Barnes & Noble Announces More Than 100 Italian-American Authors Marching Up Fifth Avenue in the Columbus Citizens Foundation’s Annual Columbus Day Parade

Chairman and Founder of Barnes & Noble Leonard Riggio Is This Year’s Grand Marshal and Created the Theme “A Celebration of Italian-American Authors”

Barnes & Noble Will Hand Out 50,000 Copies of The Constitution of the United States of America with the Declaration of Independence for Free at the Parade

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Barnes & Noble, Inc., along with the Columbus Citizens Foundation, today announced that more than 100 Italian-American authors will be marching up Fifth Avenue in this year’s Columbus Day Parade. Chairman and Founder of Barnes & Noble, Leonard Riggio, was named Grand Marshal of the 73^rd Columbus Day Parade and created the theme for this year, “A Celebration of Italian-American Authors.” He invited Italian-American authors from across the country to participate in the parade and received an overwhelming response. The full list of authors includes bestsellers like David Baldacci, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Nelson DeMille, Wally Lamb, Lisa Scottoline, Gay Talese, Adriana Trigiani, and more. Other well-known authors marching in the parade include Danny Aiello, Tony Danza and Susan Lucci, plus many other big names listed below. In addition, Barnes & Noble will hand out 50,000 copies of a beautifully bound edition of The Constitution of the United States of America with the Declaration of Independence for free at the parade.

“I have long held the belief that Italian-American writers have received little recognition for their contribution to America’s literary heritage, and that’s why I am so pleased to honor these 100 plus authors who will be marching with me in the parade,” said Mr. Riggio. “In addition, we decided to hand out 50,000 copies of The Constitution of the United States of America with the Declaration of Independence at this year’s parade, because at this time in our country’s history we recognize how important these documents are in bringing us together.”

Angelo Vivolo, President of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, had this to say; “The Columbus Citizens Foundation is so honored to have Leonard Riggio as this year’s Grand Marshal in our 73^rd annual parade. His celebration of Italian-American authors and his creation of this year’s Parade theme are both clear indications of the Parade’s intention of celebrating Italian-American culture and achievement.”

Following is the full list of Italian-American authors participating in this year’s Columbus Day Parade:

Filomena Abys-Smith	Rina Ferrarelli	Paul Paolicelli
Lauren Acampora	Luigi Fontanella	Enrico Pellegrini
Marisa Acocella Marchetto	Marisa Frasca	Valerie Pepe
Kim Addonizio	Jamie Freveletti	Peter Pezzelli
Danny Aiello	Marc Gallicchio	Felice Picano
J.J. Anselmo	Fred Gardaphé	John Positano
Michael Ausiello	John Gennari	Dr. Rock Positano
David Baldacci	Catherine Gigante-Brown	Stanislao Pugliese
Gina Barreca	Edward Giobbi	Rossella Rago
Maria Bartiromo	Joe Giordano	Marianna Randazzo
Lisa Marie Basile	Daniela Gioseffi	Michelle Reale
Raymond Bean	William Giraldi	Karen Rinaldi
Sheryll Bellman	Mary Giuliani	Nicholas Rinaldi
Elizabeth Bettina	Alex Guarnaschelli	Richard Rinaldo
Eugenia Bone	Connie Guzzo-McParland	Gianni Riotta
Louisa Calio	David Hajdu	Mark Rotella
Alisyn Camerota	Ann Harson	Joseph Salvatore
Philip Caputo	Bridget Kinsella	Tom Santopietro
Lorenzo Carcaterra	Jerry Krase	Jill Santopolo
Mary Carlomagno	Wally Lamb	Julie Scelfo
Michael Carosone	Annie Rachele Lanzillotto	Sal Scognamillo
Mary Ann Castronovo Fusco	Loretta LaRoche	Lisa Scottoline
Olivia Kate Cerrone	Maria Laurino	Francesa Serritella
Jeff Cicletti	Anna Lawton	J.R. Sharp
Gabriele Corcos	Joseph LoGiudice	Jim Shephard
Wendy Corsi Staub	Susan Lucci	Steven Sorrentino
Andrew Cuomo	Lorraine Mangione, PhD	Jerry Spinelli
Tony Danza	John Marchese	Helene Stapinski
Stefano De Angelis	Angel Marinaccio	Linda Stasi
Anthony DeCurtis	Donna Masini	Gay Talese
Robyn Stein DeLuca	Mike Massimino	Karen Tintori
Nelson DeMille	Maria Mazziotti Gillan	Joseph Tirella
Rachel Guido deVries	Tom Mendicino	Bill Tonelli
Rocco DiSpirito	Roland Merullo	Adriana Trigiani
John Domini	Mario Mignone	Joanna Valente
Dianne Durante	Paul Moses	Richard Vetere
Louisa Ermelino	Liz Mugavero	Dan Yaccarino
Ed Falco	Caroline Nastro	Robert Zweig
Helena Farrell	Rosemary Novellino-Mearns

The annual parade, the largest celebration of Italian-American heritage and culture in the United States, will take place on Monday, October 9, 2017, beginning at 11:00 a.m. As Grand Marshal, Mr. Riggio will lead dozens of marching bands and floats and over 100 marching groups up the Fifth Avenue parade route, from 44^th Street to 72^nd Street. The Columbus Day Parade, organized by the Columbus Citizens Foundation, began in 1929 when New York City businessman and Italian immigrant Generoso Pope led a parade from East Harlem to Columbus Circle.

Also being celebrated during the Columbus Day Parade as 2017 Honorees are Dr. Laura Forese, COO of New York Presbyterian and Thomas Iovino, the founder of Judlau Contracting, Inc.

Event: Columbus Day Parade
Location: Fifth Ave. from 44^th – 72^nd Streets
Date: Monday, October 9, 2017
Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Broadcast: WABC-TV, 12 Noon – 3:00 p.m.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is the world’s largest bookseller, and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The Company operates 632 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s premier e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). The Nook Digital business offers a lineup of popular NOOK^® tablets and eReaders and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store^®. The NOOK Store features more than 4.5 million digital books in the US (www.nook.com), plus periodicals and comics, and offers the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through Free NOOK Reading Apps^™ available for Android^™, iOS^® and Windows^®.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained by visiting the Company's corporate website at www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

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About the Columbus Citizens Foundation
The Columbus Citizens Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement. The Foundation, through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities, provides opportunities for advancement to deserving Italian-American students through various scholarship and grant programs. The Foundation organizes New York City's annual Columbus Celebration and Columbus Day Parade, which has celebrated Italian-American heritage on New York's Fifth Avenue since 1929. For more information, contact [e-mail].