Rest in Peace Katie Quintero

We learned that Armando's mother passed away on Sunday.  With sadness and sympathy, we extend our condolences to Armando and his family.  Below is Katie's obituary. 

Catherine Rangel Quintero, loving matriarch of a long-time Martinez family, passed away peacefully with her family by her side on June 27th, 2010. Born February 23, 1931 in Ontario, California, she moved to Martinez in the 1940‘s. She met and married her brothers best friend, the late Frank Quintero, in 1955, and raised eight children.


She loved to sing, and was a member of the St. Catherine’s of Siena choir throughout her 55 years as a dedicated parishioner. She was a “Singing Messenger”, entertaining the elderly community with song, dance and humor. She danced her way through life, both literally and figuratively, gracefully embracing life challenges, as well as taking to the floor with her husband and her closest companion, Gloria Quintero, nearly every weekend. As a member of the Guadalupana Society, she volunteered her time and services by creating a local Ballet Folklorico dance troupe when her children were young, teaching dancing and organizing performances for local events. When she and her husband Frank bought a Union 76 gas station in downtown Martinez, she became the iconic “service with a smile” for all local residents. She was a member of Chi Lambda, Young Ladies Institute, Maria Auxiliadora and in her final years, kept active in the Forget-Me-Nots program at the Martinez Senior Center.


Known as “Katie” to most, as “Cat” to long-time friends and family, and as “Uela” or “Ueli” to her grandchildren, she will always be remembered for her unconditional love and acceptance of everyone whose path she crossed, providing gentle reminders to live each moment with the grace of God, and to live by the golden rule-- to treat others exactly the way you wish to be treated. She leaves her legacy as inspired joy within each person who knew her well, and will continue to live on as a constant presence, angel and spiritual guide.


Catherine was the youngest of eleven children. She was predeceased by her husband Frank Quintero, her brothers Catalino Mora, Lupe Rangel, Benjamin Rangel, Salvador Rangel and Alfonso Rangel, and her sisters Dolores Mora Perez, and Sister Maria Teresa, O.S.F. She is survived by her sisters Ester Perez of Concord, CA. and Grace Arellano of Ontario, CA., and her brother Louis Rangel of Martinez. She leaves eight children and their families, Armando Quintero and Brigid Breen and their daughters Lily and Isabella; Eduardo and Phyllis Quintero, their children Joshua and Maria, and their daughter-in-law Heather; Patricia and Dave Brouillette and their sons Wiley and Jesse; Juanita Lynn Quintero and her children Mickey, Mikaela, Frank, Karleena and Corigan; Marialicia and George Pangilla and their children Preston and Sadie; Leticia and Bill Ralls and their children Katie and Jack; Raquel and Jim Lakeman and their sons Frank and Louie, and Shanti Kim Quintero and Brian Johnson and their daughters Sidy and Miya. The family extends their love and deep appreciation to her longtime friend and caregiver, Maria Luisa.


Visitation will be on Wednesday, June 30th, beginning at 5:00 p.m. to be immediately followed with the Rosary at 7:00 p.m. The funeral mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on July 1st. All services will take place at Saint Catherine of Siena Church.


In lieu of flowers or other contributions, donations may be made to Hospice of the East Bay, 3470 Buskirk Avenue, Pleasant Hill 94523 and Alzheimer’s Association at Northern California and Northern Nevada, 1060 La Avenida Street, Mountain View, CA 94043.

Paul's Perfect Paella

Acknowledgments
On Monday evening, we were invited to dine in the hills of Larkspur—or, as one of our more parochial members put it, the rump of Marin. The address was not 32 Avenida del Tibidabo, the venue was not the Aldaya Mansion, and none of Fermin Romero de Torres’ signature sandwiches was on our menu. Instead, Paul’s home and his hospitality met and raised Zafon on every count. His beautifully rebuilt house, nestled atop a ridge with views of both Mt. Tamalpais and San Francisco Bay, exceeded anything described in Daniel Sempere’s post-war Barcelona.

