Publications

Embracing America

A Cuban Exile Comes of Age

Margaret L. Paris

 University Press of Florida, December 2002

Embracing America: A Cuban Exile Comes of Age, published recently by the University Presses of Florida, describes the part Elena Maza and two of her sisters played in the historically significant but little known “Operation Pedro Pan,” an airlift of over 14,000 Cuban children who were brought to the US and placed with foster families until the anticipated war with Cuba would be over. The “war” was the futile, mismanaged Bay of Pigs; and as Castro still remained in power, the ‘Peter Pan kids” remained in the US.

Elena’s story unfolds as one of discovery and change as she became an active participant in some of the major social movements of the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s: from civil rights to protests against the war in Vietnam, to the women’s movement and the sexual revolution and drug culture of these eras. Elena matures to become an accomplished visual artist and a respected advocate in the Washington, DC arts community.

Dr. Miguel Bretos, Senior Scholar, Smithsonian Institution, who was also part of Operation Pedro Pan, has written in the Foreword, “Elena Maza’s fascinating odyssey is a story at once heart-rending and inspiring, exploring with the utmost candor the pain of exile and resettlement and the ongoing conversation with Cuba and Cuban identity. It carries the power of the personal testimony and the sweeping scope of the family saga.”

www.upf.com
It can be ordered from Amazon.com

Readings and Book Signing

 

 

 

Reading and Book Signing


December 11, 2002, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
The Cuban American National Foundation
1822 Jefferson Place NW
Washington, DC 20036

December 12 , 2 002, 6:00 - 8:00PM
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
35th & R Streets NW, Washington, D C 20007
In conjunction with a receptionat Duke Ellington foran exhibit of Elena Maza’s paintings .

December 30, 2002
Palm Shore Retirement Center
North Shore Drive
St. Petersburg, FL

January 19, 2003 , 5:00 PM
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC20008

January 29, 2003
Barnes & Noble, 7:30 PM
12089 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

April 5, 2003, 8:00 PM
Books & Books
265 Aragon Avenue
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Radio interviews: WAQI-AM - RADIO MAMBI; WDNA-FM

April 25, 2003, 7:30 PM
Bethesda Literary Festival
Fraser Gallery
7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E
Bethesda, Maryland 20814

May 3, 2003
"Networking Day," Women’s Caucus for Arts
(Reading and signing in morning part of the conference; exhibits of Elena Maza's paintings and Margaret Paris' photographs, 4:30 ­ 6:30PM)
Greenbelt Community Center
15 Crescent Road
Greenbelt, MD, 20770
This was written up in the WCA Artlines, Spring/Summer 2003

September 25, 2003
Barnes & Noble
2800 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201

October 9, 2003
Barnes & Noble
5400 New Hope Commons
Durham, NC 27702

November 2, 2003
Dover Art League
(Paintings by Elena Maza and photographs by Margaret Paris will be on exhibit)
Dover, DE

November 10, 2003
Miami Book Fair International
Miami, FL

February 14, 2004
National Conference Women’s Caucus for Arts
Seattle, WA

October 7, 2004
Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum of Art
Washington, DC

May 1, 2005
Voice Of America - interview with Elena Maza
Washington, DC

 

 


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