Flying Without Wings

When Laura Mancuso’s husband Angelo D’Arrigo, was killed in a flying accident in 2006, she was determined to take on his unfinished work. In a moving interview, she explained to George R Vaughan how she overcame huge personal loss to ensure that his dream survived.

Elegant and composed, Laura Mancuso is an attractive, perceptive and determined woman, as her achievments in recent years attest.

“When I first met Angelo I was coming to the end of my university degree, writing up my thesis and thinking ahead to my career. Less than a year later, with my graduation behind me, I had started a market research company and Angelo and I were married. I believed this was going to be the most intense year of my life but I had no idea of what lay ahead.

“It’s quite funny really because as a child I didn’t have any particular ambitions. I was naturally curious about the world – as most young people are – but even from an early age, I guess you could say that my outlook was more spiritual, organic even. With hindsight I suppose this was preparing me for what my clear interests are today: nature, the environment and more than anything else, people.”

Angelo D’Arrigo’s personal story is an incredible one. He spent his early years in Paris where he graduated from the University of Sport. After a distinguished athletic career, during which he was constantly at the top of international competitions, he defined a project, which was both scientific and adventurous, called 'Metamorphosis'- in which he followed his dream of flying like a bird and with birds.

He studied the mechanisms of flight of the large hawks, eagles, buzzards and cranes and learned their methods of flight, as well as each bird's environmental needs. With these birds, he flew across seas, deserts, and mountains across all of the continents. He also taught traditional migratory routes to birds raised in captivity and at risk of extinction. On 24 May 2004 he became the first and currently still the only person to fly over Everest, the world's highest mountain, in free flight and using natural air currents.

But just at the peak of his endeavours, tradgedy struck with a cruel and terrible irony resulting in Angelo’s untimely death.

“My husband was at the peak of his success with another major project in preparation when he died as a passenger in a plane crash at Comiso, Italy on 26 March 2006 during an air show held in his honour,” said Laura, pausing to gather her thoughts and stifle the still painful grief.

“It was a terrible shock. Something that you can never prepare for. For weeks afterwards I still couldn’t quite believe it. Sometimes I would expect Angelo to come through the door or be on the other end of the line when my phone rang.”

At the time of his death Angelo was involved in a project to reintroduce a pair of condors into the wilds of Peru and despite her huge loss, Laura determined that the work would continue.

“I decided that, with the support of his team, we had to complete it nevertheless. It wasn't enough to become head of the project, however. I also had to be accepted by the group of international scientists who had been working with Angelo. It was a tough call: deadlines had been set and these compelled us to work at what now seems an impossible pace. But it all came together. You can see the story of the project in the National Geographic documentary "Born to Fly".”

A month after Angelo's death, together with some of his closesest friends, Laura founded a not-for-profit foundation in his memory. They work for the protection of peoples in cultural or material poverty, always aiming to respect local cultures and ecosystems. They have a number of active projects: educational theatre and artistic workshops for prisoners; active youth group sessions in children's cancer wards. In one of the poorest regions of Peru, where the condors were finally liberated – the organisation also built and opened a school and a clinic.

Laura has also embarked upon a career as an author and has written extensively on her life with Angelo, as well as the foundation and the projects that lie ahead.

She is currently touring Italy and promoting her latest book, In Volo Senza Confini, which translated means Flying Without Boundaries.

“I love reading. Books are the quickest means of transport. But I have to say that writing was more demanding than I had expected, though the satisfaction has more than repaid the fatigue. I have also discovered how useful writing is: it teaches me about life, it makes me stop and reflect, I have to elaborate my thoughts, my order, my discipline. Sometimes I look for a word and find a thought instead!”

As a single parent Laura is also a dedicated mother to her two children.

“My sister and I have the enormous good fortune to have two adorable parents who have always known how to hold their arms open to us, who have understood when to hold us and when to let us go. This foundation of love has hopefully steered me in the right direction and I never forget how important my own children are to me.

“Life in Italy is difficult if you are a woman in business. Women are still discriminated against in many areas of society but perhaps especially at work. I think one of the most challenging tasks is learning to employ people whilst giving value to the diferences that exist between the sexes and considering that those differences are a resource and not a hindrance. But there are still today stereoptypes - within the family and within the education system - that mitigate against this. There is a social change, which affects the role of parents, dynamics within families and which needs to involve society as a whole. We've still got a long way to go. In Italy, for instance, the percentage of women in high places is amongst the lowest in Europe.”

Although dedicated to her family and various businesses, Laura still occasionally finds time to relax.

“I like flying, skiing, sport in general. I love adventure. As you might imagine I am a big fan of travelling and when I cannot do it for real, I read because for me this is still the best way to move from one dimnension to another. I think it is sad that young people do not read as often as they used to.”

With the world in the grip of climate control fever and the subject of global warming never far from the headlines these days, I asked Laura her feelings about the state of the planet and how she feels we might need to change for the future.

“The preservation of our natural resources is the duty of each and every nation,” she said. “This year, the Angelo d'Arrigo Foundation has decided to honour mayors of Italian townships who move towards 'greener' management and who encourage the use of renewable energy. The idea that the environment needs to be respected, so that it can renew itself for future generations, has been accepted rather late in our civilisation and I fear for the generations to come if we do not take heed soon.”

If you would like more information on Laura or the Angelo d’Arrigo Foundation then visit their website at

www.angelodarrigo.com

George R Vaughan