Cheering up Christmas for West Indian seafarers
By Peggy Ann Bliss
Editor Pure Bliss

It’s that time again for some of the English-speaking churches to help lighten the holiday burden of Seafarers. They were able to take home stockings filled with useful gifts and a few fun gifts for their children.

If you drop by Pier 10 in San Juan, you’ll find a motley variety of boats from different parts of the Caribbean who come to Puerto Rico to buy supplies for their small islands. You can hear Spanish, French, Dutch, Haitian Creole and English, in every possible accent.

You may also come across Rev. Canon David Howell of the St. Juan the Baptist Episcopal Cathedral, in the company of two wonderful women, Rev. Martha McCracken, of Grace Lutheran Church and Rev. Idalia Colón of San Pablo Lutheran Church, heading a worship service, blessing the boats, or offering individual counseling.

"Work three months home one week’ is not the easiest way to keep families together,” says Canon Howell, in urging the congregation to help provide pastoral care to the men through the Ministry with Mariners and Fishers.

The Dean and Parish Priest of The Cathedral and Parish of St. John in Antigua, in a letter to the ELCA World Hunger Program in Chicago, paints the conditions of the men:

“One can imagine the loneliness, stress and anxiety as they leave their families for weeks or months. This generates an enormity of problems -- depression, drinking bouts, infidelity, altercations and, on occasion, violence. These men require pastoral care to assist their coping skills as they struggle with undue stress, caused by their trade.

“Though the job of seafarers entails great risks, we owe them continuous gratitude for keeping food on the shelves of our super markets, clothing in our stores and building materials in our hardware stores. We are extremely gratified to our friends in Puerto Rico who care for them when they are away from home.”

In explaining the work to his English-speaking parishioners, most of whom come from these same islands, Canon Howell puts it this way: “The mariners and fishers often look to the Church as their last hope, and we cannot fail or abandon them,”

The group also provides counseling and emergency response onboard and ashore, according to Rev. Colón, who made a film about the group’s interaction with the mariners and deep-sea fishermen.

With volunteers from the three congregations, the mission provides necessities such as soap and razors, meals, cell phones and phone cards. At this special time of year, volunteers meet to fill stockings with shampoo and shaving cream, as well as small gifts to their children, for whom their fathers may not have time or money to shop.

Last year, for its first large-scale fund-raising, the ministry held a gourmet tasting at Union Church, which by offering its space made the triangle into a square.

The English congregation of St. John the Baptist, which I attend most Sunday mornings, is always throwing some bash which is hard to resist. In addition to the Youth Group’s Spaghetti Dinner, and the West Indian Dinner, the latest success was the Harvest Festival, a kind of post-Thanksgiving celebration topped off by a delicious lunch cooked by the churchwomen, including Mavis Hobson’s juicy turkey, and her beautiful decorations. December 2007

Being Puerto Rican means reading “Insularismo”

“Insularismo” one of the most important books about Puerto Rico

The first English edition of “Insularismo” by Antonio S. Pedreira, subtitled “An Insight into the Puerto Rican Character,” is still a good book to have on your shelf.

Since the review about it was on this site, several people have written to tell me how much they enjoyed the book.

The Ausubo Press translation by Aoife Rivera Serrano came 71 years after the book’s publication in 1934. It was the first to critique the basic influences that shaped the Puerto Rican character and culture. However, its academic style made the book less accessible even to those foreigners who knew Spanish. Oscar Montero, professor at Lehman College and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, says the translation “is an important contribution to what should be an ongoing debate, not just on Puerto Rican politics and culture but also on the culture and politics of our hemisphere."

One of the most important books ever written about the Puerto Rican experience, the small tome raises still unanswered questions. Despite more than a century of occupation, why hasn't the United States been able to uproot the island's culture? Has the Puerto Rican character itself has been a determining factor in the island's ambivalent relationship with the United States? PAB/ Internet 2007

Clemente’s death 25 years ago still haunts us
By Peggy Ann Bliss

If you didn’t get Roberto Clemente’s splendid biography for Christmas last year, don’t despair, it’s still available. And this Christmas is the 25th anniversary of his untimely death in the service of humanity.

You don’t have to be a sports fan or a Puerto Rican to appreciate "Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero" by David Maraniss. He portrays his subject as an elegant and noble, athlete, emblematic of a social transformation. The author of the 401-page book, released last year by Simon & Schuster, $26, also wrote an excellent biography of Bill Clinton.

Clemente was the first Latino superstar — the National League's first Latino batting champion and Most Valuable Player. and was largely responsible for the Latin tinge baseball has today. It is hard to imagine that it was 1964 when the San Francisco Giants’ manager Alvin Dark banned Spanish in the clubhouse. Until then, a dyed-in-the-wool Giants fan from New York, I worshiped Alvin, along with Willie Mays and Dusty Rhodes. Today there isn’t much baseball without Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela.

