Elvis' Ray-Ban in New York

Solidarity from Udine to New York: the fundraising tour by Elvis Presley's legendary Ray-Ban continues. Protected by insurance, bullet-proof glass, cctv and sophisticated alarm systems, they've gone around Italy and now, thanks to Vigneti Fantinel's interest and Luxottica's support, they're flying off to New York where they'll be on display for two months.

'Doing good costs so little' said Adriano Mauro, the owner of Optex, Udine's "young people's optician", on accepting to be the first to display the Ray-Ban that once belonged to Elvis Presley, the king of rock'n'roll who died when he was only 42, and arousing the interest of thousands of people, including visitors from Carinthia and Germany.

The initiative begun by Optex gradually caught on and the memento, a Shooter Ray-Ban model, has been to Italy's main cities and will continue its fundraising tour at New York's Barbaluc, the Fruili wine bar/tavern opened by Emanuele Simeoni and partners on 65th Street, Park Avenue.

In tandem with the event, writer Lino Leggio will hold a series of press conferences to present 'Lui non è qui', the book-diary in which he is the protagonist of an adventure that ended in tragedy in the West Germany of '59. An adventurous journey through snow, an accident on a frozen lake, a fortuitous meeting between the adolescent who had set off from his home in Udine with a friend and the rock'n'roll king from Memphis who arrived in his uniform and exchanged a pair of Ray-Ban for the musical score of Santa Lucia, are the essential points in a book that will be the inspiration for a movie of the same name directed by Carlo Mazzacurati.

Luxottica, Fantinel, Adriano Mauro, Emanuele Simeoni and Lino Leggio once more united by the same 'fil rouge' that goes beyond the narration of a legend: the Foundation for the study of Liver Diseases, a no-profit organization based in Trieste, will receive the proceeds from the initiative.