Word: montejo
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Esteban Montejo's autobiography is no more and no less than that. Shaped from notes and tape recordings, the recollections of this 107-year-old Cuban, now living in an old soldiers' home outside Havana, have all the rough charm of folk art. Such praise is not patronizing. Behind Montejo's colorful directness is a robust self-consciousness and dignity that should be the envy of his more sophisticated readers. The key to Montejo's attitude toward the ups and downs of his life is his phrase, "This is not sad because it is true...
Hammer on the Tree. Montejo tells how, in 1868, he escaped the whips, chains and involuntary toil of a sugar plantation and lived a jungle-boy existence for twelve years. In 1880, when slavery was abolished in Cuba, he returned to human society. His descriptions of village life resurrect a forgotten world. He recalls work, fiestas, cock fights, fashions and trysts in the cane fields with a simplicity that imparts an aura of vitality and grace. Even the supernatural is treated in a tone as matter of fact as a fried egg: "If a person wants to make a pact...
...otherwise generous spirit, Montejo seems to have been extremely miserly with his personal independence. With typical Latin machismo, he brags about his womanizing and the fact that no female ever succeeded in tying him down. Indeed, Montejo appears to have made a successful career out of avoiding entangling alliances of any sort. Who can blame him for being a little self-satisfied about it? At 107, Montejo clearly has reason to believe that he must be doing something right...