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AND OTHER CAMPS AND TEMPORARY SHELTERS IN THE MIAMI-DADE AREA OPERATING FROM 1960 TO APPROXIMATELY 1965

This is a bilingual website to re-unite the grown children of "Operation Pedro Pan"; those 15,000+ Cuban children who arrived in the US between December of 1960 and October of 1962 with Visa waivers in the Unaccompanied Children's Program fostered by the Catholic Social Service Bureau and the US Government; whether passing through Camp Matecumbe or any other temporary centers such as the ones in Florida City, Kendall, Opa-Locka, St. Raphael's, Whitehall, Casa Ferré, Casa Carrión, etc., or went directly with family or to foster homes. The people most responsible for the success of this program were father (now Monsignor) Bryan Oliver Walsh in Miami; James Baker, director of the Ruston Academy in Havana, (both of whom coincidentally passed away in 2001); Amador Odio and Sara (del Toro) Odio, [who sent 4 children as well, in April of 1962, 3 of them under 10 years of age!] and Ramón (1922 - 1997) and Polita Grau in the secret hiding of their home across from the police station (condemned to 30 years, Ramón was let out in 1986); but many others risked their livelihoods  and even their lives to cooperate with the largest exodus of children in the history of the western hemisphere.

NOTE: Ramon's daughter Pilar was in my Spanish Literature class at Broward Junior College in 1968, but she was an admirer of Fidel and even wrote about it! 
The famous Cuban heroic pilot Pedro Díaz Lanz's sister Ester was with me at Florida Atlantic University in 1971 and was very insistent on opening trade with China when dingbat Nixon wanted it! 
Some people never learn. - Manny Gutiérrez, Editor and publisher of this website.

For a thorough and detailed story of our origins, the names of our benefactors, the efforts of our protectors and the most minute happenings, please read the writings of Agustin Blazquez, read YVONNE CONDE's "Operation Pedro Pan" for personal stories and find pedropan authors in the list of published authors below who wrote about their personal experiences; CARLOS EIRE, SEBASTIÁN ALMAZÁN, JUAN ANTONIO DORA, ALDO MARTÍNEZ, MEL MARTÍNEZ, JOSÉ IGNACIO RAMÍREZ, MARY LOU TRIAS, ET AL.

It is my sincere belief that every grown 'pedropan' kid is a book!

THIS WEBSITE IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE AND GRATEFULNESS TO THE MEMORY OF OUR FATHER IN EXILE, MONSIGNOR BRYAN O. WALSH (1930-2001), OUR BELOVED FATHER WALSH, WITHOUT WHOSE COURAGE AND LOVE WE MIGHT HAVE NEVER BEEN SAVED FROM THE SLAVERY OF COMMUNISM IN OUR FATHERLAND.

This website is non-political in nature and is not meant to advice anyone regarding a particular candidate, either in the local level or in the presidential race, although it may post articles of public interest regarding subjects that affect the Cuban community in its monthly newsletter - which DOES have political advice! - and specially as it involves grown children of Operation Pedro Pan. It is also a forum for responsible members' articles, prose or poetry that they may wish to share with others via the Newsletter or the Literary section.

The major thrust and purpose of this website and of the monthly Newsletters that it sends out to your kind and patient reception is to re-acquaint us with each other, to re-unite old friends from Cuban High Schools, neighborhoods, Miami camps and "becas". Not only will there be a list of Pedro Pan children found or remembered in the Alumni section, there will also be a place in the Newsletters to send queries regarding a particular friend or roommate so that others may read about and inform.

