Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

The Tuscan Bug

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By Walter Sanders

Sam Hilt and his wife, Pamela Mercer, left Sonoma County to live and work near Siena.

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.

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MIT to Tuscany

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 By Walter Sanders

John and Peggy Heywood take a break from hiking in the hills surrounding Montestigliano.

John and Peggy Heywood take a break from hiking in the hills surrounding Montestigliano.

There are magical places on earth. Places that revive happy memories and help you create new ones. Places that inspire great activity and make you feel productive, welcome, and alive.

For John B. Heywood, Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering Emeritus at MIT, Tuscany is that magical place. More specifically, it’s a hilltop agriturismo hamlet just south of Siena called Montestigliano.

“This whole Italy thing began about 20 years ago, when my wife Peggy and I saw a film called Enchanted April,” John says.

“We were captivated by the movie. It portrayed how a group of British visitors were transformed during a trip to Italy,” Peggy says. “We tried to figure out how we could incorporate Italy into John’s work as well as our personal lives.”

The answer turned out to be a sabbatical.

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