Jojo Capece

Jojo Capece (full name Marie Josette Capece Minutolo), born September 3, 1941 in New York City, is an author, sculptor and painter. She has led an eventful life, including periods in Istanbul, Reagon-era Washington, D.C., Thatcherite London, Rome and San Francisco. She has published three books, All Roads Lead to Rome (2011), Bella Figura (2013) and Portofino Souvenir (2015), and a screenplay, For Better or Worse.
Biography
Capece was born in Manhattan, the second daughter of three, to attorney, Joseph Capece Minutolo, and Rose D'Andrea, daughter of Mark D'Andrea, bespoke tailors of D'Andrea Brothers, Rockefeller Center. She was introduced to the art of illustrator René Gruau and Alberto Giacometti at an early age. Her paternal grandfather, a concert pianist, also gave her a love of culture and music. Her initial wish to be an actress was forbidden by her mother and she turned her attention to studying art and anatomy at Parsons School of Design. Fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert schooled her in public relations, and a stint working with television led to a position as Public Relations Director of .
In 1986, she divorced, opened a branch office on Bond Street, London, and moved to Chelsea with her children where they were educated at Harrow School, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and University of St Andrews respectively. By 1990, living in the Cotswolds, she began to devote time to writing and art, terminating business pursuits. In 1993 the Holy See granted Capece an annulment from her original marriage.
She lived in the historic center of Rome for a dozen years. Having transported her piano to Rome, she played with a three-piece combo at a theatre on via Veneto in "Evenings with Gershwin". Artistically, she studied with Giovanni Paganin, the futurist sculptor in Milan, Professor Domenico Annichiarico, Academia di Belle Arti, Carrara, and Maestro Massoni in Rome. Schooled traditionally, all work was approached in clay with mythological and allegorical figures that showed emotion. At her atelier in Centro Storico, she developed figurative collections of sculpture and lost wax casting into bronze. Her work in marble was accomplished in Rome. Daniel Besseiche Gallery in France and Higgonet's Galleria del Leone in Venice represented Capece's work and exhibited her sculpture. Keeping a foothold in London for commissions and through the Chelsea Arts Club, London, Capece was a guest artist for life drawing sessions at the Royal Academy of Arts. While in legal proceedings after Shaffer's death, Capece studied at the Heatherley School of Fine Art, London, and wrote Death of a Playwright, detailing the complexities she faced.
In December 2007 Capece returned to America where her children resided. Moving to San Francisco, Capece re-met widower the Honorable Edgar dePue Osgood. Within eight months, Mayor Gavin Newsom married the couple at City Hall. They remarried later in a religious ceremony at Chelsea Old Church, London.
Capece has published three books, All Roads Lead to Rome (2011), Bella Figura (2013) and Portofino Souvenir (2015), and written a screenplay, For Better or Worse. She continues to work on paintings and sculpture commissions. Her artwork was included in a benefit fundraiser for the Italian town of Amatrice, held at the Instituto Culturale Italiano in San Francisco in December 2016.
Literary work
* All Roads Lead to Rome, ISBN 1466282851, published 2011
* Bella Figura, ISBN 1482076616, published 2013
* Portofino Souvenir, ISBN 1518707173, published 2015
* For Better or Worse, screenplay, optioned 2007, Writer's Guild of America
Publications and appearances
* The Omnivore, "Forever 50," July 24, 2014
* "Bay Area Author Turns Love Affair With Italy Into Book", CBS TV Eyewitness News, February 1, 2012
* "Jojo Capece's 'Bella Figura'", Fox Television News, August 20, 2013
Distinctions
* Honorable Seref Uyeligi, 1969 from the Turkish American University
* Member President Reagan's Task Force for the Initiative of Women's Business Ownership, 1984
* American advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Committee, Women Into Business, 1988

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