This November, as I do every November, I remember dear artists, writers, and publishers whose lives I shared all too briefly:
Felicito Abiva, Temistocles Adlawan, Shirley Advincula, Carol Afan, Nick Agudo, Rudy Alano, Wilfredo Alberca, Asuncion Albert, Odette Alcantara, Edilberto Alegre, Reynaldo Alejandro, Estrella Alfon, Zeneida Amador, Lilia Pablo Amansec, Ang Kiukok, Carlos Angeles, Pacifico N. Aprieto, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, Francisco Arcellana, Liwayway Arceo, Monico Atienza, Lamberto Avellana, Jose Ayala,
Inday Badiday, Concesa Baduel, Filemon “Billy” Balbastro Jr., Gopal Baratham, Corinta Barranco, Nazario D. Bas, Brigido C. Batungbakal, Manuel Principe Bautista, Betty Go-Belmonte, Luis Beltran, Teodoro Benigno, Trinidad Benito, Ishmael Bernal, Benjamin Bernales, Mike Bigornia, Nida Blanca, Mario Bolasco, Raul Bonoan SJ, Art Borjal, Santi Bose, Lino Brocka, Jose Buhain,
Aurelio Calderon, Jeremias A. Calixto, Giovanni Calvo, George Canseco, Guadalupe Carbonell, Ledivina Cariño, Celso Carunungan, Gabriel Casal, Alex Casambre, Levi Celerio, Claro Ceniza, Renato Constantino, Adrian Cristobal, Andres Cristobal Cruz, Jesus Cruz, Jose Cruz SJ, Patricia Melendrez-Cruz,
Concepcion Dadufalza, Edilberto Dagot, Petronilo Bn. Daroy, Joy de Castro, Pio De Castro III, Horacio de la Costa, Adul de Leon, Johnny Delgado, Ricaredo Demetillo, Francisco Demetrio, Eduardo Deveza, Pacquito Diaz, Fe Dizon, Rafael Donato FSC, Pearl Doromal, Maria Luisa Doronila, Martin Drury, Antonio Dulalia,
Antony Easthope, Jean Edades, Anacleta Encarnacion, Emigdio Enriquez, Virgilio Enriquez, Nieves Epistola, S. V. Epistola, Don Escudero, Merito Espinas, Federico Licsi Espino, Clemencia Espiritu, Aurelio Estanislao, Ariston Estrada, Frankie Evangelista, Winnie Evangelista,
Pacita Fernandez, Rudy Fernandez, Susan Fernandez, Wili Fernandez, Marcelino Foronda, Henry Francia, Hilario Francia Jr., Juan Francisco,
Lamberto Ma. Gabriel, Joseph Galdon SJ, Carolina Garcia, Pablo S. Gomez, Rita Gomez, Andrew Gonzalez FSC, NVM Gonzalez, Salvador Gonzalez, Leonor Orosa-Goquingco, Joey Gosengfiao, Sidney Greenbaum, Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero, Jean-Pierre Guingané,
Luisa Mallari-Hall, Atang de la Rama Hernandez, Antonio Hidalgo, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Eduardo Hontiveros SJ, Alejandrino Hufana, Dominador Ilio, J. Eddie Infante, Nick Joaquin, Estelita Juco, Ogie Juliano,
Lucrecia Kasilag, Maria Kalaw Katigbak, Emmanuel Lacaba, Amado Lacuesta Jr., Serafin Lanot, Jose Lansang Jr., Pura Kalaw Ledesma, Leandro Locsin, Raul Locsin, Salvador P. Lopez, Rogelio Lota, Ella Luansing, Mochtar Lubis,
Jose Maceda, Fidela “Tiya Dely” Mendoza-Magpayo, Cesar Majul, Armando Malay, Frank Mallo, Vicente Manansala, Raul Manglapus, E. Arsenio Manuel, Antonio Manuud, Bert Marcelo, Nonoy Marcelo, Josefina Mariano, Epifanio Matute, Genoveva Edroza Matute, Isagani Medina, Felicidad Mendoza, Roberto Mendoza, Eddie Mercado, Helen Meriz, Maningning Miclat, Graham Millington, Carminia Miraflor, Dominador Mirasol, Lina Espina Moore, Alfredo Morales, Santiago Adv. Mulato, Tita Muñoz,
