The man who had just entered the bar spotted the thirteen-year-old playing table football and asked him: “Hey, who’s your dad?” When the boy answered, he exclaimed: “Right, so your grandad is the one who breeds pigeons, and your nickname is Picc, as in Piccione [Italian for pigeon]. So, by 1952 Luigi “Gigi” Radice had a nickname that would last a lifetime, but what he did not know was that his surname would be even more important, almost a sort of premonition, for “Radice” in Italian means “root”. Having finished vocational school at sixteen, Luigi found a job as a lathe-tuner and toolmaker in a metal workshop in his home town, Cucciago. He then went to a nearby town, Cantù, to work for a furniture factory, working on metal tubes and as a bronze craftsman. In the evenings, he would top up his wages with other jobs, such as polishing and varnishing...read more
