Drawing D-Day: An Artist's Journey Through War Tapa dura - 2019

Ugo Giannini studied at the National Academy of Design in New York. His education was interrupted by WWII, during which he served with the Army's 29th Infantry Division and was among the first wave of soldiers to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day. After the war, he continued his studies at the Art Students League in New York, as well as with Fernand Lger in Paris, and he was a professor of art at Caldwell College in New Jersey.
Maxine Giannini (ne Yellin), was raised in Newark, New Jersey, and studied art at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts and the Brooklyn Academy. At the same time, she studied piano privately, and became a student of Clara Husserl who herself had been taught by T. Leschetizky. She continued her piano studies with Robert Goldsand, Mitchell Andrews, Genia Robinor, and Seymour Bernstein, and studied composition, theory, and music history at NYU. She became a piano teacher in New Jersey. In 1955 she married Ugo, and together they raised two children. She was inspired to compile this book, combining the letters, the drawings, and the late war paintings of her husband to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer. Through her work, Maxine is recognized as "an accidental historian" of the 29th Division and of WWII.