(From Stephanie Alvarez)
For those of you who are familiar with the amazing work of Nuyorican poet Tato Laviera you may or may not know that Tato in recent years has been suffering with diabetes, dialysis, and blindness. I share the sad news that in December he suffered a cerebral problem resulting in him having a shunt placed in his brain. After leaving the hospital he was kicked out of his apartment. With no steady source of income he now finds himself without a home. Please read the following New York Times article on his situation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/nyregion/13poet.html
We are trying to raise approximately $4000 so that he may put a deposit on an apartment, please consider sending a donation, however modest, to help him get back on his feet. In the long term please consider bringing him to your campus to do a reading. I have spoken to his sister and she assures me that he is healthy enough to do readings. If you are interested in having him do a reading he usually requests an honorarium of $2000.
You can send a personal donation to:
Jesus Laviera
c/o Sanchez-Ramos
225 E. 93rd St. Apt. 8 H
NY NY 10128
Thank you, Stephanie Alvarez
--
Dr. Stephanie M. Alvarez
Assistant Professor
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
University of Texas-Pan American
http://sites.google.com/site/cosechavoicesproject/
www.utpa.edu/mas
www.utpa.edu/dept/modlang
Photo credit: Librado Romero/The New York Times
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