I was 15 years old when I got married to a handsome manong, a farm labor contractor who was also a musician. Every night during the asparagus season, he played the saxophone with the band at the Rizal Social Club. We had one son and our marriage lasted 20 years.
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— Anita F. (Navalta) Bautista is the vice president of the Stockton chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society. She writes about her personal experiences for their newsletter. The above quote is from her personal essay, “Love in the Time of Taxi Dancers,” in the October 2007 issue of Filipinas Magazine.
Kanlaon 
kathleen said,
December 30, 2007 at 7:45 pm
I got your books! Now I have to find Anita Bautista!
I got your books, as I said and WOW! I read Mayor of the Roses all the way to Montreal and I never read in the car.
You are such an inspiration. I have often thought of HOW I could write – this genre is tight. I’m going to follow your lead!
To all the blog readers, buy “Mayor of the Roses” and “Ginseng, and other tales of Manila”!
anthropologist said,
December 30, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Kathleen,
I can’t wait for YOU to write your own! I’ll be first in line to get your autograph!