SOURCE: Von Huene-Greenberg, Dorothee. “A MELUS Interview: Pietro di Donato.” MELUS 14, nos. 3-4 (autumn-winter 1987): 33-52.

In the following interview, di Donato discusses with Huene-Greenberg his major works and his influences.

Pietro Di Donato was twelve years old when his Italian immigrant father was killed in a construction accident on Good Friday in 1923. As the oldest boy, Di Donato took his father's trowel and began supporting his seven brothers and sisters. Not until he became unemployed and went on relief did he have the leisure to study, read, and write about his experiences. The resulting Christ in Concrete, published in 1939, became an instant success. In 1960 he wrote the introduction to that work, Three Circles of Light, followed by Immigrant Saint, a life of Mother Cabrini; and The Penitent, a life of the man who killed Saint Maria Goretti. Currently Di Donato is finishing a work entitled The Gospels. Christ...