American reporter writes book on Maltese in Detroit

Diane Gale Andreassi, a reporter for the South Lyon Herald, has published 'Maltese in Detroit', a book documenting the emigration of Maltese, to the US city known for its automobile industry.

Detroit is in fact home to one of the largest Maltese communities outside outside the country,.

Published by Arcadia Publishing in the Images of America series, the book is filled with pictures of early immigrants and introduces readers to settlers and current residents.

Pictures of Most Holy Trinity in Detroit and the Maltese clubs in Dearborn and Detroit offer a flavour of life among the Maltese today.

From 35,000-70,000 people of Maltese heritage live in the United States and the Detroit area has the largest concentration. In fact, it is one of the largest Maltese populations in the world outside the Mediterranean.

"The response to the book has been overwhelming,'' said Andreassi, who was born in Detroit of parents who left their homeland to settle in the large Maltese-populated Corktown neighbourhood of Detroit. "It was wonderful to meet so many Maltese people and to learn about the pride they have in their heritage,''

The book illustrates the importance of the Roman Catholic church in Malta and among the Maltese immigrants in their new land. It introduces readers to the Maltese priests who were among the notable people who welcomed and helped acclimate the others as they arrived.

It took a year to assemble Maltese in Detroit, but it was a labour of love for Andreassi, who graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a double major in economics and English.

She started her career in journalism at the Dearborn Heights Leader and the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers as a reporter and a lifestyles editor before taking a leave to raise a family.

Andreassi has worked on countless free-lance stories for a number of publications, including Gale Research, working on encyclopedia entries, one of which was about Malta and its people.

She was active in Livonia's St. Colette religious education program for more than 10 years and worked as a substitute teacher and volunteer in Livonia Public Schools. Andreassi is an avid reader of books and newsprint of all kinds.