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Subject: Los Matachines de La Ladrillera

Author: Felix Alfonso Pe~na

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 21:41:18 02/05/03 Wed Author Host/IP: tayhou-217-19.ev1.net/207.218.217.19 I met Pedro Vigil Jr., en barrio La Ladrillera. I believe. Did he play the bajo sexto? I also met the Ortiz family (Pete had a gas station), and the Castillos (the elder was very old, his son was a violinist who used crutches or a wheelchair because of a lifelong battle with arthritis). I also remember a man named Palafox. Norma Cantú, at UTSA, did a history of the Matachines, too, and I believe I still have my original work somewhere, if you would like a copy. If you send me your snail mail address, I will forward you a copy of my play, "Matachín Dancer," which won the Chicano Literary Award for drama back in the 80s. As for your question about writing a book, the notion that poor people have lots of fun -- honest, good fun, without hurting anybody -- seems alien to many people, especially middle-class gringos. A friend of mine took pictures in a small Mexican town across from Big Bend, and one was of two kids playing with a hose, taking abath in a barrel sitting in their back yard -- puro barro y mesquite, nada de zacate. When he showed those pictures at the university where I worked, the white people saw the poverty, I saw the kids having fun. The photographer settled it: "Yes, they were having a lot of fun." At the heart of any book is a great change. Tension drives the reader to continue reading, to see the problems resolved. The reader wants the fun to continue, or the suffering to end. I don't know what book lurks inside you, but that is what keeps readers reading. As an author, you need a clear point of view, and huevos. Otherwise, it's boring. sinceramente, Félix Alfonso Peña Editor, Hola Berks Reading Eagle Company PO Box 582 Reading, PA 19603-0582 [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Central School	Tony Martinez	19:45:18 10/04/04 Mon