When Joseph Talese was an apprentice tailor in Maida, Italy he made a terrible mistake. His hand slipped and he accidentally cut a slit in the trouser leg of a Eastertide suit being made for the head of a Mafia crime family. Disaster loomed. The proud and vengeful Mafia chieftan might very well exact a terrible price for his disappointment and there was not enough material to craft new pants.

As siesta time approached, the tailor for whom Talese worked closed the shop and ordered his assistants to pray for help with this frightening situation. In due course came inspiration: the tailor cut an indentical slit in the other trouser leg and sewed up both with an elaborate bird-shaped design. When the astonished mafioso tried on his new suit, the tailor explained that wing-tipped knees were th…