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Clemente out of the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system in 1954. His last time at bat in September 1972, he passed the 3,000 hit mark, a feat shared by only 25 others in the history of baseball.

Handsome and charismatic, at 5 feet 11 inches and 185 pounds Clemente was small compared to players today, but his arm was the best.

His last act was in character. On Dec. 23, 1972, an earthquake devastated Nicaragua. Clemente immediately organized Puerto Rico's charitable response. Wishing to make sure that the disaster aid did not go into the pockets of the dictatorship, he chartered an old DC-7 and boarded it, unaware that the pilot was shady and the crew untrained. Overloaded and unbalanced, it plunged into the sea a few thousand yards from the end of the Isla Verde airport. His body was never recovered. I was in Florida at the time the news of the quake hit us, and a journalist friend had to rush to Nicaragua. A few days later, back home, I was met with the even more shocking news of Roberto’s death. At his memorial service in the Hiram Bithorn Stadium (named for the first Puerto Rican in the big leagues), there was not a dry eye. Since then, Puerto Ricans have never forgotten him, naming streets, coliseums, and a sports village after him. There has been a play about him and an art exhibit, with the cooperation of his wife and sons. His legacy has been an inspiration to every Puerto Rican.

As the book made clear, he never had the chance to be a has-been, and his life was a symbol of action and passion. Not only was he a great player who paved the way for Hispanics, but he died a hero. 2007

Lifting the anchor for burdened seafarers
By Peggy Ann Bliss
Editor Pure Bliss

If you drop by Pier 10 in San Juan, you’ll find a motley variety of boats from different parts of the Caribbean who come to Puerto Rico to buy supplies for their small islands. You can hear Spanish, French, Dutch, Haitian Creole and English, in every possible accent.
 
You may also come across Rev. Canon David Howell of the St. Juan the Baptist Episcopal Cathedral, in the company of two wonderful women, Rev. Martha McCracken, of Grace Lutheran Church and Rev. Idalia Colón of San Pablo Lutheran Church, heading a worship service, blessing the boats, or offering individual counseling.
 
‘Work three months home one week’ is not the easiest way to keep families together,” says Canon Howell, in urging the congregation to help provide pastoral care to the men through the Ministry with Mariners and Fishers.
 
The Dean and Parish Priest of The Cathedral and Parish of St. John in Antigua, in a letter to the ELCA World Hunger Program in Chicago, paints the conditions of the men:
 
“One can imagine the loneliness, stress and anxiety as they leave their families for weeks or months. This generates an enormity of problems -- depression, drinking bouts, infidelity, altercations and, on occasion, violence. These men require pastoral care to assist their coping skills as they struggle with undue stress, caused by their trade.
 
“Though the job of seafarers entails great risks, we owe them continuous gratitude for keeping food on the shelves of our super markets, clothing in our stores and building materials in our hardware stores. We are extremely gratified to our friends in Puerto Rico who care for them when they are away from home.”
 
In explaining the work to his English-speaking parishioners, most of whom come from these same islands, Canon Howell puts it this way: “The mariners and fishers often look to the Church as their last hope, and we cannot fail or abandon them,”
 
The group also provides counseling and emergency response onboard and ashore, according to Rev. Colón, who made a film about the group’s interaction with the mariners and deep-sea fishermen.
 
With volunteers from the three congregations, the mission provides necessities such as soap and razors, meals, cell phones and phone cards. At this special time of year, volunteers meet to fill stockings with shampoo and shaving cream, as well as small gifts to their children, for whom their fathers may not have time or money to shop.
 
This year, for its first large-scale fund-raising, the ministry held a gourmet tasting at Union Church, which by offering its space made the triangle into a square.
 
The all-you-could eat- meal, at $25 a pop, including all the wine you could drink, netted more than $1,500. The buffet represented the international character of the mission, with finger food from Cairo’s, Tantra, Antonio’s, Shannon’s, Pizzeria Uno, Pelayo, and.  Buen Café, an excellent, informal restaurant near the church, offered a meal for two, which was the most popular raffle prize. The musicians provided a backdrop for the evening, which was held in the large air-conditioned, brightly lighted hall, and very well attended. The yellow and blue décor, representing sand and sea, was carried out with shells, stones and other marine themes.
 
The English congregation of St. John the Baptist, which I attend most Sunday mornings, is always throwing some bash which is hard to resist. In addition to the Youth Group’s Spaghetti Dinner, and the West Indian Dinner, the latest success was the Harvest Festival, a kind of post-Thanksgiving celebration topped off by a delicious lunch cooked by the churchwomen, including Mavis Hobson’s juicy turkey, and her beautiful decorations.  December 2006