PIONEERING ACTOR & FANTASY WRITER.
Hola mis queridos Latinopians!
Tia Tenopia welcoming you to another week of Latinopia fun. This week we feature a visit with pioneering Puerto Rican actor Henry Darrow. Henry managed to gain success at a time in the 1960s when there were very few opportunities for Latinos in Hollywood. In a sense you can say he helped break the brown color barrier. He starred in the western television series “High Chaparral,” (1967-1971). His character was so riveting that the writers of the show created other Latino characters as part of his family and friends. This opened up acting roles for many other Latino actors as well. Your Tia has just finished reading his new biography, “Henry Darrow-Lightening in a Bottle” and strongly recommends it!
Y hablando de libros. We visit this week with Colorado author Rudy Ch. García. One of the few authors who manages to write not only about contemporary Chicano life but also writes science fiction and fantasy. His latest novel, “The Closet of Discarded Dreams,” is a fantasy novel with a Chicano protagonist who finds himself in a world where reality is determined by the discarded dreams of others. Latinopia filmed him at a reading of his novel at a “mental cocido.”
Oh, you may be wondering what the heck IS a mental cocido? Well, some years ago our dearly departed friend, artist Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, initiated what he called “mental menudos.” These were lively get-togethers where folks met to discuss a particular theme or idea that Magu would suggest. Like the regular menudo that you eat, a mental menudo is made up of a lot of diverse ingredients–ideas, thoughts, and discussions. Michael Sedano of La Bloga has taken the idea one step further with a mental cocido, a Mexican soup also made of many different ingredients all adding to the over all richness of the enterprise. Your Tia offers this explanation because we’ll visiting more mental cocidos in the months to come.
We want to let those of you who were friends of the late Frank Sifuentes know that his services are as follows; Rosary, October 24, 2012, 6:30 to 8PM at All Souls Cemetery, 4400 Cherry Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90807. Funeral on October 25, 2012 at 11AM at the same location.
This week be sure to also check in on Sara Inés Calderón’s blog Thinking Latina, Sergio Hernández’s Arnie and Porfi cartoon strip and Lazaro De La Tierra’s Zombie Mex Diaries. This week our Zombie boy discovers strange changes to his Zombie body!
OOXX
Yur Tia!