In thinking through which classic to watch this holiday season, I landed on the Mario Puzo - Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece, The Godfather. That got me wondering about Corleone, Sicily and who that city was actually named after. Professor Enzo Tontodonato of St. Bonaventure University took me down a very unexpected path, to the life and times of a 15th century "family" man, named 3 Ball Bartolomeo Colleoni. 

Ian Fleming created epic bad guys – Auric Goldfinger, Odd Job, Paco Scaramanga, Mr. Big… but in my mind, the best of them all was that Nehru-jacket wearing, scar-faced, kitty lover, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I wondered if Fleming drew that character from his past in British Naval Intelligence. What I found, surprised and shocked me, as the basis for this character traced to our current times.