Massimo Pigliucci

So I always wanted to move back into that area.

And that is problematic for somebody who is a full professor with tenure because there are very few positions available, especially in the East Coast, because everybody wants to go there.

And typically universities hire junior faculty, not senior professionals.

So that was a problem.

So my father had been hit by multiple types of cancer.

He was a big smoker.

So at that point, my mother, his ex-wife, made a comment.

She said, l'erba cattiva non more mai, which is Italian for the bad weeds never die.

She meant it as a joke, but it was, you know.

And then all of a sudden things took a turn for the worse and it killed him in a matter of weeks.

In fact, it was so fast that I did not have the time to really do anything.

You know, I was on my way, literally on my way to the airport to get on the plane to get to Rome and go see him.

And my brother called me saying, you know, dad just died.

I literally broke down crying on the highway.

I had to pull over.

So I was able to get to his funeral, but not being there in the last few moments.

So at this point, picture this.

In a span of a few months, I got hit with this news that apparently I'm going to be divorced.

My father dies.

And in the meantime, of course, I had accepted the position at Stony Brook, which meant that I had a new job.