The Family Sassoon

Dev Gualtieri

ISBN: 978-1-942459-12-5

Author’s Forward

Parents take great care in naming their children. In an earlier age, people thought that a child's name presaged his/her life. The belief was codified in the Latin adage, nomen est omen (The name is a sign).

In the later 20th century, this was expressed in the idea of nominative determinism, the idea that people seem to be unconsciously attracted to work and hobbies that fit their names. This is the converse of the early principle of naming people for their occupation, such as a blacksmith being named Smith. A name might also represent a noble principle, such as naming a girl, Grace.

The sixty-nine examples of members of the Sassoon family in this book illustrate the principle of nominative determinism taken to an extreme.

Illustrations were created using appropriately licensed AI models locally hosted on a Linux computer. The AI illustrations were reworked using the GNU Image Manipulation Program.

Each page contains a definition of the key word derived from the open access Wiktionary. The book is designed as a vocabulary aid for young children in which parents will read from the text and amplify the word meaning from the contained definition while a child enjoys the images.

Afternoon Sassoon

Afternoon Sassoon works as a television weather girl. Her work day starts early in the morning, but it ends after the News at Noon. She delights in having long afternoons to relax before a very early bedtime.

Noon is a word derived from the Middle English word for the ninth hour when there were fewer than twenty-four hours in a day.

baboon Sassoon

Baboon Sassoon was a very early member of the Sassoon family tree. He’s thought to be the reason for the Sassoon family’s love of bananas.

Baboons are large, terrestrial monkeys with rough fur.

buffoon Sassoon

Buffoon Sassoon was the class clown. He didn’t learn much in school, so he joined a circus.

A buffoon is someone who does silly or ridiculous things. Professionally, a clown, but otherwise a fool.

doubloon Sassoon

Doubloon Sassoon lived when pirates ruled the seas. His pirate crew would rob from the rich to give to the poor. Fortunately, the pirates were among the poor.

A doubloon is a gold coin of Spanish origin, popularly associated with pirates and the Spanish colonies of the Americas. Also associated with pirates were pieces of eight, large silver coins used as the early Spanish dollar.

goon Sassoon

Goon Sassoon didn’t like to study, and he dropped out of school as soon as he could. The only work he could find was as a muscle man for the local mobster kingpin.

A goon is a muscular criminal henchman with little intelligence.

jejune Sassoon

Jejune Sassoon was never interested in anything. She would seldom play with any toy for too long a time, and she spent most of her time in bed reading blank books.

Someone who is dull, naive, or simplistic, is jejune.

maroon Sassoon

Maroon Sassoon was shipwrecked near a deserted island with a group of friends. The weather is nice, but he yearns for an Internet connection.

To be marooned is to be a castaway, someone cast adrift on water or on a deserted shore.

neptune Sassoon

Neptune Sassoon was a member of a distant, and now extinct, part of the Sassoon family tree. During his time, living underwater was preferable to living on dry land.

Neptune was the Roman god of the ocean and of earthquakes. He is usually represented as carrying a trident (three-toothed) spear.

picayune Sassoon

Picayune Sassoon was always concerned about the little imperfections that no one else noted. She became a quality control expert for a company that makes computer chips.

If something is picayune, it's small and of little importance.

rune Sassoon

Rune Sassoon became interested in archaeology after finding a stone arrowhead while digging in her parent’s backyard. After much study, she now directs studies of the ruins of ancient civilizations.

A rune is a letter or mark used as a mystical or magic symbol.

spittoon Sassoon

Spittoon Sassoon is a professional beer taster. The only way he can stay sober during tasting is to spit out each small sip of beer before going on to the next.

A spittoon is a fortunately uncommon receptacle for spit used in the past by people chewing tobacco, but presently used by tasters of liquid foods such as coffee, wine, and other alcoholic beverages, such as beer.

tycoon Sassoon

Tycoon Sassoon parlayed his business education and MBA into a successful career on Wall Street. His subsequent profession as a venture capitalist gave him a large fortune.

A tycoon is a wealthy and powerful business person. Tycoons are also called captains of industry and moguls.

typhoon Sassoon

Typhoon Sassoon is the type of sailor you would want in a storm. He’s handy with the ropes that control the ship’s sails, and he makes special effort to keep the ship’s crew and passengers safe.

A typhoon is the northwestern Pacific Ocean equivalent of a hurricane or a cyclone. Typhoons have wind speeds of 75 miles per hour and above.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dev Gualtieri received his PhD in 1974 and had a thirty-five year research career in physics and materials science.

He is listed as an inventor on thirty-six US patents, and on numerous international patents. His research interests included superconductivity, chemical thermodynamics, magnetism, optics, electronics and computer science. He was an internationally recognized expert in crystal growth.

Dr. Gualtieri is now retired, and he resides in Northern New Jersey with his wife, Anne. They have a son and daughter who reside with their families in Pennsylvania.