Once inside, the literary atmospherics escalated. Paul printed out menu cards, featuring selected quotes from The Shadow of the Wind, for each place setting.  Other excerpts from the book were typed up and strewn around the kitchen.  Nice touches, yes. But while his prominently displayed Library of Forgotten Books may have struck some as a clever riff on Zafon’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books, others were not amused by this cruel jab at the collected works of the Man Book Club.

As always, though, our evening was sustained by food. In this case, excellent food. From the Spanish cava to the Catalonian bruschetta, our appetites were duly prepared for a well-rehearsed and perfectly executed paella, preceded by gazpacho and followed by a Catalonian custard. Buen provecho, Paul!

The Book
The Shadow of the Wind traces the parallel lives (and forbidden loves) of Daniel Sempere, the young narrator, and Julian Carax, a local author whose disappearance becomes Daniel’s obsession and very nearly his undoing.  Despite the sound and the fury that followed our selection of The Shadow of the Wind, the surprise was that most of us actually enjoyed reading Zafon’s international bestseller. (And that includes Doug, even if he did liken the book to Harry Potter.)

We argued whether it was high lit, low lit, or even good lit (with takers for all three), whether the characters measured up to the florid prose (yes for me and Tom J.), whether the book was memorable (Paul) or forgettable (Glenn), and—most polarizing of all—whether this novel was written for a young adult audience (Tom A. argued the contrary, while conceding that teen fiction is where Zafon made his name).

Apart from all this disputation, the consensus was that Zafon had created an enjoyable narrative with an evocative and authentic style. This consensus, and our herd instinct (or pussy voting, according to the namecallers), produced a narrow voting range, with a middle-of-the-road result of 6.9. Interestingly, our rating would have been in the 7’s were it not for Stan (6) and Garth (5), the only men who didn’t finish the book.

Next Up
Armando proposed an eclectic set of titles for our consideration for next month's meeting. His absence, however, resulted in an extended debate over our selection process. Without the slightest irony, one of us (who notoriously relies on his father for book ideas) insisted that the upcoming host should first read the titles he puts forward.  In the end, we reverted to tradition and overwhelmingly opted for Tinkers, Paul Harding’s winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Next month we’ll see if this neatly mannered family history meets our exacting summer reading standards.

Armando's Books for July

Lost City of Z by David Grann

Grann's awards include: Samuel Johnson Prize, shortlist 2009, Michael Kelly award, finalist 2005 ,Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, 1989.

This is about the adventures of explorer Lt Colonel Percy Harrison, famous fellow who disappeared in the Amazon. David Grann takes you on his travels as he ravels and unravels this mystery. #1 on the NYTimes Bestseller list.

Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon

Chabon received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2007. Folks love and hate this book. This is his take on being a Dad, today. He takes us on daily life, with stories and tangents, and explores societal expectations about Dads.

The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin

An English novelist and travel writer, Chatwin won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel On the Black Hill (1982).

Bruce Chatwin's book is ostensibly an examination of the Australian Aboriginal notion of the Songline: a song that relates a series of geographical locations ranging from one coast to another, tied to the (mythical) creation of an animal, that in a variety of languages unified by tune sings out the geography of the route. He explores this abstract concept through the agency of Arkady and a cast of other Whites who live and work amongst the Aborigines in the harsh heart of Australia, defending their rights and interpreting their rites.

Tinkers by Paul Harding

Tinkers (2009) won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.  The board called the novel "a powerful celebration of life in which a New England father and son, through suffering and joy, transcend their imprisoning lives and offer new ways of perceiving the world and mortality." Tinkers was also shortlisted for the Mercantile Library First Novel Award, named one of the hundred Best Novels of 2009 by Publishers Weekly and Amazon.com, and one of the Best Books of 2009 by NPR and by Library Journal.

--Armando

Hunger - it's what's for dinner!

