Nick Joaquin and De La Salle U. live on!

On July 6, a significant book launch was held at Powerbooks in Greenbelt 4 in Makati. The first of what could be several eventual biographies of our most formidable writer in English, Nick: A Portrait of the Artist, co-authored by Antonio Joaquin and Gloria C. Kismadi, published by Anvil, made it to the stands at discounted prices for its bookpaper and newsprint editions.

Well, even at its regular prices, this book should be highly recommended for all fans and devotees of Philippine literature.

As National Bookstore’s release on the event has it, “Seven years after his death, fictionist, playwright and journalist Nick Joaquin’s legacy lives on. Through his prolific writings — both fiction and non-fiction — this National Artist for Literature has left his mark not only in the Philippine literary and journalistic community, but more importantly, in the hearts and minds of those who hold him dearest — his family, close friends and readers.”

The co-author who got the ball rolling on this project all of six years ago, Tony Joaquin, happens to be a nephew of the illustrious subject. Despite being based in the US, it was Tony who was tasked by Nick’s heirs to undertake the writing of their dearly beloved Uncle Onching’s bio. After all, Tony already has his own memoirs under his author’s wing.

In paying tribute to the National Artist for Literature, the book thus becomes “a recollection of the life of Nicomedes Joaquin, more commonly known as Nick Joaquin in the literary scene, and Quijano de Manila in the journalist community. The book is more than a simple retelling of Nick’s achievements as a writer and journalist.”

Recollections include how Nick told his mother, Doña Salome, “that he wanted to stop going to school because he believed that he would learn more by reading books in the National Library; how he would forget to buy things for himself or eat lunch because he was so engrossed with what he was reading.”

Also recounted is the time when “a broken-hearted Nick entered a seminary in Hong Kong, because he was devastated by the damage his beloved Intramuros undertook during World War II.”

Eloquently summarized in Chapter 10 is the expanding legacy of one great, principled and humane writer, in this wise:

“No one who has been touched by Nick Joaquin — through his stories and his reportage, the exceptional elegance of his language, the truths which he unfailingly lived, the depth of his personal faith and spirituality, the kindness and compassion which he so readily extended to all — will ever forget him.”

National Artist for Literature Frankie Jose recalls his abiding friendship with the late great Nick Joaquin.

Indeed, at the launch, National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose, poet Marra PL Lanot, and this writer took turns at the podium with our own recollections of the man and the writer. Manong Frankie recounted many heartwarming episodes in their deep friendship, including their quarrels that were always resolved when beer was brought into the scene. Most memorable among Frankie’s anecdotes, and one that drew much laughter from the appreciative audience, was of that night when Frankie was brought into a girlie bar where he heard someone loud on a front seat hollering “Take it off! Take it off!” And he knew without even seeing the boisterous fellow that the booming voice could only have been that of his buddy Nick’s.

For her part, Marra recalled the first time she met the man, then literary editor at the Philippines Free Press, when she submitted a poem for consideration. He asked her to wait until he read it, said the poem was fit for publication, and then asked if she was related to Serafin Lanot. Marra owned up to being his daughter, and Nick escorted her home that night because he hadn’t seen his friend Serafin for a long time. That started his regular wassailing nights at the Lanot residence.

Marra and I both shared stories about Nick’s infamous white handkerchief, on which he often blew his nose before waving it at his courtiers’ faces. In our case, since he was paying for the beer, and often lamented our lack of literary production because of all that drinking, that hankie was used as a veritable weapon for serial individual assault.

The biography signals a Nick Joaquin Festival launched by NBS and Powerbooks in their branches. Running from July 11 to Aug. 11, the fest also highlights the recent release of three modestly priced editions of Joaquin’s works: the fiction pieces “Candido’s Apocalypse,” “May Day Eve,” and “Summer Solstice.” Other NJ titles will also be on display and sale. Buyers of an assortment of the books can get a free Nick Joaquin commemorative T-shirt.

On June 17, the De La Salle University Academic Publications Office conducted the DLSU Centennial book launch at Manila Metropolitan Museum on Roxas Blvd. Quite a milestone this event was for Philippine publishing, academic or otherwise.

With the university turning a hundred this year, the Publications Office, under the stewardship of Executive Publisher Dr. Isagani R. Cruz, our good friend and fellow Philippine STAR columnist, saw fit to help celebrate the centenary by launching what is billed as The Centennial Set — a total of 17 books authored and/or edited by DLSU stalwarts among its vaunted faculty.

Co-authors Antonio Joaquin and Gloria Kismadi at the book launch of Nick: A Portrait of the Artist

As a set, when laid out standing together, the books’ spines offer a striking photographic image that is a resplendent nighttime view of the DLSU-Taft campus.

Undertaken in partnership with C-E Publishing, Anvil Publishing, CentralBooks, Vibal Foundation, and Phoenix Publishing, the Centennial Set is composed of the following titles:

De La Salle University in the Republic of the Philippines’ Brothers’ District by Br. Andrew B. Gonzalez FSC; De La Salle University Story: The Early Years by Cirilo F. Bautista; From the Blood of Martyrs: 25 Years of the Rebuilding and Development of De La Salle College (1946-1971) by Marjorie M. Evasco; The Fellowship Lectures, edited by Susan M. Gallardo; Dadaanin, edited by Alwin C. Aguirre and Nonon V. Carandang; 100 Taon ng Pamantasan, 100 Tao sa Nakaraan, 100 Haiku by Tereso S. Tullao, Jr.; A Treat of 100 Short Stories, edited by Gerardo Z. Torres, 100 Poems: Cirilo F. Bautista, edited by Santiago B. Villafania;

Sagurong: 100 na Kontemporanyong Rawitdawit sa Manlain-lain na Tataramon Bikol, edited by Paz Verdades M. Santos and Kristian Sendon Cordero; Selected Studies in Environment and Health, edited by Exaltacion Ellevera-Lamberte; Rethinking Perspective and Practices: Thriving, Moving Out of Poverty in Cities by Exaltacion Ellevera-Lamberte; Filipino Colonial History and Legacy, edited by Ferdinand D. Dagmang; Studies in Religion and Theology: Issues and Perspectives, edited by Rito V. Baring; Feminista: Gender, Race and Class in the Philippines, edited by Noelle Leslie G. de la Cruz and Jeane C. Peracullo; Issues and Trends in Applied Linguistics in the Philippines, edited by Shirley N. Dita; Promoting Philippine Enterprise Development, edited by Andrea L. Santiago; and The De La Salle University Press by Agnes C. Malcampo.

Of initial particular interest to me among these titles is of course the one that offers marvelous poetry — by our good friend Cirilo F. Bautista, whose every poem (and here there’s a hundred of them) stands as a milestone in Philippine literature.

Additional Centennial titles are: The Names and Faces of People: Collected Stories by Vic H. Groyon; and Lasang LaSallian, edited by Nonon Villaluz Carandang and Rakki E. Sison-Buban. 

Now I would have appreciated a volume, with lotsa pics, on the legacy of Green Archers’ basketball. I still recall — although the episode dates back to more than half a century ago — prized center Kurt Bachmann and his mother, as well as her umbrella. Maybe it’s not too late to run up a coffee-table book on such athletic and familial exploits.

The DLSU Centennial Set of 17 books plus two

The Centennial Set was sold at a launching price of P21,000, with free delivery. Well, the entire set does have considerable weight. For inquiries, interested parties may contact Joanne at 524-4611 loc. 271 or 523-4281 (telefax), or e-mail the publications office at acadpublications@gmail.com.