Martin Espada is a fine poet and editor of the best-selling (poetry-wise)
anthology _Poetry Like Bread: Poets of the Political Imagination_
(Curbstone, 1994)-- His situation, as you'll see, is pretty difficult.
Please consider helping with a donation, even if it's small.
Kent
>From: [log in to unmask]
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: No Subject
>Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 14:50:25 EDT
>
>Some of you may have read the work of Martín Espada - I had the privilege
>of
>sharing a venue with him in 1993 so I'm hoping that you'll join with these
>others to help.
>
>
>this is where support of poets counts. Please do your best to help
>
>publicize Martin Espada's plight. He is an excellent poet, teacher and
>
>translator who has contributed greatly in making Pablo Neruda's poetry
>
>known, understood and loved.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>From: Joe Gouveia [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>
>Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 7:56 PM
>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Subject: poet Martín Espada
>
>
>
>
>I received the following email. I'm doing what I can to help...please
>
>everyone do the same. And please help in passing this email along.
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>
>Joe Gouveia
>
>
>
>
>
>Dear Friends:
>
>
>It's time to rally around poet Martín Espada.
>
>Martín, his wife Katherine, and their son Klemente are going through a
>
>very difficult time. Several months ago, at age 44, Katherine suffered a
>
>stroke, with damage to the right side of the brain. A teacher, Katherine
>
>found that she could not read or write; an artist, she discovered that she
>
>could not paint, or even draw the face of a clock; an athlete, she realized
>
>that she could not swim, and for a time required a wheelchair. Though
>
>she is recovering -- now reading, writing, painting -- Katherine still
>
>experiences numbness on her left side, loss of vision in her left eye,
>
>memory loss, dizzy spells, spatial disorientation, exhaustion and migraine
>
>headaches (which triggered the stroke).
>
>In the weeks prior to Katherine's stroke, Martín himself was diagnosed
>
>with serious conditions in his neck: degenerative disc and joint diseases,
>
>bone spurs, stenosis, herniated discs and pinched nerves. For a while,
>
>as a result of nerve problems, he lost the use of his right arm. A
>
>neurosurgeon informed him that he would need multiple operations or
>
>risk paralysis. Though Martín has responded very well to alternative
>
>therapies, he, like Katherine, will require ongoing treatment and
>
>monitoring.
>
>Their health insurance is inadequate, leaving essential treatments and
>
>medications partially covered or not covered at all. They have incurred
>
>still
>
>more expenses for everything from laundry to housecleaning, tasks they
>
>can no longer manage themselves; it has been a logistical nightmare to
>
>find friends who can drive them to their medical appointments. To deal
>
>with his wife's stroke and his own medical problems, Martín has cut back
>
>drastically on his travel for readings. His income has plummeted as his
>
>costs have risen.
>
>A poet whose work has healed many now needs our healing help. We,
>
>his colleagues, students, and readers, must take action. We've set up a
>
>bank account on his behalf and urge you to make out a check to Poetry
>
>Like Bread. Send it to: Poetry Like Bread, c/o Peter Desmond, 93 Montgomery
>
>Street, Cambridge, MA 02140. You can wire money directly to the account.
>The
>
>
>routing number of Cambridge Trust is 011300595, and the account number is
>
>90690520. (Mailing your gift will save you bank charges.)
>
>The last poem in the anthology Poetry Like Bread, edited by Martín, is
>
>"Precisely," by Daisy Zamora:
>
>Precisely because I do not have
>
>the beautiful words I need
>
>I call upon my acts
>
>to speak to you.
>
>For more information, e-mail Peter Desmond at [log in to unmask]
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