The managing Board of YOUR website, self-elected by their dedicated help and contributions, is made up of the following grown children of Operation Pedro Pan :
FOUNDER, CO-WEBMASTER AND EDITOR : Manuel A. Gutiérrez "El Terrorista"
(Escolapios de La Víbora - Maristas de La Víbora - Matecumbe - Kendall - Estrada House & Cristo Rey, Lincoln, NE)

FOUNDING MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS:
Frank Ramos "Supermán" (Matecumbe - Family in St. Louis)  Original webmaster and co-founder. [Retired]
Clemente Amézaga "El Técnico", "El Ingeniero" (Matecumbe - Whitehall, Miami, FL)  
Historian and Whitehall contact. 
Clemente's dedication and hardwork has helped to identify over 700 pedropan kids, finding middle names, maternal last names, birth dates and arrival dates which would otherwise be lost forever, due to two major factors:
1.- The fact that the first seven months of our arrivals were not fully documented in the Airport Log, and even after July of 1961, some flights or some days were not recorded at all!  
2.- The sloppy copying of the Airport Log by the non-Spanish speaking typists at the Miami Herald was never supervised, and the website's search engine was useless.

In 2010 Clemente co-authored the well-researched and well-documented paper "Unaccompanied Cuban Children's Miami Camps and Group Homes, 1960 through 1978. A living document that will be changed as revisions are needed" on all the Miami-Dade sites where Pedro Pan children stayed during our early history in exile. It's updated often.
Pedro S. Gutiérrez "Caraballo"(Matecumbe - Austin, TX )  Website Technical Advisor and first contributor.[Retired]
Manny Gordon "El Chairman", "El Cota" (Matecumbe - Villa Virgen del Cobre, Albuquerque, NM)  Information Support [Deceased]
Oscar Cossio "Tiburón" (Matecumbe - Cristo Rey,  Lincoln, NE)  Information Support specialist. [Deceased]
Yvonne Conde - Information Support and Research. Author of "Operation Pedro Pan". [See Recommended Reading below]
Lourdes (Colón) García "Lulu I" (Kendall - David City, NE) Nebraska
historian.

Angel Carballo "El Pillo" ( Matecumbe - Villa Virgen del Cobre, Albuquerque , NM) Albuquerque VVC historian, Puerto Rico Pedropans and Matecumbe High School graduates contact.

Oscar Pichardo (Kendall - St. Joseph's School for Children, Green Bay , WI) Green Bay St. Joseph's historian and Pedro Pan CA contact.

Juanita (Díaz) García & Fernando Collado. Founders of Pedro Pan CCC. Information support.



Early Map to Camp Matecumbe .


THIS WEBSITE AND THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER IT PUBLISHES IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY OTHER PEDRO PAN GROUP OR AGENDA.

 

To form the list (please look at Pedropánicos-at-a-glance Alumni now) we would like to receive AT THE VERY LEAST the following information :

  1. Your full name. For ladies, please specify in the following manner in order to alphabetize your entry by your maiden name, (entered in parenthesis if currently married) which is probably the name your friends remember:
    First Name (Maiden Name) Married Name; which will look like:
    Teresa Ana (Fernández) Wilson, or Hilda (Pérez López) Johnson.
  2. The last school in Cuba,( including City if the school name does not "locate" you; such as Maristas de Camaguey or Ursulinas del Vedado.)
  3. Month and year (day if known) at each camp, scholarship or location while in the program.
  4. Nickname in camp.
  5. Present city and state of residence.
  6. Your occupation.
  7. Your birthDAY.
  8. Your e-mail so we can you inform quickly and inexpensively.
  9. A personal statement of who you are, as you see yourself. You may expand on your thoughts regarding how you were affected by the abrupt separation from your parents during your formative years and your experiences as a stranger in a strange new land.
  10. Details of any significant achievement you are proud of. [e.g., Yvonne Conde wrote the definitive Pedro Pan saga "Operation Pedro Pan"; Mel Martínez became the first Cuban elected to the US Senate.]  
  11. HOBBIES.

YOU MAY IF YOU WISH ALSO SEND US: (but are not necessary)
Your full address.
Phone number(s).
Your year of birth.