Orlando Nadres, Julie Fe Navarro, Clovis Nazareno, Ana Maria Escalante-Neri, Antonio Ma. Nieva, Evaristo Nievera, Valerio Nofuente, Wilfrido Nolledo, Bienvenido Noriega Jr., Alfeo Nudas SJ,
Ramon Obusan, Onib Olmedo, Blas Ople, Sedfrey Ordoñez, Jose Orosa, Franklin Osorio, Fe Otanes,
Rey Paguio, Jose Villa Panganiban, Loreto Paras-Sulit, Emy Pascasio, Benjamin M. Pascual, Benjamin P. Pascual, Guillermo Pesigan, Manuel Pichel, Ponciano Pineda, Joaquin Po, Andy Poe, Fernando Poe Jr., Nina Estrada Puyat,
Douglas Quijano, Carlos Quirino, Jose Quirino, Jess Ramos, Maria Clara Ravina, Cerge Remonde, Felicitas Reyes, Godofredo S. Reyes, Evelyn Ribaya, Carolina Rionda, Pete Roa, Ruth Roa, Raul S. Roco, Francisco Rodrigo, Richard Rorty, Ma. Teresa Escoda Roxas, Ben Rubio,
Bonifacio Salamanca, Letty Salanga, Dionisio Salazar, Oscar Salazar, Leopoldo Salcedo, Rachel San Miguel, Lucio San Pedro, Romulo Sandoval, Josefa Saniel, Cirio Santiago, Bienvenido N. Santos, William Henry Scott, Raman Selden, Jesus Sibal, Bonifacio Sibayan, Rogelio Sicat, Chat Silayan, Vic Silayan, Lourdes Estela Simbulan, Felixberto Sta. Maria, Elpidio Sta. Romana, Osmundo Sta. Romana, Vito C. Santos, Max Soliven, Agustin Sotto, Ellen Stewart, Trinidad Tarrosa Subido, Conchita Sunico,
Josefina A. Tabujara, Abby Tan, Milagros Tanlayco, Alfredo Tiamson, Edilberto K. Tiempo, Edith L. Tiempo, Rolando Tinio, Lito Tiongson, Mae Astrid Tobias, Romeo Togonon, Cesario Torres, Filonila Tupas, Kerima Polotan Tuvera,
Vic Vargas, Joven Velasco, Rey Ventura, Oscar Villadolid, Danny Villanueva, Rene O. Villanueva, Manuel Viray, Wilfredo Virtusio, Virgilio Vito, Yoshiko Wakayama, Mary Walter, Leopoldo Yabes, Ernesto Superal Yee, and Winton Lou Ynion.
I also remember the departed members of the Manila Critics Circle (Leonidas Benesa, Miguel A. Bernad, Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, Doreen G. Fernandez, and Alfrredo Navarro Salanga), my bridge-playing friends (Enrique Belo, Linda Campos, Phyllis Harvey, Syed Zeyaul Hoda, Paquito Javier, Puring Javier, Polly Nestle, Dioscoro Papa, Helen Saad, Vic Santiago, Teresa Yuchengco, Efren Zaide, and Sachiko Zobel), my fellow Fulbright officers (Corazon Agrava and Marcelo Fernan), my fellow UPSCANs (Francisco Abao Jr., Ramon Casas, Violeta Calvo-Drilon, Mervyn Encanto, Generoso Gil, Louie Lagdameo, Bienvenido M. Lim Jr., Jaime Nierras, Emmeline Quinio, Wilfrido Santiano, and Raquel Zaraspe-Ordoñez), my colleagues in FUSE (Josefina Cortes, Alberto Muyot, and Marsh Thompson), my fellow former senior government officials (Emy Boncodin, Ed del Fonso, Quentin Doromal, Josefina Lichauco, Rizalino Navarro, and Victor Ordoñez), and my literary sister Lina Santos Cortes Raquion (daughter of my literary father Bienvenido N. Santos).
Please say a special prayer for my mother Pacita Ronquillo Cruz, in her youth a short story writer, and my father Ricardo Castillo Cruz, a scientist who loved to read.