BOCAMI – To tell you the truth, it is a company whose name comes from the abbreviation of the Italian word which means “The clearing of mine fields” (BOnifica CAmpi MInati in Italian). The author has been working for the Bocami for 25 years. Their head office is in Genoa. It is a company which specialises in clearing mine fields and disposing of bombs both on land and under water, so it needs to employ divers. Bocami has done a lot of important work, not only in Italy, but also abroad; for example, in the Suez Canal, in the Libyan Desert (this is why Menconi didn’t want to talk to Uri Geller!) and many other places around the world. If you have mines, howitzers, unexploded aeroplane bombs, bombs of any kind buried in your garden, phone Bocami. They will clear them for you. It was founded immediately after the war, and over many years it has saved people from many embarrassing situations... and always without losing a man. They are very proud of this fact. They also have an office in Milan because it seems that it is becoming an explosive City!
GIORGIO BRIGIDI – He takes the author and the Prof to the airport by a jeep. He is not the official Bocami driver, but the nephew of the owner; he had it explained to him that he had to make himself useful, by driving or going to the Chamber of Commerce to get a document.
THE PROF - His scientific contributions are innumerable. He is a man who has been all over the world, and he is often called to meetings in America and elsewhere. He is full of humour, full of knowledge and always very thirsty.
PAOLO SIRONI, AMBROGIO FOGAR – They are too well known, the readers know who they are; they often speak about their adventures because after all, it is their job.
MAIORCA AND HIS FAMILY - They truly are the only ones about which the author has nothing bad to say. Maiorca is our best diver. The family is great. His daughters can dance very well, they are smart and pretty. The author unconditionally admires them all, but especially Maiorca, who he defines as "a great sportsman". From a Tuscan man you cannot expect anything more or anything better.
ENGENEER BIAGINI, LAWYER BERTI, Mr. TIRELLI - All three are very kind; together with Fogar they organized the MIZAR expedition. Tirelli is also a very good host.
SEAQUARIUM – The Sea aquarium is in Miami. The author doesn't like it very much, and thinks the dolphins are stupid. Besides, the sun is so strong that it can drive you crazy, particularly if you are not able to find a shop where you can buy a hat.
CAMILLI – As a Doctor he should take care of others, but he too suffers from seasickness. When we were still in Milan, a Fortune Teller told him that he would have an accident. He was really afraid of the Triangle, but behaved very bravely.
MOSSATICH - Professor of physics and the official photographer for the expedition. He does a lot of things but never takes a photo. He can swim very well and the author never feared for his life during an adventurous crossing.
GIANNI MANGIALI - He is the underwater photographer of the expedition.
URI GELLER - They say he was a diver in the Israeli army. But he walks on the boat in a pair of flippers! He is able to bend teaspoons with parapsychology and asks the author for information which he doesn't want to give, even if under his parapsychological powers. The Prof tells him nothing either.
MALINVERNI – He too is part of the group. He manages to cook whatever he finds on the boat. He has plenty of imagination, but at times he loses some provisions (especially when those who go away leave behind just tooth pikes and paper napkins).
KUK - They hired him and his boat. He is the Captain, but the author wonders if he should have chosen another job because with his patience he could have been a monk. Maybe he didn’t follow this vocation because he has a beautiful, dark haired Cuban wife. Besides monks don't have cars as huge as trains. He lives in Miami, but he drives from Miami to Bimini and from Bimini to Miami; if you want to hire him go to the harbour.
BOTTLE SENSOR – A very fragile and complicated instrument used for signalling the presence of strange materials and anomalies. It is full of electric cables, all encased in rubber, and it is made of an amorphous fibre which doesn’t reflect anything. But Maiorca sees it shine and gets angry when they tell him that it is not possible. The mysteries of the Wall!
TOBRUK - In that bay the author, on behalf of Bocami, did some bomb disposal work in which Geller is interested. But the author believes that he really wants to know more, and therefore he doesn’t tell him anything!
HEMINGWAY – Yes, the writer; he had been living for a long time in Bimini, the island on which he wrote “Islands in the Stream”. He used to live in a pub and drank Bacardi all day long. Well known and loved on the island. They want to sell a field that belonged to him. Anybody who wants it is welcome.
