Born Sept. 28, 1934 in Manila, the Gamboas are originally from Silay, Negros Occidental. Fernandez, a member of the Manila Critics Circle and regular food columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, co-authored with Edilberto Alegre The Writer and His Milieu and Writers and their Milieu, landmark publications in Philippine literary oral history.
Her other books include Sarap, Kinilaw, The Iloilo Sarsuela 1903-1930, In Performance, Tikim, Palabas and Palayok. She was former chairwoman of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of Communication, and was scheduled to teach feature writing this semester.
Fernandez is survived by her sister Della Besa, who runs a Filipino fusion restaurant in New York, Cendrillon. Her husband Willi Fernandez died several years ago.
Her remains will be cremated in New York and her ashes flown back to the Philippines.
A Mass will be held tonight at 6 at the Santuario de San Antonio church in Forbes Park for the eternal repose of Fernandez’s soul.