{"id":7889,"date":"2011-02-22T21:26:32","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T04:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=7889"},"modified":"2011-02-22T21:41:14","modified_gmt":"2011-02-23T04:41:14","slug":"homage-for-victor-martinez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/","title":{"rendered":"Homage for Victor Martinez"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-7891\" href=\"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/2011\/02\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/victor-martinez-1\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-7891\" title=\"victor martinez 1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1.jpg?resize=262%2C432&#038;quality=89&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"262\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1.jpg?resize=291%2C480&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 291w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1.jpg?resize=600%2C987&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1.jpg?resize=151%2C250&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 151w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1.jpg?w=1366&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1 1366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\" \/><\/a>On Friday, Feb. 18, my friend of more than 33 years, Chicano poet\/novelist V\u00edctor Mart\u00ednez, passed away from complications of lung cancer. He was only 56 years old. V\u00edctor was the author of the celebrated novel Parrot in the Oven that was awarded the 1996 National Book Award for Young People\u2019s Literature, among other prestigious literary awards.<\/p>\n<p>V\u00edctor Mart\u00ednez was born and raised in Fresno, California, the fourth in a family of twelve children. He attended California State University at Fresno and Stanford University where I first met him in 1977, together with Juan Felipe Herrera. V\u00edctor held a Wallace Stagner fellowship in the Department of English. He became a very active member of the tertulias literarias that were regularly held at Chicano poet\/muralist\/visual artist Jos\u00e9 Antonio Burciaga\u2019s home in Menlo Park, near Stanford.<\/p>\n<p>Later V\u00edctor moved to the Mission District in San Francisco as Juan Felipe Herrera and I also did. The three of us lived and passed on to each other the same apartment we rented at different times on Capp Street in the heart of the Mission District. The three of us became active members of Humanizarte, a collective of Chicano poets, and later of El Centro Chicano\/Latino de Escritores. V\u00edctor was one of the regular writers and editors of La Revista Literaria de El Tecolote, contributing stupendous book, theater and film reviews.<\/p>\n<p>It was at Stanford University where V\u00edctor Mart\u00ednez met Tina Alvarez, the love of his life. One morning Tina and Vic called me to come in a hurry to their pad on Capp Street. I ran from my flat on San Jose Avenue, a few blocks away, and found out that they had decided to get married that day and they wanted me as their witness. We took a joyful BART ride to City Hall and I was the sole witness to a simple and yet profound wedding ceremony that touched my heart. V\u00edc and Tina didn\u2019t need a lot of the usual trappings to show their love and commitment to each other.<\/p>\n<p>V\u00edctor was primordially a poet. He published in 1992 a collection of poetry titled Caring for a House with Chusma House Publications. He was a long-time active member of The Grotto, the San Francisco workspace community for writers, filmmakers and other narrative artists.<\/p>\n<p>My friend, poet Lorna Dee Cervantes, best summarized V\u00edctor\u2019s unique work as a writer in a message she recently sent me: \u201cHe was the best among us. There was always something impeccable about him and his immense talent, his no bullshit ways and his unbullshitability, that thing that Hemingway said every great writer needs. How I need his poems now. How we need his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From Guatemala City, Feb. 20, 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[18445],"class_list":["post-7889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Homage for Victor Martinez - El Tecolote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homage for Victor Martinez - El Tecolote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"El Tecolote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ElTecoloteSF\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-23T04:26:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-02-23T04:41:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"El Tecolote Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@eltecolotesf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@eltecolotesf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"El Tecolote Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"El Tecolote Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/08828d10185eba96895a8363a269410e\"},\"headline\":\"Homage for Victor Martinez\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-23T04:26:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-23T04:41:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":470,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/\",\"name\":\"Homage for Victor Martinez - El Tecolote\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-23T04:26:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-23T04:41:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/en\\\/homage-for-victor-martinez\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/\",\"name\":\"El Tecolote\",\"description\":\"San Francisco's Latinx newspaper since 1970\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"El Tecolote\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/ETlogo-1.jpg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/ETlogo-1.jpg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"El Tecolote\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ElTecoloteSF\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/eltecolotesf\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/eltecolotesf\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/08828d10185eba96895a8363a269410e\",\"name\":\"El Tecolote Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9534c92c8c908364e186a64d93efc86f62367109d1b07a3454facde655968589?s=96&d=mm&r=g6afcb607783e095e4cf6be807353924d\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9534c92c8c908364e186a64d93efc86f62367109d1b07a3454facde655968589?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9534c92c8c908364e186a64d93efc86f62367109d1b07a3454facde655968589?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"El Tecolote Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eltecolote.org\\\/content\\\/author\\\/web-editor\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Homage for Victor Martinez - El Tecolote","description":"Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Homage for Victor Martinez - El Tecolote","og_description":"Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.","og_url":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/","og_site_name":"El Tecolote","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ElTecoloteSF\/","article_published_time":"2011-02-23T04:26:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-02-23T04:41:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"El Tecolote Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@eltecolotesf","twitter_site":"@eltecolotesf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"El Tecolote Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/"},"author":{"name":"El Tecolote Staff","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#\/schema\/person\/08828d10185eba96895a8363a269410e"},"headline":"Homage for Victor Martinez","datePublished":"2011-02-23T04:26:32+00:00","dateModified":"2011-02-23T04:41:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/"},"wordCount":470,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/","url":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/","name":"Homage for Victor Martinez - El Tecolote","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg","datePublished":"2011-02-23T04:26:32+00:00","dateModified":"2011-02-23T04:41:14+00:00","description":"Celebrated novelist and poet Victor Martinez passed away on Feb. 18. Poet Francisco X. Alarcon, writes a moving homage to his friend.","inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/homage-for-victor-martinez\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/victor-martinez-1-291x480.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/","name":"El Tecolote","description":"San Francisco's Latinx newspaper since 1970","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#organization","name":"El Tecolote","url":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ETlogo-1.jpg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ETlogo-1.jpg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"El Tecolote"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ElTecoloteSF\/","https:\/\/x.com\/eltecolotesf","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/eltecolotesf\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/#\/schema\/person\/08828d10185eba96895a8363a269410e","name":"El Tecolote Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9534c92c8c908364e186a64d93efc86f62367109d1b07a3454facde655968589?s=96&d=mm&r=g6afcb607783e095e4cf6be807353924d","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9534c92c8c908364e186a64d93efc86f62367109d1b07a3454facde655968589?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9534c92c8c908364e186a64d93efc86f62367109d1b07a3454facde655968589?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"El Tecolote Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/author\/web-editor\/"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"El Tecolote","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7889"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7905,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7889\/revisions\/7905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7889"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}