February 2013 Conversations with Las Comadres: Teleconference Series
8 Ways to Say “I Love My Life!” — Outside Links: Book Author Publisher
Clay Hills and Mud Pies — Outside Links: Book Author Publisher
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW: Length — 00:50:23 | Size — 9.07 MB
February 2013 Book of the Month:
8 Ways to Say “I Love My Life!”
By Laura de Anda, Margo de Leon, and Josefina Lopez
Published by Arte Publico Press
ISBN-13: 978-1558857544
“If you don’t do anything, nothing will happen.” Nancy De Los Santos Reza learned this important lesson early in life. College wasn’t an option, so she got a job as a secretary. A colleague, an older woman who had taken a liking to her, encouraged Nancy to ask her supervisor about attending a professional conference in California. “What’s the worst that could happen?”, the woman asked. “They say ‘no’ and you don’t go? You’re already not going.”
As a result, Nancy found herself in San Francisco on a life-changing trip. She would go on to earn two college degrees and become the producer of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel’s movie review program, At the Movies.
About the Authors: Laura de Anda, Margo de Leon, and Josefina Lopez
Eight inspiring personal essays by Latinas included in this collection are
Bel Hernandez Castillo, Laura de Anda, Margo de Leon, Nancy De Los Santos Reza, Joanna Ilizaliturri Diaz, Josefina Lopez, Rita Mosqueda Marmolejo, and Susan Orosco.
Each contributor overcame obstacles to happiness and success, and here they share their life lessons in the hopes of motivating others. Whether overcoming fear, guilt or low self-esteem, these women seek to encourage others to discover their personal power.
With a foreword by acclaimed musician Vikki Carr, 8 Ways to Say “I Love My Life!” contains chapters by women from a variety of professional backgrounds. Contributors include Latin Heat President Bel Hernandez Castillo and Playwright and Author Josefina Lopez of Real Women Have Curves.
Performed as monologues in 2009 in Los Angeles, the sold-out, ten-run show received a rave review in the Los Angeles Times and an Imagen Award, which recognizes positive portrayals of Latinos in the media. Designed to help women believe in the power of self-love and inner strength, this book will appeal to all women who seek a path to fulfillment.
February 2013 Additional Conversation:
Clay Hills and Mud Pies
By Annie Mary Perez
Published by Floricanto Press
Skeletons abound in this revealing but poignant biography recounting a Mexican American family’s one hundred year history in the United States.
Three Memoirs in one, this San Diego Book Awards Finalist is rich with Mexican folklore and Americana. In Book One, which opens with a ghost story, the author describes her father’s life growing up motherless in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It includes early memories of sleeping in abandoned houses, working for his aunt, who was a bootlegger, riding the rails as a youth, serving in World War II, and finally, marrying her mother in February of 1946.
In Book Two she describes her mother’s life growing up on a dairy farm in Mesilla, New Mexico during the Depression. It includes early memories of picking cotton as a child and the first of a series of prophetic dreams. It also includes stories of her grandmother’s encounter with the Twelve Apostles and her grandfather’s finding buried treasure.
In Book Three, she describes her own life growing up in a Los Angeles barrio, early memories of domestic violence, her parents’ divorce, caring for her parents in their declining years, and ultimately, dealing with the loss. The book concludes with her father’s philosophies on youth and life. “Young people especially will benefit from this pleasant read. They will feel inspired to set their own goals,” Ambassador Julian Nava.
“In Clay Hills and Mud Pies, Annie Perez shares with us the history, stories and legends of an American family, spanning three generations in the 20th century. She takes us from cotton fields in New Mexico and Depression era CCC, WPA and the U.S. Army in wartime Burma and India to Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s where two young sisters raised by a struggling single mother eventually find their way into California’s universities. A story of one family that is also part of the story of a nation,” Elliot Kanter, U.S. History Librarian (retired), UC San Diego.
About the Author: Annie Mary Pérez
Annie Mary Pérez was born in Los Angeles and earned her bachelor’s degree in Social Science at California State University, Los Angeles. She currently lives in a beachside community in Southern California and works as a professional writer and editor. She travels extensively and volunteers for Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit organization that promotes literacy in the Latino community.