TO CREATE YOUR BIO PAGE

SEND DETAILS LISTED ABOVE TO:
Manny Gutiérrez at
accitenor2@att.net

 


RECOMMENDED SOURCES FOR READING AND RESEARCH  ON THE SUBJECT OF "OPERATION PEDRO PAN" AND CUBAN HISTORY: 

OPERATION PEDRO PAN by Yvonne Conde (1999 - Routledge , NY )
      The only one of its kind to date (2012) written by a grown child of Operation Pedro Pan on the subject of our adventure. Hard-hitting and factual, detailed and with examples of human interest. We can find each other in its pages, chapter after chapter. [Book was translated into Spanish in late 2001, you may now present your parents and grandparents with your story. Don't wait for the movie!]
In 2023, there's a possibility of a second printing with some small additions and added info. Children and grandchildren of pedropan kids SHOULD explore it!

FLEEING CASTRO by Victor Andrés Triay (1998 - University Press of Florida)
      If one can hold it without spitting in its cover (and I have to assume the publisher may be to blame), the book is very well documented and extremely well written, though not as personally detailed as Ms. Conde's.

OPERACIÓN PEDRO PAN (a novel) by Josefina Leyva (1993 - Editorial Ponce de Leon)
      A very entertaining fiction-based-on-reality story by an accredited last-generation writer. This professor has also to her credit "Los Balseros de la Libertad" and "El Aullido de las Muchedumbres" and one of her books is apparently being prepared as a movie by Freedom Pictures Productions.

PRINCIPIO Y FIN DEL MITO FIDELISTA by José Álvarez (2008 - Tratford Publishing, Canada)
ÁLvarez, born in Antilla, Oriente in 1940, was a member of 26 de Julio and was directly involved in many of the early plots by Castro and his supporters to exploit the people's hatred of Batista. He saw how they built the different myths and utilized very subtle lies and manipulated the Press, including the International Press, (always willing to be manipulated and duped, as long as it sells papers and air time!) to turn a bloody Communist revolt and dictatorship into a seemingly patriotic struggle. Every detail is made clear by his indefatigable research and careful exposition, every question is answered and thoroughly explained. I consider it a complete encyclopedia of the Cuba that we saw being raped. This is definitely NOT "just one more book about El Penco". One needs no other books to be thoroughly informed and properly armed to answer any Liberal claim that attempts to lighten Castro's bloody regime and mitigate his systematic and heartless destruction of a country, a culture and a people.  

HAVANA USA by María Cristina García (1996 - University of Cal. Press )
     A history of Cuban migrations from 1959 to 1994. It has the added advantage of being an outstanding historical research book which debunks many of the myths created by Cubans for Cubans and does not pull any punches!

THE RED UMBRELLA (A novel) by Cristina Díaz. (2010 - Yearling Books, Random House)
I finally got around to reading "The Red Umbrella" - four years after its first appearance. Cristina Díaz González is the daughter of pedropan DELFÍN DÍAZ EGUIGUREN (8/30/61 - went with friend in Hialeah) [R.I.P. 1945 - 2020] , and both her parents and her mother-in-law are pedropan children. [DELFÍN  arrived in the USA the day after I did!]
The book is a credible fictional adventure of Lucía and Frankie, two children relocated to Nebraska under Operation Pedro Pan guidelines in the early 60s. I immediately identified with Lucía, despite the sex difference, as we were the same age, both of us came without our parents but with siblings and both had an uncle who was an avowed fidelista; although her uncle turned her father in but mine tried to help my dad. Likewise, we both ended up in Nebraska with a culture shock.
When she describes her life in Cuba, the customs and the problems with leaving the country and her friends - which take up roughly the first half of the book - I am transported to those times. When she writes about liking Dion's "Runaround Sue" and watching West Side Story at its premiere, I am transported to that era as well.
Not all pedropan children ended up in foster homes, in fact very few did (less than 4%), and not all of them ended up in nice, loving foster homes - there are sad stories of abuse, mental and physical, though it's a tiny minority - but her feelings are exactly the same as ours. The book is written from the point of view, and the language, of a quinceañera and thus it's an excellent guide for American teenagers, but it's NOT boring to us old folks - old now! - as it describes precisely so many feelings that we once shared.
Cristina starts each chapter with a headline from a US newspaper from the times in order to add the historical background necessary to make Lucía's tale more believable. This small detail was pure genius!
[The Editor] September 2014

