Antonio Raffaele Placanica

ANTONIO R. PLACANICA Nov 12, 1932-July 31, 2024 Antonio Raffaele Placanica died peacefully on July 31st in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the age of 91. He confronted death as he confronted life: with acceptance but not apology, with understanding but not sentiment. He was a person of complexity and contradiction. He loved and was loved by many, yet could be dismissive of people and activities that didn’t appeal to him. He was curious about many subjects and single-minded in his opinions. He could be acerbic and utterly charming, often in the same sentence. To those who knew him well, he was and will remain an unforgettable part of their lives. Antonio was born Anthony Ralph Blasting on November 12, 1932, in Herkimer, New York. His parents were Anthony F. Blasting and Lucy Shevat Blasting. He had one sibling, his brother Ralph, who died November 5, 2021. After retiring from his career as a schoolteacher, he began intensive genealogical research on his family: Placanica/Gimigliano on his father’s side and Scivetti/Depalo on his mother’s. He traveled regularly to Puglia and Calabria, and in 1997 he changed his name to Antonio Raffaele Placanica. He was especially known and loved in Giovinazzo, the seaside town in Puglia where his mother had been born in 1907. He made many friends there as he enjoyed his cafe macchiato in the morning, a Campari in the afternoon, and fresh octopus salad at the end of the day. Antonio’s multi-faceted life took him to the monastery, the military, and middle school. He left home at the age of 13 to study first for the priesthood and then to become a Franciscan friar. He abandoned his seminary studies for both health and philosophical reasons, returning home briefly to work in one of Herkimer’s furniture factories. In 1952 he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed as a radio operator in the Marshall Islands. Thanks to the GI Bill, in 1956-57 he attended Siena College in Loudonville, New York and then transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, majoring in German. He completed a teaching certificate and began a career teaching German, English, and Social Studies at Franklin Junior High in the Wayne-Westland School District. For over 20 years he had a profound and positive influence on many young people because he truly cared about expanding their horizons. He enjoyed his students and made life-long friends among his teaching colleagues. He was less enamored of administrators. “Those who can’t teach,” he was fond of saying, “become principals.” Although he was a committed teacher, he did not hesitate to retire at the age of 54 so that he could enjoy an unrestricted life. He spent the next 30 years traveling as often as possible to Italy and Germany, sometimes in the company of friends but often alone and for weeks at a time. With his distinguished beard, stylish clothes, and broad knowledge of culture and history, he was often taken to be a professor or freelance intellectual—and he could hold his own in any conversation. Antonio spent 45 years of his life with his partner, Norman D. Cramer. They were men who preferred to keep their private life private, less for reasons of public propriety than their own sense of decorum. They did not hide or apologize for their lifestyle, nor did they feel the need to display it. Although Antonio was in many ways fiercely independent, his life was undeniably diminished after Norman’s passing in 2007. The man that Antonio became was of his own making. Born into the working-class immigrant society of central New York State, he became a lover of art, dance, opera, history, languages and literature. His critical framework was simple but consistent: “If it’s popular, it can’t be any good.” He chose his friends carefully and relished an evening of good food and conversation. He avoided crowds, games, and anything that might be called “entertainment.” He declared himself not very sociable but managed to charm almost anyone he met. Despite his best efforts at misanthropy, he was warm, witty, loving, and compassionate. Antonio’s generous heart and open spirit made the day a little better for the people he met, and changed some of our lives forever. "In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Academy of Early Music at academyofearlymusic.org" To share a memory, please use the Share a Memory tab on this web page.

Antonio Raffaele Placanica

November 12, 1932 - July 31, 2024