by guest blogger Moira Porter
11/20/2011
Sunday morning we awoke and
gathered to share a scrumptious breakfast of quiche from City Cafe (McAllen) and fresh
fruit. A brief board meeting gave us an opportunity to discuss
fundraising scholarships for young people accepted to UT Austin's College of Fine Arts that would be matched dollar
for dollar by the college.
We welcomed Rita and Beto Conde to
the house and settled in for a special reading by the author of the recently
published America Down By the River,
a collection of short stories and poems by Beto Conde. Beto's reading
took us back in time to El Jardin, a barrio of San Benito, in the 1950s where
young boys growing up in the between space of Mexican homes and Anglo schools
are mesmerized by the mystery and knowingness of the way the world is, as
explained by Chencho the pachuco. We felt the lush chill deadliness of a
single-file line in a Vietnamese jungle. And were brought back to
humanity with Los Vecinos, where the antics Don Bruno arriving home in the
middle of the night interrupt a young boy's sleep, and Brownie the German
Shepherd, plays a critical comedic role. With hugs all around, we get on
the road. Hasta luego. Nos vemos.
- Moira
Moira Porter is
Chairperson of Texas Folklife’s Board of Directors
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| We really did come to work: we held a board meeting. Really. |
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| Beto Conde shares his collection of short stories. |
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