By Walter Sanders
Sam Hilt and his wife, Pamela Mercer, moved from Sonoma County to live and work near Siena.
So what’s a nice Jewish boy from Newark doing in a hospital in Siena, Italy?
Two things: Sam Hilt is recovering from successful heart surgery. Second, he’s using the recuperation time to colorfully describe the effects of an even more life-altering condition—the Tuscan Bug.
Many susceptible people contract the Tuscan Bug when they visit the Renaissance region. Hilt caught a particularly virulent strain during an unplanned jaunt to Italy when he was an undergrad at Brandeis University.
After returning to the U.S. and earning his degree, Hilt spent nine years in graduate studies gaining a masters in comparative literature, a masters in psychology, and a doctorate in Renaissance studies.