Since leaving her ancestral home in Florence, Italy,
Idanna Pucci pursued her interest in diverse cultures by traveling all over the globe. Various writing assignments for
Asia Magazine enabled her to travel throughout the Indonesian Archipelago, Asia and across the Soviet Union on the last steam engine of the Trans-Siberian railway. During her studies in Comparative Literature at Columbia University, she became intrigued by the ceiling paintings of the Court of Justice in the ancient royal capital of Bali. Her literary quest resulted in the volume
The Epic of Life: A Balinese Journey of the Soul (Little, Brown & Co.). She is also the author of
Brazza in Congo: A Life and Legacy (Umbrage Editions) and
The Lady of Sing Sing (Simon & Schuster). She has given life to award-winning documentaries such as
Black Africa White Marble that sheds light on Central Africa's colonial past and its troubled present; and
Talk Radio Tehran about those women in Iran who fulfill their aspirations in spite of the gender-apartheid system that dominates their lives. She lives with her husband in New York City.
Dr. A.A. Made Djelantik (1919-2007) built a string of small clinics in remote corners of the Indonesian archipelago in the turbulent years following the country's independence. Later, he traveled with the World Health Organization to Somalia, Iraq & Afghanistan. He founded a medical school in Bali, as well as the famed Academy of Dance, and authored
Balinese Painting and
The Birthmark: Memoirs of a Balinese Prince.