NEMBO KID - He is the shark hunter, a strong American man 6 feet tall, employed to keep these nice little creatures away from the divers. He looks strange. He will take the group to see the “wreck of the statue of Liberty”, thinking it is an antique. It obviously is not his fault; he doesn't even know what Palazzo Pitti is!
THE TROUPE - They are the filmmakers who follow the MIZAR expedition; they are everywhere and are a real nuisance, but we have to tolerate them. The only hope is that they include certain scenes in which the "great men" make fools of themselves; it would make a very funny documentary.
WHALE – You can find a real whale in this book.
DIMITRI ROBIKOFF - Russian, he arrives with his yacht. He invented a “pig” that is worse than those you can see at the fair of the sea in Genoa. His wife speaks Italian but she is always angry.
Also the son of the Robikoffs climbs on the pig. But it is a funny scene to look at: Italians might teach him how to use it.
THE BLONDE - Everybody photographed her in her bikini when they were in Bimini. Nobody knows who she is, but sometimes the name is not important. They won’t forget her.
DIRECTOR – We don’t known if he is a relative of the lawyer; it is he however who directs the troupe.
FRIEND OF THE KUK – He is the Captain in Bimini to whom Kuk leaves the boat on the way home. He seems quiet, but He takes a pretty girl on board and engages the autopilot. He tows friends in difficulty. He passes more time with the girl than with the passengers. He is not wrong.
ZENESE – A Genoese man who married an American woman. He is friendly but won’t stop talking... besides he wants to know something about old Genoa, so the author tells him that everything had been demolished and rebuilt. Even the road where the Zenese was born doesn’t exist anymore...
SAMANTHA - Says "Italianos muchos sentimental" and she reads palms.
MARIO CHIGIOTTI – A geometer. He is the “fat boss”. He was in Marconi’s Engineers Corps during the Second World War, at first with the 7th Engineers, and then with the 2nd Regiment of Engineers. He was awarded lots of medals for work "in the field" and always managed to get safely out of danger, thanks usually to his unbelievable luck. He mined eighteen bridges and then, after September 8th, he had to de-mine them. Later he had been the leader of a special team that had to de-mine a route north. He doesn't sleep a quietly unless he has at least one mine under his bed. He was in Bologna with his men in April '45; when war was over, he tried to become a geometer, but the "call of the wild" was too strong, and he worked in mine disposal again. He was hired by BOCAMI, and now he is the manager, many of “his men” followed him to the company.
The BOCAMI Company he manages can boast that they have never having lost a man in this very dangerous work. This is due to Chigiotti, who remembers very well his men who died during the war. He took a lot of risks, but he is still the first to go into the water when there are big problems. For this reason his men call him "the fatty", but with affection. He deserves it.
MARANTE, MUNARI, COMPAGNIN, BERNARDI, and BRIGIDI: Colleagues and friends of Menconi, whom the author doesn’t speak about in the book, but who are there and would also be able to write some interesting tales. Especially Marante, who was involved in de-mining the Suez Canal; he managed to make himself understood by the Egyptians by speaking in Genoese dialect! When Menconi was writing this book they called him "Giacomo Leopardi, Curzio Malaparte, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo"... partly to show that they all are well educated and partly because they were envious; but actually, while Menconi was having a good time in the Triangle with the Prof, they were de-mining and working hard on behalf of BOCAMI around the world. They thought that, by calling Menconi with those famous names, he, being a Tuscan, would get angry.
LUIGI FERRARO - He is the one who reluctantly wrote the preface; actually, he may have preferred to write a book himself. He has a lot of things to say. He is the one who has the longest curriculum; so, because everybody knows who he is, there is no point in saying it here.
MRS CAMILLI AND TIRELLI - They wait for their husbands to come back to Malpensa airport. Mrs Camilli is worried because she remembers what the fortune teller had said. Well, he made it! Mrs Tirelli takes the author and the Prof to the Bocami office by car. She is very kind.