I was unable to write. Everything around bothered me and distracted me; everything I saw obsessed me. If only one good thought would rush in, then words would come!

The setting sun bounced off the deep blue horizon, like a medicine ball dropped on a Doberman Pinscher from a great height, then rolling into a fireplace and immolating itself like a Phoenix turned to ash. (Paul) I went to a friend's house. His name was Stan. He gave me food, for my writing. (John) Stan is a very controlling host. I wonder what his next book will be. Seems like he enjoys the senses (Blindness, Hunger), so what's next? (unsigned) Yes, Stan is testing us. But we cannot be fooled! We want our food!!! (Tom J.) F&*# this! (Andrew)

They try to divert me, with stories of voyeuristic children's toys and tales of home construction, men riding high on giant wooden beams suspended from cranes, like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove. Young people are triumphing in lacrosse and water polo, going to new high schools and new colleges. They have hopes and futures to look forward to. I have a blog entry.

"One roast beef!" I said. I started eating; gradually I became more and more ravenous and swallowed whole pieces without chewing them. I tore at the meat like a cannibal. Chips, guacamole, salsa, salad, potatoes. How can such foods fuel my masterpiece? Bread, yes bread is my friend, but so much good wine and beer makes my writing insane, or annoying (but not funny).

Thoughts of last night's adventure flooded over me, made me almost delirious. I remember that they talked of the book. (That twit translator George Egerton! That thoughtless writer-of-other-people's-forewords Paul Auster! I will not waste my spit on them.) It was like a vein opening, one word followed the other, arranged themselves in right order, created situations; scene piled on scene, actions and conversations welled up. Every word I set down came from somewhere else:

"It gave me a better perspective on homeless people and the psychosis of hunger." (Dean)

"It reminds us that homeless people have a lot going on inside." (George)

"It was a stream of consciousness, but of a bipolar schizo. His writing was more intelligent than his actions. I like to see characters change and grow, to be affected by something." (Larry)

"It was a boring, irritating, honest character study of someone going crazy. Did he imagine the woman? Who would be attracted to him?" (Paul)

"My ADD and his psychosis didn't match. I kept falling asleep after reading only 2 pages; it was brutal. All acute angles, with no rhyme or reason." (John)

"The book is amazing in a historical context, portraying the amorphous life of the subconscious. But no one progressed - was there a method to his madness or was he just a whack job? It reminded me of the fish in the Citi Card commercial." (Doug)
(at 0:20 mark in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xvUkHqEDX4 )

"I struggled to like it at first, but it grew on me. Why was he honest with the girl? He had a compulsion to be outdoors and on the outskirts." (Andrew)

"I tried to hate it, but I ended up loving it. It's funnier than crap, because the guy is such a moron." (Dan)

"I skipped ahead 50 pages, and the same things were still happening." (Dean)

"This book is an important byway of literature, but really hard to read, like Crime and Punishment, but without all the happy, fun parts. What would great fictional characters be like if they were medicated?" (Tom A.)

"It was almost comical, but reading it was such torture that reaching the ending came as a relief. The author keeps putting him in "no, don't do that" situations, but he's completely self-destructive, and he keeps trying to drag in God. You can see how this book is related to Kafka, Camus and Nietzsche." (Stan)

"It was OK." (Tom J.)

They say the protagonist denied himself opportunities, but maybe deprivation is exactly what he needed to bring out the worst in his writing. It has worked for me.

It was the best piece I had ever read in my life. I became giddy with contentment, gladness swelled up in me, I felt myself to be magnificent. Then I stopped, my head was empty, I couldn't do any more. It was time to end the whole business now! I began staring with eyes wide open at these final words, at this unfinished page. At the end, I couldn't understand what was going on, I had no thoughts at all.

