The National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences used to hold their lunches and award ceremonies at the Copacabana, a swanky nightclub.

I’d already decided to set THE GODMOTHERS in New York from the 1930s through the 1950s, because I'd heard so many stories about that glamorous era from elder colleagues while I was working in television. Well, go back and watch his movie with that in mind! I was stunned to hear that 'The Godfather', an icon of macho swagger and power, was really inspired by Mario Puzo's Mom. without Lucia Santa, I could not have written The Godfather.”

I heard her wisdom, her ruthlessness, and her unconquerable love for her family and for life itself, qualities not valued in women at the time.” Puzo also noted, “The Don’s courage and loyalty came from her his humanity came from her. Puzo said: “Whenever the Godfather opened his mouth, in my own mind I heard the voice of my mother. Each time I write an historical novel such as THE GODMOTHERS and COOKING FOR PICASSO, I look for one thing: a secret nugget of buried history that's been 'hiding in plain sight' for years and has somehow been overlooked.Īnd so, while researching my newest novel, THE GODMOTHERS I was thinking about four sisters-in-law in New York in the 1940s-but I didn't intend to include real-life gangsters in my book, until I stumbled across a quote from Mario Puzo in which he revealed a secret about the true power behind 'The Family' of his own novel, The Godfather.

The family by mario puzo