GIANCARLO MENCONI - The author. A Tuscan man. He’s been working for Bocami for 25 years. He is a bomb disposal expert; he makes safe those bombs which were dropped by the planes. He is tall, thin, with blue eyes. He is from Tuscany but lives in Pegli, in Liguria. He has a marvellous family. He is not a very talkative man, so heaven knows how he managed to say so many things in a book. He can also paint, and is good at it. But he doesn't boast.
He is a Tuscan man. Like Curzio Malaparte. Damned (Tuscans). He doesn't like to spend his money because he appreciates how it is earned.
If he was born again, he wants to come back as a shell, in Bimini. Goodbye.
GIORGIO BRIGIDI – He takes the author and the Prof to the airport by a jeep. He is not the official Bocami driver, but the nephew of the owner; he had it explained to him that he had to make himself useful, by driving or going to the Chamber of Commerce to get a document.
THE PROF - His scientific contributions are innumerable. He is a man who has been all over the world, and he is often called to meetings in America and elsewhere. He is full of humour, full of knowledge and always very thirsty.
PAOLO SIRONI, AMBROGIO FOGAR – They are too well known, the readers know who they are; they often speak about their adventures because after all, it is their job.
MAIORCA AND HIS FAMILY - They truly are the only ones about which the author has nothing bad to say. Maiorca is our best diver. The family is great. His daughters can dance very well, they are smart and pretty. The author unconditionally admires them all, but especially Maiorca, who he defines as "a great sportsman". From a Tuscan man you cannot expect anything more or anything better.
ENGENEER BIAGINI, LAWYER BERTI, Mr. TIRELLI - All three are very kind; together with Fogar they organized the MIZAR expedition. Tirelli is also a very good host.
SEAQUARIUM – The Sea aquarium is in Miami. The author doesn't like it very much, and thinks the dolphins are stupid. Besides, the sun is so strong that it can drive you crazy, particularly if you are not able to find a shop where you can buy a hat.
CAMILLI – As a Doctor he should take care of others, but he too suffers from seasickness. When we were still in Milan, a Fortune Teller told him that he would have an accident. He was really afraid of the Triangle, but behaved very bravely.
MOSSATICH - Professor of physics and the official photographer for the expedition. He does a lot of things but never takes a photo. He can swim very well and the author never feared for his life during an adventurous crossing.
GIANNI MANGIALI - He is the underwater photographer of the expedition.
URI GELLER - They say he was a diver in the Israeli army. But he walks on the boat in a pair of flippers! He is able to bend teaspoons with parapsychology and asks the author for information which he doesn't want to give, even if under his parapsychological powers. The Prof tells him nothing either.
MALINVERNI – He too is part of the group. He manages to cook whatever he finds on the boat. He has plenty of imagination, but at times he loses some provisions (especially when those who go away leave behind just tooth pikes and paper napkins).
KUK - They hired him and his boat. He is the Captain, but the author wonders if he should have chosen another job because with his patience he could have been a monk. Maybe he didn’t follow this vocation because he has a beautiful, dark haired Cuban wife. Besides monks don't have cars as huge as trains. He lives in Miami, but he drives from Miami to Bimini and from Bimini to Miami; if you want to hire him go to the harbour.
BOTTLE SENSOR – A very fragile and complicated instrument used for signalling the presence of strange materials and anomalies. It is full of electric cables, all encased in rubber, and it is made of an amorphous fibre which doesn’t reflect anything. But Maiorca sees it shine and gets angry when they tell him that it is not possible. The mysteries of the Wall!
TOBRUK - In that bay the author, on behalf of Bocami, did some bomb disposal work in which Geller is interested. But the author believes that he really wants to know more, and therefore he doesn’t tell him anything!
HEMINGWAY – Yes, the writer; he had been living for a long time in Bimini, the island on which he wrote “Islands in the Stream”. He used to live in a pub and drank Bacardi all day long. Well known and loved on the island. They want to sell a field that belonged to him. Anybody who wants it is welcome.
NEMBO KID - He is the shark hunter, a strong American man 6 feet tall, employed to keep these nice little creatures away from the divers. He looks strange. He will take the group to see the “wreck of the statue of Liberty”, thinking it is an antique. It obviously is not his fault; he doesn't even know what Palazzo Pitti is!