THE CHILDREN OF FLIGHT OF PEDRO PAN (A Children's book) by María Armengol Acierno. (1994 - Silver Moon Press)

Monsignor Walsh was in the process of writing his own account of our odyssey but passed away (much too young!)  before he was able to do so. As homage for his life and dedication to children, which he never stopped helping!, this website is dedicated to his memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOKS WRITTEN BY GROWN PEDRO PAN CHILDREN ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS: [Alphabetized by Author]
'
SEBASTIÁN "Chany" ALMAZÁN (Miami 9/61 - Puerto Rico)
SENT TO THE USA (FiesenPress 2015)
His experiences as a Pedro Pan child. An Army vet who was born the day the atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki.

LUIS COMABELLA RECIO [Maristas de Cienfuegos - Kendall 10/61 - foster families Sachs and Polaski in Rockford, IL 3/62]
Doctorate in in Hispanic Literature and Linguistics from UCLA.
Works:
JUAN LARREA, POETA Y PROFETA (Ann Arbor, MI 1992)
Doctoral dissertation pubkished by the Dissertaion Information Service (UMI)
ESPIRALES / SPIRALS  Unpublished bilingual collection of his poetry from 1967 to 1992.
DIMES y DIRETES A collection of 8 short stories turned into an intermediate Spanish College textbook published by the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the California Court Interpreters Association. 
PROGRAMAS DE ESPAÑOL An unpublished elementary Spanish college textbook.
CURSO DE TRADUCCIÓN E INTERPRETACIÓN  an unpublished Spanish textbook to teach students to become translators and interpreters.

YVONNE CONDE {Yvonne Menéndez Conde y de Quesada} [went with relatives in Miami 8/61]
LA SABIDURÍA DE LOS NUESTROS
-
coleccionadas y editado por Yvonne Conde.(Vintage Español 2006)
   An eclectic collection of historical Spanish Literature's best quotes and modern Spanish-speaking characters' silliest pronouncements. This is our legacy in the world; the evolution of one of the richest languages and the richest of cultures, cleverly evidenced by Ms. Conde in her choices. A welcome book in your library. 

RAFAEL DE LA VEGA DÍAZ [went with friend in Miami 7/62]
CEO of AT&T Mobility
OBSTACLES WELCOME
( Thomas Nelson Publishers 2009)
  An inspirational book about Hope and about Leadership that may apply to business but includes plenty of information for personal use. Ralph shared some insights on how he overcame his biggest obstacles.

JOAQUÍN DELGADO SÁNCHEZ {R.I.P. 1946 - 2022} [Matecumbe 3/62 - foster home in Lancaster, PA 9/62]
CROOKED
(2007) and THE TRAIL TO GOLGOTHA (2009) by Jack Delgado 
  Joaquín Delgado Sánchez's book CROOKED is subtitled "A Tone Reverberating in the Spectrum of Discernment". He can be found at www.gate.net/~joachim
  In 2012, he published EL MONO DEL SAGUÉ [LITTLE HAVANA'S MONKEY]
 
In 2018, THE VIGILANTE, LA FUGA & JESUS, THE THRONE AND THE TEMPLE.
 
In 2020, his MURDER IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, a whodunit, was the last of his vast work.

JUAN ANTONIO DORA TRAVIESO (Florida City 3/62 at age 8 - St. Vincent's Orphanage, Vincennes, IN)
"A Boy, an Orphanage, a Cuban Refugee: The Road to Freedom" - to be published in January 2023 by Koehler Books.

