COMMUNITY PROFILE
Valuable advice from Roman emperor
St. Vincent teacher John Piazza co-authors new book on Marcus Aurelius
Published: Thursday, Feb 14, 2008
By DAN JOHNSON
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF
Terry Hankins
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AT A GLANCE
Name: John Piazza
Occupation: Biblical Scripture and Latin teacher at St. Vincent de Paul High School since the fall of 2006, and author
Hometown: San Francisco
Family: His father, Tom Piazza, is a senior survey statistician and lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, while his mother, Mary Crosby, is a professor of education at Dominican University in San Rafael. John lives with his wife, Lyla Messinese, and newborn daughter, Amelia.
Outside interests: Bicycling and photography.
Quote: “At the time Marcus Aurelius lived, philosophers didn’t just think about things — they lived in a certain way. They led a contemplative, almost monastic life. Studying Marcus has reinforced for me the notion that philosophy and ethics are as much about practice as thought. People can have a Ph.D. in swimming, but unless they know how to swim, they’ll drown if they are thrown in the water.”
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As a first-time father, St. Vincent de Paul High School teacher John Piazza faces plenty of new challenges, but he is finding that an emperor of ancient Rome is helping him through the process.
“In his ‘Meditations,’ Marcus Aurelius emphasizes that we cannot control many things, but that we always can control the way we respond to circumstances,” Piazza said. “Marcus constantly reminds himself and his readers to examine our reactions to whatever happens in life.
“Being a parent gives me a lot of opportunity to put Marcus’ philosophy to work. Parenting is a huge challenge, with many stresses and a lot of pressure, and I hope that I can continue to remind myself of his advice.”
Piazza, who teaches Biblical Scripture and Latin at St. Vincent, also is a Greek scholar, and last month, a book that he co-authored with prominent philosopher Jacob Needleman, “The Essential Marcus Aurelius,” was published by Tarcher-Penguin as part of its Cornerstone series on major philosophers. The book consists of a translation of some of the most significant passages in Marcus’ “Meditations,” as well as commentary on his work.
After receiving a B.A. in philosophy and religion from San Francisco State University in 1999, Piazza began working on an M.A. in the university’s classics department. While co-teaching a class with Needleman in 2000, they found that translations of Marcus’ writings were wanting.
“The most popular translations were pretty old,” Piazza said. “Some of them are excellent, but not accessible to young readers. More modern translations have been directed at very specific audiences. Basically, they are self-help books for CEOs, or intended for graduate students in classics and philosophy or for a New Age audience.
“In the translations we used, the power of Marcus’ words wasn’t coming through to students, and we found that we had to explain the translations. I found myself going back to the original Greek versions to do translations, and eventually we began giving handouts of them to students.”
Needleman showed a copy of the translations to his editor, Mitch Horowitz, who was impressed by it and decided to include an expanded version in the Cornerstone series. The book was published on Jan. 10, and the authors will appear at a signing at Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma on March 13.
While the past 18 months have brought a flurry of activity in Piazza’s life, he has felt surrounded by support.
“I feel fortunate that my family, colleagues and the entire community at St. Vincent have been very supportive,” he said.
(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)
