirus, Greece. Nicholas Gage joined his father in Massachusetts at the age of nine and grew up to become a top New York Times investigative reporter, honing his skills with one thought in mind: to return to Greece and uncover the one story he cared about most: the story of his mother.
His two most known books/autobiographical memoirs are the best-selling “Eleni” (1983) and “A Place for Us” (1989). “Eleni” describes the life of his family in Greece during the Second World War and Greek Civil War. Gage’s mother, Eleni, was executed for arranging the escape of her children from their Communist-occupied village. Decades later, as an adult, Gage sought out those responsible for her death. “A Place for Us” relates the Gage family’s experiences as immigrants in 1950’s America in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1964, Gage earned a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
In the 1970’s he starts working for Associated Press and The Boston Herald Traveller, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. From 1980 to 1983 he starts working on the research, writing and publishing of his book, “Eleni”. In 1985, “Eleni” was made into a feature film starring John Malkovich as Gage.
His book “Eleni”, which has been translated into 32 languages, was awarded first prize by the Royal Society of Literature of Great Britain and was nominated in the category of best biography by the National Book Critics Circle. He was also awarded with the Hearst Award, Page One Award (Newspaper Guild) and Sigma Delta Chi award.
His most recent book is “Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristole Onassis”, an account of the relationship between Aristotle Onassis and opera singer Maria Callas, which was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2000.
Gage is the honorary President of the WORLD of EPIROTES and a recipient of The International Center in New York’s Award of Excellence. He continues to speak throughout the world and writes for such publications as The New York Times and Vanity Fair.” – from Ellines.com
Books by the author available in the Library
Gage, Nicholas. Eleni. Vintage, 2006. (949.5084092 GAG)
Gage, Nicholas. Eleni. Random House, 1983. (949.5084092 GAG)
“In 1948, in a Greek mountain village, Eleni Gatzoyiannis was arrested, tortured and shot. She was one of the 158.000 victims of the Greek Civil War. Her crime had been to help her children escape from the Communist guerrillas who occupied their village. Her son, Nicholas Gage, was then eight years old. Eleni is the story of his obsessive reconstruction of his mother’s life and death and his pursuit of his mother’s killer.”
- from the back cove
Gage, Nicholas. A place for us. Houghton Mifflin, 1989. (949.5084092 GAG)
“This story of the children of Eleni Gatzoyiannis in America is the recollection of an immigrant who arrived at midcentury, old enough to be molded by the traditions left behind but young enough to belong in this new world. The particular calamities, heartaches, and triumphs in these pages are unique to my sisters and me, but our odyssey is as old as the nation: the arduous journey across the bridge that separates an old familiar world from a new and frightening one, to find a place for ourselves on the other side.”
- from the back cover
Gage, Nicholas. Hellas: a portrait of Greece. Villard Books, 1987. (914.95 GAG)
“Far more than a travel guide, Hellas is a revelation of the beauties, the contradictions, the tragedies, and the glories of Greece. In these pages we meet the “golden” Greeks of Pericles’ day and their volatile, hospitable, colorful, endearing, and exasperating descendants, from the richest shipping magnates to the peasant-philosophers arguing politics over a cup of Greek coffee in the village square. It’s all here: modern cities and ancient ruins, Turkish minarets, sacred classic shrines and Byzantine churches, unspoiled islands and teeming industrial cities, isolated mountain villages, clamorous rural marketplaces and ethnic celebrations. Nicholas Gage takes us to corners of Greece rarely seen by tourists and introduces us to the subtleties of Greek food and wine, music and dance, history and language. He analyzes the Greek character and the fascination that draws us all toward this land of sun and shadow, sky and sea, where Western civilization first took root. He is an eloquent, insightful, and uniquely qualified guide to the magic land Lord Byron called “one vast realm of wonder.”
- from the back cover
More books by the author
Gage, Nicholas. Greek fire: the story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis. Knopf, 2000.
Gage, Nicholas. Greece: land of light. Bulfinch Pr., 1998.
Gage, Nicholas. The Bourlotas fortune: a novel. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975.
Interesting videos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCjLbohDJxU (The author interviewed by the “National Hellenic Museum”)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuH3brKcPvs (The author interviewed by the “Bu Newsservice”)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m05ouFFYJYI (The author interviewed by the “National Hellenic Museum”)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4haFMgbwLU (The author reads his essay The Teacher Who Changed My Life)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHhh86VSQnw (The author at an honorary event at the Igoumenitsa Municipality, 2004)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcT8pX5mBIU (The film “Eleni” – CBS Productions 1985)
Critiques
Harvey, Julietta. “Revenger’s Tragedy.” London Review of Books, LRB, 19 Jan. 1984, www.lrb.co.uk/v06/n01/julietta-harvey/revengers-tragedy. 28 June 2019.
McFaddenoct, Cyra. “Can Eleni’s husband be forgiven?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 Oct. 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/books/can-eleni-s-husband-be-forgiven.html. 28 June 2019.
Pasmatzi, Kalliopi. “A comparative analysis of the Anglophone and Greek peritext of Eleni”, Academia, Academia, 2019, www.academia.edu/2449113/A_comparative_analysis_of_the_Anglophone_and_Greek_peritext_of_Eleni. 28 June 2019.