 CARLOS NIETO EIRE nka CARLOS EIRE [Florida City 4/62 - foster home in Miami]
WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA (The Free Press 2003) 
   Carlos M. N. Eire, 1979 PhD from Yale University, is the Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies. He has "specialized in the social, intellectual, religious and cultural history of late medieval and early modern Europe...and the history of death." His other books include "From Madrid to Purgatory"(1995), "Jews, Christians and Muslims: An introduction to Monotheistic Religions." (1997) and "War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship."
"Waiting for Snow in Havana" won the National Book Award for Non-fiction in 2003. In 2010 he came out with a sequel titled "LEARNING TO DIE IN MIAMI." (Simon and Schuster) 
Carlos can be found at www.yale.edu/history/faculty/eire
NOTE: News were received that Carlos is negotiating movie rights to this sequel, as of May 2011.

RICARDO E. GONZÁLEZ ZAYAS (Florida City 9/62)
"Black Pedro Pan" - Kindle edition. 
Ricardo's experience as a black foreigner growing up in the US.

ANTONIO MARÍA GORDON PALOMINO ( St. John's Camp, Switzerland, FL  1/13/61 - Philadelphia, PA)
Now a medical doctor in Miami.  
U.S. Navy Reserve.
ÉXODO DEL 94: GUANTÁNAMO, PANAMÁ, ISLAS CAIMÁN AND KROME" (2015) sobre los balseros que acabaron en Guantánamo mientras Bill Clinton decidía qué hacer con ellos. En parte es una memoria sobre los 45,000 a 50,000 balseros que se habían tirado al mar hasta entonces huyendo a la dictadura roja de los Castro. Unos 32,000 fueron llevados  a Gitmo, de los que la mayoría fueron aceptados en los EEUU. Godon viajó a Guantánamo - donde estaba un primo de él - 4 veces y cuenta sobre el periodiquito "Qué pasa?". The English version "The Cuban Exodus of 1994" was published in 2016
MEDICINA INDÍGENA DE CUBA (2011) con Angel Rodríguez ÁLvarez
A RUSIA POR VALLADOLID (2016) con Juan Belza
THE FLIGHT OF THE MANGO FLOWERS: A MEMOIR OF OUR WAY OUT OF THE COLD WAR, A TESTIMONY OF PEDRO PANES AND THE EARLY CUBAN EXODUS.(2016)- an autobiography
Para que le conozcan un poco, vean esta presentación, que  es muy interesante:
https://youtu.be/U7GvLceDlko
(Manny's review: It's an excellent PP biography. . .BUT Antonio perpetuates some Communist mantras and misinformation that have plagued History, like "evils of McCarthyism" and he calls the awful 1936-1939 destruction of Spain by the Communist dictatorship of Manuel Azaña as a "struggle between Communists and Fascists". (It reminds me of the current fascist methods of Antifa to burn and kill!)
He also claims that Opertion Pedro Pan and the Unaccompanied Cuban Children's Program are two separate programs?

ANTONIO J. GUERNICA SABAT [Kendall 8/61- Mariana Home, Wichita, KS] 
A CUBAN IN PARADISE  (iUniverse publisher 2012)
  A novel about an Alfonso Candela that starts in 1953 and his life is affected by Castro.

MANUEL "Manny" GUTIÉRREZ [Escolapios de La Víbora - Maristas de La Víbora - Matecumbe 8/61 - Estrada House and Cristo Rey, Lincoln, NE 3/62]
THIS TIME - A 21st-Century Look at an Ancient Mystery that changed the World. (LifeRich Publishing 2018) An eclectic crime adventure that attempts to answer some profound 'What if' questions.

