I thought I’d reminisce a little on the relatively heavy
book reading schedule I’ve maintained since April 19
last month when I launched my book at the Filipino
American Library in Los Angeles. See pics at Maria
Rochelle’s blog:
http://mariarachelle.blogspot.com/
The FAL reading was memorable for many reasons including:
the wonderful kudos-filled introduction by my cousin
Judge Casimiro Tolentino who recalled meeting me in 1975
when he was a law school intern serving in the federal office
of Asian American Affairs; the attendees’ comments/questions
including Pam Darden – member of the Original Marvelettes -
who told me “thank you for saying something positive about us
Black women”; meeting a BlAsian family whose surname is Santiago
if my recollection is correct; meeting a lady named Brittney who told me
before the reading she really enjoyed my book; FAL administrator
Jonathan Lorenzo who helped me feel more at ease before & during
the reading; and the area where FAL is located which is the Historic
Filipinotown of Los Angeles.
At the invitation of Suzanne Lo of the City College of San Francisco,
I did two readings as part of the campus’s celerbration of Asian Pacific
American Heritage month at the Southeast Campus (May 14) and Ocean
campus (May 6) and a separate reading for Philippine Studies Director
Leo Paz’s Philippine Culture & Society through film on May 14. Yes,
doing back-to-back readings on May 14 – thanks to the #12 Muni
Bus which motored me between the Southeast campus and Ocean
campus – was a bit tedious but well-worth the reactions I received
from each audience not to mention the honorarium and book sales.
So many, many thanks to Jonathan Lorenzo, Prof. Paz, Dean Veronica
Hunnicut, and Suzanne Lo for the invitations to these events and to
Cas for the wonderful introduction at the FAL reading. I also wanted
to thank Mr. Steven Green and his wife Marie and their children for
their moral support at both Ocean campus readings. And most of all,
I wanted to thank my wife Dora Love who graced my May 6 reading
with her presence and charm.
