In “The Gift Best Given,” Edward Di Gangi Pieces Together the Extraordinary Life of His Birth Mother, Genevieve

In this episode 178, we visit with Edward Di Gangi, author of The Gift Best Given, a moving and extraordinary memoir about the three-year genealogical search for his origins that began in a New Jersey cemetery, and the life of an extraordinary woman—his birth mother.

Genevieve Knorowski left home at the age of seventeen in the midst of World War II to join an ice-skating troupe, and embarked on a five-year journey across the US as she rose to fame. And then life intervened and she had to make a decision on an Easter Sunday in New York City that will forever connect the story of a woman pursuing her dreams with the life of a man searching for answers.

Edward Di Gangi’s heart is in this story in more ways than one. His heart beat fast when he committed to the path to find answers to his past and when he made one discovery after another, his heart became more full for the love of a mother who had the courage and grace to give him life and lead him to relatives he never knew he had.

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About the Author:

Edward Di Gangi is a retired customer service executive and author of The Gift Best Given: A Memoir. Adopted at birth in 1948, it wasn’t until he approached his seventieth birthday that Edward began to piece together the story of his adoption. He documented his three-year search and the discoveries he made, which became the base for his memoir.

An often-injured triathlete, Ed walks seven miles daily, is an inveterate podcast listener, and short story writer. His passion for fly fishing has taken Ed from the mountain streams of Western Pennsylvania to the rivers of the West, and to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. In a past life, while living in New York City, he raised and showed Appaloosa horses.

A native of New York City, Ed and his wife, Linda, lived in Houston, TX and Pittsburg, PA before settling in Hillsborough, NC, close to his son, James.

Podcast Appearances

Who Am I Really?, a podcast that tells the stories of adoptees.

Everything’s Relative, a podcast exploring the modern landscape of DNA testing.

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