FERNANDO "Fernán" HERNÁNDEZ LORENZO [went with cousin in Miami 7/62 at age 9]
POTAJE SURTIDO DE FICCIÓN Y REALIDAD and LO QUE APRENDÍ DE MI PERRO  
  Fernando's work involves articles and essays of humorous, cultural and historical value. It includes articles about the "Cuban" language!
THE CUBANS: OUR LEGACY IN THE UNITED STATES (2012) and THE CUBANS: OUR FOOTPRINTS ACROSS AMERICA (2013) deal with our contributions in our adopted country. The 2013 book has an entire chapter - the longest one - about Operation Pedro Pan.
More details in www.alexlib.com/potaje and www.alexlib.com/miperro
'Cuba and the USA: A Musical Journey' (2018) [". . .this is a book for all music lovers and those interested in the musical connection between Cuban and American musicians from the 1920s until the present time, including those born in the United States of Cuban origin, and their contribution to American musical culture and history."
LA BARBERÍA DE PEPE (2021) "Una obra humorística sobre un barbero cubano en la Calle Ocho." Los clientes de Pepe son exactamente gente que yo he conocido! No todos simpáticos o buenos, pero interesantes! LOL 

PEDRO C. LÓPEZ JUIZ [Florida City 12/61- orphanage in Chicago. IL 1/62]
MANUEL AND THE LADY 
 (Universe Publishing September 2011)
  A novel about Manuel Cruz, a Cuban adolescent, in Lawrence, Massachussets, and his friendship with Madama Farfalla, a former prima donna claiming to have sung at La Scala, who introduces him to grand opera.
[Editor's note: "Farfalla" means Butterfly in Italian.]

ALDO MARTÍNEZ PAZ [Florida City 2/62 - orphanage in Totowa, NJ 6/62 - foster home]
THE UNSPOKEN GIFT: HOW A CUBAN IMMIGRANT FULFILLED HIS AMERICAN DREAM (Open Door Publications September 2012)
A book written at the insistence of his grown children. Aldo's PP story. The title refers to the unspoken gift of Love from his parents by sacrificing having him with them in order to guarantee his freedom.
See www.theunspokengift.com

LORENZO PABLO MARTÍNEZ PESTAÑA  [Matecumbe 4/62 - foster home in Kennewick, WA 9/62]
CUBA ADIÓS: A Young Man's Journey to Freedom
"Martínez vividly recounts his participation in a program [Operation Pedro Pan] that bridged two cultures and achieved great political significance over the years. The book is a poignant, thoughtful account of one boy's survival and self-acceptance, written with unflinching honesty and  a wry humor." (from the Amazon Kindle edition page)
(NOTE: LORENZO's book is peppered with details of homosexual
urges and is not in any way recommended, especially for young descendants of grown Pedro Pan children.)

MELQUIADES "Mel" MARTÍNEZ RUIZ [Matecumbe 2/62 - Camp St. John, Jax, FL]
FIRST CUBAN U.S. SENATOR!!!!!!!!!
A SENSE OF BELONGING (Random House LLC)
Subitled: From Castro's Cuba to the U.S. Senate, One Man's Pursuit of the American Dream.
A book about his life experience.

EDUARDO J. NEYRA [Miami 01/62]
CUBA. LOST AND FOUND
( Clerisy Press 2010)
  "Cuba Lost and Found is a moving and insightful true-life narrative capturing the political and cultural upheaval before and after Castro’s Revolution, from Ed’s carefree early years on the white sand of Varadero Beach, through his struggles to find a place in his new country, to his hard-won achievement of the American Dream. At the heart of this life is a powerful Horatio Alger story but also a soul-seeking journey of personal identity." - from the publisher's Press kit.
[Proceeds to be donated to the "Neyra Foundation for Children in Need.]
See www.cubalostandfound.com

Tony Ojeda [son of RENÉ JULIÁN OJEDA (Matecumbe 7/62 - St. Thomas Orphanage, Lincoln, NE)
"My First Hero: A story of overcoing and success" (about his dad's Pedro Pan life's experiences.