Paul's Book Suggestions for June

I’m departing a bit from the usual “here is the long review of each book from some famous source” and distilling this (or dropping this down to) a level that makes it easier to decide. I’ve included what I think are the two key decision points for this group – identifying each books’ level of misogynism, and outlining the likely dinner for the evening. After all, if you’d known you’d be eating gonads, would you have voted for Power of the Dog?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, 541 pages

Review quotes: “Brilliant and hugely ambitious…it’s the kind of book that can be life changing” (New York Times) “Thought provoking, life-affirming, triumphant, and tragic” (The Guardian)

My take: While we’re just coming out of a reading of another one of Stan’s depression and claustrophobia inducing books, Zusak’s view of Nazi Germany in the early years of the war through both the eyes of Death and a young girl is intriguing and thought provoking. It also addresses the Jewish persecution in a slightly different way. OK, it’s a bit north of 500 pages, but many of those pages are short ones with “Death” commentary, and it’s a decidedly different view of the war. The pages turn quickly.

Level of Misogynism: Moderate.

Dinner: I ain’t cooking German because it’s not my thing, but I’ll take some liberties with this and say I can choose any country they conquered during the first couple years of the war. I’m thinking a big Greek party meal on the patio with a view of the bay.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 480 pages

Review quotes: “Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show” (NY Times) “Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic, and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up Shadow of the Wind” (Washington Post)

My take: Totally biased, given what I did last summer (that would be my vacation to Spain, not those other things you’re not supposed to mention). This book is set in Barcelona over the years following WWII, as a young boy is growing up and dealing with love, evil characters, mystery, and especially, books. He works in his father’s antiquarian bookstore, makes friends with odd and fascinating people, faces danger and women (sometimes both at once) and tries to reconcile the present with the past. The story is good. The writing is great. I found myself frequently stopping and reading quotes to anyone around me; I found it that well written.

Level of Misogynism: Moderate.

Dinner: Think Spain. Sangria, homemade gazpacho, tapas, various meats, a wonderful spread of tastes and good Rioja.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, 321 pages

Review quotes: “Joyful in its language, creative in its narration, and affecting in its story, this is a terrific book” (Seattle Times) “…had me riveted to its pages until the book was finished…just read it” (Peter Egan, Road & Track)

My take: This isn’t a book with massive gravitas, but if you want an enjoyable, fast-paced summer read, this is the book of the bunch to plump for. The story is told through the eyes of Enzo, a dog, who is probably smarter than humans but of course can’t actually talk. His “owner” is an amateur race car driver. We see a life story (of the human) as seen from Enzo’s perspective. Sort of a more adult Marley and Me, but don’t let that put you off. It’s not a book that will score at the top of our ratings because it’s not some serious, dark novel. But who cares? You don’t have to like racing to like this book, but if you do, bonus. And, if you don’t like racing, you’re not a real man (remember, Hemingway said “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”)

Level of Misogynism:  N/A

Dinner: A bit of a wild card. Then again, as Enzo and his human love watching Formula One Grands Prix, I can probably pick any track’s country for the dinner. Let’s see…there is a Spanish Grand Prix…

Women by Charles Bukowski, 290 pages

Review quotes: Doesn’t matter. It’s Bukowski.

My take: OK, let’s get past the fact that I can love this book simply for the fact that its title seems anathema to our club, yet it’s written by one of the crustiest misogynists who ever lived. What fun. It is raw, direct, and foul. The level of sex and drinking in this makes Tropic of Cancer look minor league by comparison. What’s not to like about a book that starts out “I was 50 years old and hadn’t been to bed with a woman for four years”, then has our (protagonist? AntiChrist? whatever) go berserk with women. He becomes a famous poet, “reveling in his sudden rock star life, running three hundred hangovers a year, and maintaining a sex life that would cripple Casanova”. You won’t vote for this as best book of the year, but it doesn’t matter. Just don’t let your kids pick it up.

Level of Misogynism: High.

Dinner: Whisky. Beer. Wine. Hard liquor drinks. More whisky. And something to eat to keep it all down.