Pietro diDonato; Wrote Best-Selling ‘Christ in Concrete’

Pietro diDonato, 80, a novelist whose “Christ in Concrete” was a best-seller in 1939. DiDonato was born in West Hoboken, N.J., to Italian immigrants. His father, a bricklayer, died in a building collapse when DiDonato was 12. “Christ in Concrete” was an autobiographical novel that described how he left grammar school after his father’s death and went to work in construction. It was made into a film with Italian star Lea Padovani in 1948. His other works included “Mother Cabrini, Immigrant Saint,” “This Woman,” “The Penitent” and “Three Circles of Light.” In Stony Brook, N.Y., on Sunday of bone cancer.