title: Strange Passages
author:  Tom Di Roma 
description: Spaceman is my nickname; writing is my game. At least, it has been since 1966 when I wrote my first young adult novel about a doomed love affair. Since then, most of my stuff has been short stories and juvenile fiction, with recent dabblings in juvenile books. Presently, I live and work in Southern CA where I'm a writer first and a graphic technician for an advertising agency second.
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  MICHAEL DIBDIN
  
  
  
  
  
  # Ratking
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](images/00001.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  >
  
  
  
  
  
  Agli amici di quel tempo
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # PROLOGUE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ‘Hello?’
  
  
  ‘Hello? Who is it?’
  
  
  ‘Who’s calling?’
  
  
  ‘I want to speak to Senator Rossi.’
  
  
  ‘Speaking.’
  
  
  ‘Ah, it’s you, Senator? Forgive me! These phones make
  
  
  everyone sound like anyone, or rather no one. This is Antonio
  
  
  Crepi.’
  
  
  ‘Commendatore! What a pleasure! Are you here in Rome?’
  
  
  ‘In Rome? God forbid! No no. I’m in Perugia. At home, at
  
  
  the villa. You remember it?’
  
  
  ‘But of course, of course. Of course.’
  
  
  ‘When my eldest boy married.’
  
  
  ‘Exactly. Precisely. An unforgettable occasion. A wonderful couple. How are
  they both?’
  
  
  ‘I don’t see that much of them. Corrado’s moved to Milan
  
  
  and Annalisa’s seeing some footballer, or so they tell me. Our
  
  
  paths don’t cross very often.’
  
  
  ‘Ah, what a shame.’
  
  
  ‘These things happen nowadays! I don’t really give a damn
  
  
  any more. At our age it’s absurd to go on pre