An American Husband in Filipino Court
This is an interview with an American who fell for a Filipina only to discover that she was already married and planned to take him to court for his money. This happened twice.
Philippines
Jireh Calo Graduates from Berklee
This is an interview with Filipina musician Jireh Calo about her experience studying at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, one of the world’s best conservatories for jazz.
A Memoirist of the Marcos Years, Part 3
Susan Quimpo’s book “Subversive Lives” discusses the activities of her activist family during the Marcos martial law period. After the international edition came out, she made a book tour in the US, speaking with audiences of mostly Filipino-Americans about the Marcos period as well as the current situation with Duterte and the extra-judicial killings. This is an account of that discussion.
A Monk from the Matayog Health and Wellness Center
A few months ago I posted an interview with Richie Quirino, author of The Amen Vibration, the story of his spiritual journey (link) Recently he introduced me to Dada, a childhood friend who had lived in India, Africa and South America and was now back in the Philippines as the head monk at the Matayog Health and Wellness Center in Parañaque. (link). Dada and I talked at the coffee shop in the Hotel Kimberly across the street from my subdivision in Tagaytay. Thanks to Dada for the photos I pulled from the center’s Facebook page. Dada’s story I understand you’re …
From Metro Manila to Cavite Province, Part 2
This is the second of a two-part account of my life in Tagaytay, Cavite after moving from Metro Manila.
From Metro Manila to Cavite Province, Part 1
This is the first of a two-part account of my life in Tagaytay, Cavite after moving from Metro Manila.
A Remarkable Journey with Light and Sound
I first interviewed Richie Quirino about his books and video on Filipino jazz in “A Jazz Musician and Jazz Journalist.” (Link). Recently we spoke in the Hotel Kimberly coffee shop in Tagaytay about his latest book. The Amen Vibration, Volume II, was published under his spiritual name, Echad. The Kindle version is now available free online. (Link) The book follows an unpublished manuscript of decades earlier. It presents a chorus of voices on the positive and negative effects of light and sound on humanity—science and religion with variations. Richie’s story In the first chapter of the book, God says, “Let …
Donna Miscolta, Author of “Hola and Goodbye”
Donna Miscolta and I did an interview after the publication of her first book (Signal 8 Press, 2011), a novel dealing with a Filipino’s immigration to the United Sates and his subsequent family life in Southern California. The interview is available on this website, The Author of When the de la Cruz Family Danced. There’s also an accompanying video. The opening story in her newly released story collection, Hola and Goodbye (Carolina Wren Press, November 2016), recently appeared online in Kweli Journal.“Lupita and the Lone Ranger” depicts a telling event in the life of a Mexican immigrant to California. Click …
A Memoirist of the Marcos Years, Part 2
In Part 1 of this interview, Susan Quimpo talks about her family’s activism during martial law and the initial impetus for the memoir. In Part 2 she continues with a description of writing the book and her own life afterwards. Susan’s story At first I wrote two chapters. Then I went for two master’s degrees, one in Asian Studies and the other in journalism. For my journalism class I wrote about the family and martial law. I thought if I could make my narrative comprehensible to Americans, who knew little about the Philippines under martial law except the name Marcos, …
A Memoirist of the Marcos Years, Part 1
Author interview with Susan Quimpo, editor and co-author of the family memoir “Subversive Lives,” which tells the story of an anti-Marcos activist family during martial law.