My husband, Ben Cabrera, had always been fascinated by people from all backgrounds, mainly as subjects for his photography and paintings. For some years before I met him, he had already established an artist/model relationship with a scavenger in the Tondo squatter area of Manila where he had been brought up. The scavenger’s name was … Continue reading The Octopus Man
TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGING
“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land And don’t criticize what you don’t understand Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand For the times they are a-changin’ “ This was the voice … Continue reading TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGING
DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF THEIR SHOES – PROLOGUE
This is the prologue of my historical novel, set in India and the Philippines in the 18th Century. Prologue: Sulu Archipelago, Philippine Islands, 15 April 1756 My head bowed I paused for a moment to compose myself. Then, with eyes closed, teeth clenched and muscles tensed against pain, I drew the ornate, double-bladed dagger slowly … Continue reading DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF THEIR SHOES – PROLOGUE
THE ORIGINAL IGO-ROCKET MAN
(An Interview with Kidlat Tahimik by Caroline Kennedy) London, November 1980 “And it’s going to be a long, long time Till touchdown brings me home and they’ll find I’m not the man they think I am at home, Oh, no, no, no, I’m the rocket man….” (with apologies to Elton John) Kidlat Tahimik, alias Eric … Continue reading THE ORIGINAL IGO-ROCKET MAN
A Valentine Memory
“Great! That’s it!” Nick Joaquin (aka Quijano de Manila), the Filipino National Artist for Literature clapped his hands. Under the light of the tiffany lamp his eyes sparkled. “That’s it!” he repeated as though we could all read his mind. “What? What’s it?” I asked. We were sitting around the centre table at Los Indios … Continue reading A Valentine Memory
Nestled into the lush foothills of the massive southern mountain range overlooking Costa Rica’s Central Valley the ramshackle fortress of El Buen Pastor has obviously fallen on hard times. Not so long ago it was deemed unfit for its current use and condemned for demolition. So further down the road a more modern extension is … Continue reading
It Happened In Paradise – A Cautionary Tale
“Costa Rica is a paradise, a virtual Garden of Eden” or so the tourist brochures lead us to believe. Turn the pages of any guide book and, doubtless, you will read glowing reports about this “peaceful” country, with its stable government, its lack of an army, its protected national parks, its teeming wildlife, its breathtaking … Continue reading It Happened In Paradise – A Cautionary Tale
What If?
What if you made your way home from work one day, or from shopping in your local supermarket or, like 11-year-old Merima, coming home from school? And, just as you do every day, you turn the corner to enter your street… But...what if...where your street used to be there is a huge, gaping crater...and, further up … Continue reading What If?
ONE LITTLE GIRL
Once upon a time there was a little girl. She was a beautiful little girl, everyone agreed. She had dark hair, pale skin and almond eyes. And she sang like an angel. Everyone agreed on that too. Until she was 10 our little girl lived in the big city. It was a sprawling, bustling, … Continue reading ONE LITTLE GIRL
THE FUGITIVE KIND
Harry Rose was a character. It wouldn’t take long for anyone meeting him for the first time to come to this conclusion. I certainly knew this to be true the minute I met him. I also instinctively knew that we were destined to get along together. From the moment his lips parted revealing a … Continue reading THE FUGITIVE KIND
Caroline Kennedy: My Travels 