Books of Life and Death
/We've been doing a lot of remembering these past months: September was martial law stories, October the history of Filipinos in the US. This month, we begin with undas (All Saints Day) when we honor our beloveds and our heroes who have passed on. It has been almost three years since the pandemic started and most of us have known one or two or three deaths that were arrows in our hearts.
Literary titan Linda Ty-Casper, she who has written 10 acclaimed historical novels and four short story collections and has won some of the most prestigious literary prizes, lost her husband, the renowned literary critic Leonard (Len) Casper, in 2018. How does a writer deal with grief, when her partner of more than 60 years, passes? She collects everything that has been written -- by, to and about Len -- and puts them in a book that is as much a chronicle of a life as it is of Philippine literature. Will You Happen, Past the Silence, Through the Dark: Remembering Leonard Ralph Casper by Linda Ty-Casper is a weighty book in heft and significance. The book's publisher, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, herself a literary star, gives us a preview.
Another book, this one a good gift for a child is Peeled Fruit, by Filipino Canadian actor Xavi De Guzman who is one of the founders of Let's Play On Foundation, dedicated to raising awareness about brain aneurysm. If you watched the Jo Koy movie, "Easter Sunday," you'll remember Xavi as the hoodlum. But there's nothing hoodlum-y about his dedication to honoring his friend who died early of the ailment, and this book is not only a tribute to him and to Filipino culture, but is a way to raise funds for the cause.
Ten FilAms Among the Remarkable and Famous made it to our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco's 40th list this week, each of them with wow-inducing creds.
Last week, we published the article by M.T. Ojeda, "Fact-Checking the History of San Francisco's Manilatown," and it elicited some interesting responses from FilAm activists and historians. One of them came from Estella Habal and Jeanette Lazam, both stalwarts of the Bay Area community, which we are publishing in full here, along with the response of M.T. Ojeda.
Those who grew up with OPM (Original Pilipino Music) are mourning the death this week of one of OPM's most beloved icons, Danny Javier of the APO Hiking Society. Danny is credited for coining the term OPM and for composing and performing some of the best songs of the genre. Fittingly, Danny signed off from this world with a witty original composition which he first sang a cappella on Facebook and, in his last few days, was enhanced with an apt arrangement by musical director Lorrie Ilustre. Here's our Video of the Week: Danny Javier's "Lahat Tayo".
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