Interview with Thomas A. Tombrello - Caltech Oral Histories

Tombrello–108
grandfather and what he had had to face in coming to this country, and that, just like Vito
Corleone, he got pushed into a position of authority. Because he had to survive. He had a
family. I began to understand that my grandfather had basically one choice, which was to live.
And the question was, What rules are there? How do you survive in this society that doesn’t care
about you at all? One thing in the book that just hit me was the scene where the Don dies. He’s
out there playing in the garden with the little kid, his grandson. I thought, Oh, my God! My
grandfather had retired. He was working down on a river in Alabama, where basically he was
taking care of somebody else’s home and fishing camp. He had a garden there. I remember
being down there as a little kid and going through the garden with him: “Taste this, Tommy.
Taste this. Try this. Try a tomato. Taste this; it’s dill. This is oregano!” I thought, Oh, my
God! Oh, my God! There’s this little kid in this book, and he’s having exactly the same
experience with his retired grandfather, who’s a nice old man in the twilight of his life. Then,
immediately thinking back, Oh, yes, but he wasn’t always like that, he didn’t just get to this nice
retirement.
There was an interesting experience down there at the river. Once, when my uncles were
there, the man who had hired my grandfather said something as if he was kind of disciplining
him for something. I don’t know why my grandfather chose to work for this guy rather than just
buy his own camp—but he did. But my uncles explained—quietly—to the owner of the property
what an honor it was that my grandfather had chosen to live there and take care of his place. I
think there was no more trouble after that. So there were small similarities.
ASPATURIAN: Some resonances for you.
TOMBRELLO: A few resonances. [Laughter]
ASPATURIAN: I wondered if the whole Godfather thing perhaps resulted in some of your
colleagues or people who met you saying, Oh, well—.
TOMBRELLO: Oh, that’s kind of a joke.
ASPATURIAN: Yes, exactly.
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