Title
 

 

contact

sgianni

For information about Gianni's
Art & Poetry

Please contact:

wildcanyon@libero.it

Gianni Menichetti
Il Porto, 84017 Positano
(Salerno) Italy


   

Lina Eve: How Gianni and I met, and became dear friends....

1999: Whilst browsing one of my favourite 2nd hand bookshops, I chanced upon Vali's beautiful book of paintings and writing titled , Vali Myers. A day or so after this rare and fabulous find, I heard Vali being interviewed on ABC Radio National. Her unique Aussie accent, her raw and earthy take on life, combined with the amazing artwork in her book, had me toasting her talent and fierce honesty.

Vali and I eventually met in her studio in Melbourne some months later. We had only exchanged a few
letters and chatted on the phone, but when we met there was instant rapport. She introduced me to the Turkish spirit Raki, and we got pretty legless on it. At least I did. Vali would have been able to drink most people under the table! Spending glorious afternoons with Vali, filling our glasses and talking about everything under the sun became my ritual every time I travelled to Melbourne from then on.

lina-eve-vali-myers
Lina Eve & Vali Myers. Melbourne Studio

I first heard of Gianni from Vali and then watched the video by Ruth Cullen, The Tightrope Dancer, with
the fabulous footage of Vali and Gianni in their early times together. When I heard Vali had passed away,
I was deeply saddened and then thought of Gianni, now alone in the wild valley, with only his family of animals. I could only imagine how really devastated he must have felt.
So I wrote to him, & then we phoned each other, and letters, emails & phone calls have been flying between Australia and Italy ever since.

dogs
"Gianni's dogs" (c) Lina Eve

The great love Gianni has for all the animals he and Vali cared for, and his constant love and fierce protection of their Wild Canyon home, have helped to give meaning and balance to his life without Vali.
For not only is Gianni a beautiful poet and a skilled artist, but he also works tirelessly to protect his valley home from would-be developers. Just as Vali fought to do for so many years.

gianni-laughing
waterfall
"Gianni & Sophie" (c) Lina Eve
"Waterfall in the Wild Canyon" (c) Lina Eve

When the beautiful tribute book Gianni wrote about Vali became available, (Vali Myers, A Memoir )
I ordered a copy right away, and when it arrived, read it at one sitting! It's a passionate love story about a young man who adores a very beautiful, talented and feisty older woman. Not that anyone would ever
think of Vali as old! She was more supple than many 20 year olds and she was still turning heads in Melbourne in her 70's! Young girls would come to her studio and sit at her feet to bathe in her outrageous honesty and constant encouragement. She was one hell of a woman!

Vali was Gianni's lover, teacher, Goddess and muse and he was, in his own words, her willing slave,
adoring lover and confidant. Gianni attributes his vast knowledge of books and writers, his ability to remember hundreds of poems and old Aussie sayings and songs to his years of living with Vali.
Her influence alsoshows in his lovely drawings, though they have a delicacy,
sensitivity and magic of their own.

gianni-gate
gianni-smiling
"Pavilion Garden Gate" (c) Lina Eve
"Gianni Menichetti, Wild Canyon, 2009"
(c) Lina Eve

Reading Gianni's book moved me so much I had to tell him so! From our first contact, as with Vali, I felt an immediate connection, and our friendship has only grown stronger with the years. 2009, was the first time Gianni and I actually met in person when I visited Gianni in his Wild Canyon home near Positano. (it was wonderful being able to talk until the cows came home) Gianni has become a very dear friend, and I hope this website will encourage many others to enjoy his beautiful poems and drawings.

Lina Eve


giannilina
"Gianni & Lina " (c) Danny Fitzgerald

 

Website design: Lina Eve: lina@wwwires.com