Bruce Heckman

Parthenope, a Papa Sam Story: a Myth, a Recipe, Beautiful Illustrations (Papa Sam Stories) (Volume 1) Bruce Heckman First edition

This is the first children's book to tell the myth of Parthenope, one of the Sirens. She failed to lure Ulysses to crash on the island and threw herself into the ocean. Poseidon rescued her and turned her into a mermaid and brought her to Naples Bay. Parthenope sang to the people of Naples and they gave her seven ingredients from which the recipe for Pastiera, a sweet easter pie, was developed by Poseidon's chefs. She presented the pie to the mayor of Naples and it has been made ever since. Naples was first called Parthenope and its university is named after Parthenope. A recipe for the Pastiera is included in the book. The watercolor illustrations by Randy Gallegos are colorful, intimate, expressive, and of excellent artistic quality. The book was inspired by my five grandchildren and the creation of Pastiera for Easter dinner. Papa Sam was named after my grandfather Sam and my late brother, Sheldon, who was quite interested in myths. My plan is to have other Papa sam stories of myths or other stories.