BLAS PADRINO ARBELO
FLIGHT TO NOWHERE  (Penumbra Publishing 2012)
The main character is a pedropan kid. A Miami storm-chaser flies into a hurricane with a sexy news anchorwoman and they discover an old plane wreck washed up on the Bahamas, getting the attention of someone willing to do anything to keep it a secret...
See http://www.authorblaspadrino.com

ERNESTO PÉREZ BERMÚDEZ [Matecumbe - Villa Virgen del Cobre, Albuquerque, NM]
MEMOIRS WITH A CUBAN TASTE: SEEKING MY LOST CUBAN ROOTS IN AMERICA.
  A limited edition dedicated to his children.

JOSÉ IGNACIO RAMÍREZ LORBES [Casa Ferré - San Rafael - Camp St. John, Jacksonville, FL]
DEFINING MOMENTS: A Cuban exile's story about Discovery and the Search for a better Future.  (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform May 2013)
Written in three parts. Per JOSÉ IGNACIO: "The title itself is reflective of the many situations requiring decision-making which became 'defining moments' throughout these experiences."
The second part deals with several topics that include multiple trips to Cuba, family, the Economy and others.
In October of 2018 he published Cuba and the "Last" Baseball Season with a foreword by the great Luis Tiant, Jr.

CARLOS RUBIO ALBET  [went with friends in Miami - Casa de Sallies, Wilmington, DE]
QUADRIVIUM (Xlibris 2006) and SAGA  (Zinnia Books 1997)
   Quadrivium won the Premio Internacional de Novela Nuevo León en 1989. Saga was a finalist in Letras de Oro.
CARLOS has finished FORGOTTEN OBJECTS and has sent in a synopsis:
   Carlos Rubio, a professor at Shepherd University,  released in March of 2009 his trilogy of satirical novels - about teenage boy and his complications with growing up - in one volume, AMERICAN TRIPTYCH, which unites THE NEOPHYTE with BULLWHIP (published in 2001) and CALIFORNIA FEVER (published in 2003). He also wrote the bilingual DEAD TIME / TIEMPO MUERTO, "a novel about love and loneliness",  which earned finalist status in both Letras de Oro in 1994 and in Pirate's Alley Faulkner Literary Society in 1995. His work has also appeared in several anthologies, including "20 Cuentistas Cubanos", "Cuban-American Writers", "Narrativa y Libertad" and others.
Two other yet unpublished books deal with various subjects; ORISHA with santería and HUBRIS is a collection of short stories. 
  He has been working since 2006 on his 12th project, FORGOTTEN OBJECTS. When he is finished, he has promised his daughter to work on an autobiography "or at least something about his life as a boy in Cuba." [Tricia Lynn Strader: "Author writes for more than one audience" in The Journal, February 20, 2009]
He can be found at www.carlosrubioalbet.com

(added July 25, 2013)
CARLOS has finished FORGOTTEN OBJECTS and has shared this synopsis:

The novel traces the life of Anna d’Amio, daughter of opera singers Louis and Francesca d’Amio, from Mussolini’s  Italy to the city of Pittsburgh during the mid sixties.
The novel proper is made up of three parts: Italy, Cuba and United States. Married at seventeen and widowed at twenty, Anna leaves war-torn Italy to find her fortune in Cuba, where she eventually meets Ramón Contreras,a wealthy tobacco grower who later becomes her second husband.   The idyllic world that 
the couple had so laboriously built suddenly comes crashing down after the communist take over of the island and Ramón’s sudden and violent death.
Now with two daughters under her care, Anna soon realizes that there is no future for them in Cuba, so she opts to send them to the United States through the Pedro Pan Program. 
Eventually she comes to the US herself,but by then the girls have been placed in foster homes. It is during this stage of her life, penniless and without influence, that she must make the greatest sacrifices to regain custody of her daughters.
 At the end of the novel, we find a series of letters, all dated 2005, that were exchanged by the sisters after their mother passed away. Anna left behind a box containing a collection  of sundry items  that she had gathered throughout 
her life. Cognizant that these were significant for their mother, they attempt to piece together a sketch of her life through these forgotten objects.


