I’m a few days late in posting, but November 5th is Love Your Red Hair Day—a perfect moment to celebrate the copper hues and blue eyes that shimmer through my family’s story, even though 23andMe says I’m 96% Southern Italian Sicilian. As expected I had the stereotypical dark hair and deep brown eyes, but the family history and features told another story.
I’m often asked why the main characters in my historical fiction series, Becoming America’s Stories, are redheads with blue eyes. Lily Taglia, the protagonist, is the first American-born child of her Sicilian family. Her striking features set her apart in the crowded tenements of New York City’s Lower East Side in 1911. I gave myself poetic license to write beyond the stereotype—because Sicily, like America, has always been a melting pot.
Centuries of invasions left traces of Nordic, African, and Asian ancestry in Sicilian architecture, cuisine, superstitions—and yes, hair and eye color. My own heritage is a living testament to that mix.
Though I only remember my great-grandfather as a frail, bald old man, my mother and grandmother recall him as tall, with a thick head of copper red hair and piercing blue eyes. He resembled his mother—a woman marked by misfortune and superstition, known as la Strega—the Witch. She hid her red hair and cast her blue eyes downward to avoid suspicion.
Three of my grandmother’s sisters inherited their father’s vivid coloring. Two were notably tall. That striking genetic line faded in later generations, but hints remain: my brother’s beard glows auburn, my sister’s hair catches red in the sunlight, and many of us stand taller than average. Science might explain it through recessive genes and DNA expression, but I prefer to believe it’s Sicily’s legacy whispering through us.
I purposely created my Lily character as a reminder that identity is layered, and stereotypes rarely tell the whole story. America didn’t invent diversity. It inherited it.
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Does your family have non-stereotypical features and histories? Are there mixes that create unique and beautiful blends?
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Stories Served Served Around The Table 
Hi Antoinette,
My, it’s been a while since we’ve spoke. My world was turned upside down in February when I retired.
I was so foolish to think I’d have gobs of spare time because that certainly didn’t happen. But I’ve since wrangled things to a better balance and have actually begun to enjoy being retired even if it doesn’t translate to more time or energy for writing.
I totally missed most of the Sicilian details you shared and found them fascinating. So glad you took the time to share all this. We now have a wonderful redhead daughter-in-law who, with our oldest son, have given us our first grandchild – a boy who we love and miss dearly because they live in Montana while we are still working out selling the house here in Calif. so we can join them, hopefully in mid 2026.
My own writing is finally getting going again. Our church invited me to join a team of writers who produce daily devotions that are emailed to a mail list of 300+ subscribers. Mine came out good enough that I decided to add them to my blog. So they won’t simply disappear into the void. I decided to keep my somewhat rowdy voice in each one rather than sound preachy and so far, it’s working.
Anyway – great hearing from you and I’m glad that all seems well for you and your family.
Blessings
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Gary A. Wilson Story Bloghttps://garyawilsonstories.wordpress.com/quick-links-to-newest-stuff/
gary.a.wilson@outlook.com
Mobile: 1-707-799-7320
Land Line: 1-707-795-0997
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So good to hear from you Gary. Yep retirement is an oxymoron, there is little rest until you find your rhythm, and then things change again, like grocery aisles and old mom’s mobility. Glad to see you found time and space to keep writing. Looking forward to reading your work. ~A
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So interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Lee
Lee Y. Miao leeymiao.com
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