THE TROUPE - They are the filmmakers who follow the MIZAR expedition; they are everywhere and are a real nuisance, but we have to tolerate them. The only hope is that they include certain scenes in which the "great men" make fools of themselves; it would make a very funny documentary.
WHALE – You can find a real whale in this book.
DIMITRI ROBIKOFF - Russian, he arrives with his yacht. He invented a “pig” that is worse than those you can see at the fair of the sea in Genoa. His wife speaks Italian but she is always angry.
Also the son of the Robikoffs climbs on the pig. But it is a funny scene to look at: Italians might teach him how to use it.
THE BLONDE - Everybody photographed her in her bikini when they were in Bimini. Nobody knows who she is, but sometimes the name is not important. They won’t forget her.
DIRECTOR – We don’t known if he is a relative of the lawyer; it is he however who directs the troupe.
FRIEND OF THE KUK – He is the Captain in Bimini to whom Kuk leaves the boat on the way home. He seems quiet, but He takes a pretty girl on board and engages the autopilot. He tows friends in difficulty. He passes more time with the girl than with the passengers. He is not wrong.
ZENESE – A Genoese man who married an American woman. He is friendly but won’t stop talking... besides he wants to know something about old Genoa, so the author tells him that everything had been demolished and rebuilt. Even the road where the Zenese was born doesn’t exist anymore...
SAMANTHA - Says "Italianos muchos sentimental" and she reads palms.
MARIO CHIGIOTTI – A geometer. He is the “fat boss”. He was in Marconi’s Engineers Corps during the Second World War, at first with the 7th Engineers, and then with the 2nd Regiment of Engineers. He was awarded lots of medals for work "in the field" and always managed to get safely out of danger, thanks usually to his unbelievable luck. He mined eighteen bridges and then, after September 8th, he had to de-mine them. Later he had been the leader of a special team that had to de-mine a route north. He doesn't sleep a quietly unless he has at least one mine under his bed. He was in Bologna with his men in April '45; when war was over, he tried to become a geometer, but the "call of the wild" was too strong, and he worked in mine disposal again. He was hired by BOCAMI, and now he is the manager, many of “his men” followed him to the company.
The BOCAMI Company he manages can boast that they have never having lost a man in this very dangerous work. This is due to Chigiotti, who remembers very well his men who died during the war. He took a lot of risks, but he is still the first to go into the water when there are big problems. For this reason his men call him "the fatty", but with affection. He deserves it.
MARANTE, MUNARI, COMPAGNIN, BERNARDI, and BRIGIDI: Colleagues and friends of Menconi, whom the author doesn’t speak about in the book, but who are there and would also be able to write some interesting tales. Especially Marante, who was involved in de-mining the Suez Canal; he managed to make himself understood by the Egyptians by speaking in Genoese dialect! When Menconi was writing this book they called him "Giacomo Leopardi, Curzio Malaparte, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo"... partly to show that they all are well educated and partly because they were envious; but actually, while Menconi was having a good time in the Triangle with the Prof, they were de-mining and working hard on behalf of BOCAMI around the world. They thought that, by calling Menconi with those famous names, he, being a Tuscan, would get angry.
LUIGI FERRARO - He is the one who reluctantly wrote the preface; actually, he may have preferred to write a book himself. He has a lot of things to say. He is the one who has the longest curriculum; so, because everybody knows who he is, there is no point in saying it here.
MRS CAMILLI AND TIRELLI - They wait for their husbands to come back to Malpensa airport. Mrs Camilli is worried because she remembers what the fortune teller had said. Well, he made it! Mrs Tirelli takes the author and the Prof to the Bocami office by car. She is very kind.
GIANCARLO MENCONI - The author. A Tuscan man. He’s been working for Bocami for 25 years. He is a bomb disposal expert; he makes safe those bombs which were dropped by the planes. He is tall, thin, with blue eyes. He is from Tuscany but lives in Pegli, in Liguria. He has a marvellous family. He is not a very talkative man, so heaven knows how he managed to say so many things in a book. He can also paint, and is good at it. But he doesn't boast.
He is a Tuscan man. Like Curzio Malaparte. Damned (Tuscans). He doesn't like to spend his money because he appreciates how it is earned.
If he was born again, he wants to come back as a shell, in Bimini. Goodbye.
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