RAFAEL SÁNCHEZ CANCIO [went with aunt in Miami - Opa Locka]
[Rafael passed away in April of 2013]
MY JOURNEY [with Susan Cumins & Vanessa Ballestas] (Centennial Press 2009)
He is the founder of the Miami Grand Prix street race in 1982.


CARLOS M. TARACIDO, Phd. [Matecumbe - Casa de Sallies, Wilmington, DE]
ESQUEMA DE PROSODIA ESPAÑOLA (1971)
ANTOLOGÍA DE LA POESÍA EN CUBA (2016)
RIMAS DEL ALMA (2017)
JOSÉ ÁNGEL BUESA: Sus Mejores Poesías (2018)
CONTRA EL VACÍO (2019)

ANTONIO TIMIRAOS FERNÁNDEZ (Florida City 2/62 at age 8)
"A Time to look back: Growing up during the Cuban Revolution" 
GF Books, Inc. 2021

MARY LOU TRIAS ALACÁN [Kendall 9/61 at age 8 - foster home in New Mexico] 
CRISIS OF IDENTITY II  (PublishAmerica 2007)
  Trias tells of a family who had their petit dynasty confiscated by the Castro government, children who coped with a lifestyle change, from rich to poor, and who survived prejudice. The book defines the cost of freedom.

GUILLERMO VIDAL RAMOS [Kendall 9/61 - Sacred Heart Orphanage, Pueblo, CO]
[Guillermo was the Deputy Mayor of Denver and the manager of Public Works for the City]
BOXING FOR CUBA
(Ghost Road Press 2010)
  Bill Vidal arrived in the US at the age of 10 with two brothers and ended up in an orphanage in Pueblo, CO. As of 2009 he served as Vice-Mayor and Manager of Public Works in Denver, CO. In this book Bill recounts his family's experiences in Cuba and in exile.
[Manny's book review: Despite enjoying the book, it bothered me to see inconsistencies, lies or errors that may mislead a non-pedropan reader:
1 - Guillermo claimed that the term Pedro Pan was coined by Father Walsh's first ward was a kid named Pedro and that most of us came via Pan American Airways.
2.- He uses too many "Operation Peter Pan", "Peter Pan" or "Peter Pan kids" instead of the correct term. Only Estela Bravo and the Cuban government use that term!
3.- He claims that Father Walsh was chosen for his Spanish-Speaking ability and because he was the Director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau of the United States!
4.- He claims that 50,000 of us were held back by the October Crisis of 1962. The widely read author of "Los Pedro-sin-Pan", María Argelia Vizcaíno (one of them!) had thoroughly researched the hold up and found out that by late October 1962 around 3,000 kids had Visa Waivers in their hands and could not leave. No more Visa Waivers were being issued after that.
5.- He claims that Miami was a far larger city than Havana when he arrived!

6.- He claims that he told a guard at the airport that he was a member of Operation Pedro Pan and was helped! The term was coined much later and did not become popular for years. How could he and the guard know?
7.- He badly misspells several Spanish words so the publisher did NOT use proofreaders. (Hope he did not get charged for that! LOL)
8.- Although he should have disliked Communism, due to his younger life, his ideas are quite Leftist; he writes about the "evils of McCarthyism"  (a typical concern of uneducated pundits), he criticizes Rush Limbaugh and Augusto Pinochet (who saved Chile from Allende's Communism!), and he repeats the Castroite Myths that Operation Pedro Pan was run by the CIA and the Embargo was the main reason for the poverty in Cuba (he did not even attack Castro's destruction of the country!) 
9.- He dedicates too many pages to a disgusting array of harsh familiar criticism and some poor armchair psychology.

Dr. FRANCISCO WONG DÍAZ [Matecumbe 11/61 - Marquette, MI]
[Francisco is a medical doctor and a Law professor at San Francisco City College]
CASTRO'S CUBA: QUO VADIS? (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2006)
  Evidence from many sources supports an in-depth analysis and conclusions regarding the unfolding Cuban reality after Castro ceded the reins to his brother.



[Manny Gutierrez - EDITOR]


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