John, I can't answer your question--I'm not privy to the inner workings of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture--as I don't know what the future plans for Lewis' unedited works are.
What I will say is, you never know! Sonia ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Raposo" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 7, 2012 7:30:08 AM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores Thank you! You are correct; I did misread the text. Are there any plans for publishing some of the unedited manusxripts which Lewis left behind? From: Sonia Pacheco <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, July 6, 2012 4:49 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores John--you misread the email. The person who responded is named "Helen Cunha Kerner". Lewis' official biography is as follows (my institution has his archives and Prof. Frank Sousa, of UMD, has researched and subsequently published, a number of articles about Lewis and his writing). Alfred Alfred Lewis’s literary accomplishments include nine novels, six plays, around two hundred poems, and forty-three short stories, that we know of. One novel was published during his lifetime. Home is an Island , published by Random House in 1951, tells the tale of a young man in the Azores about to immigrate to America. It became a bestseller and was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, Chicago Sunday Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. The sequel to Home is an Island , Sixty Acres and a Barn, was published posthumously in 2005 by the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Lewis’s many poems, written in English and Portuguese, were published in journals and newspapers. An important compilation of his poems entitled Aguarelas florentinas e outras poesias (Angra do Heroismo), was published in the Azores in 1986. To Lewis’s credit, his short stories, some of which were published, were twice referenced in Best American Short Stories in 1949 and 1950. All through his life, Lewis wrote articles, short stories and poems for the Portuguese-American press, - O Liberdade, O Lavrador Portuges, and O Jornal de Noticias - and a column entitled "The Far Corner," for local papers. Born in 1902 on the island of Flores, Alfred Lewis emigrated from the Azores to the United States in 1922; he first arrived in Providence, Rhode Island and then moved on to California, where he lived for the rest of his life. He married Rose Cecelia Rimola in 1930; they had one daughter, Suzanne. At age 12 Lewis experienced an attack of poliomyelitis, to which he attributed his lifelong passion for sitting and reading, and ultimately writing, as opposed to physical pursuits. In California, Lewis worked diverse jobs at different times to earn a living - he became a typesetter, clerked in a dry goods store, and worked as a wireless operator. Lewis also worked in real estate and insurance and did translations. He taught himself to write in English, studied law, and served as a city judge from 1938 to 1947 in Los Banos, California. He was somewhat of a local celebrity in Los Banos, where he lived. He later considered his most important contribution to be a counselor of sorts to Portuguese immigrants in the San Joaquin Valley. He helped them write letters, read documents, and navigate banks and other institutions, all for no remuneration. Sónia Pacheco Librarian Archivist Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese American Archives Claire T. Carney Library University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 285 Old Westport Road N. Dartmouth, MA 02747 Tel. 508-999-8695 Fax 508-999-8424 Email [email protected] Web site: http://www.lib.umassd.edu/archives/Archives.html From: "John Raposo" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, July 6, 2012 4:41:14 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores I have her as Suzanne. I wonder where the Cunha name come from? Is she still alive? Could Could Alfred and Rose have had a Suzanne and adopted a Helen? John From: helen kerner <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, July 6, 2012 1:18 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores Rose was Alfred's wife. Her family was Italian. They had one adopted daughter. helen cunha kerner From: celeste perry <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, July 6, 2012 8:08:23 AM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores Leave it to genealogists to :dig" out the information! Celeste Celeste Perry [email protected] From: John Raposo <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 6, 2012 3:28 AM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores Cecelia Rimola (Alfred's wife's name) does not sound like a Portuguese name to me, but you never know. Home is an Island is an autobiographical novel, but noy a biography or memoir. I wonder if Alfred's daughter Suzanne is still alive and living in Los Banos? John From: celeste perry <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, July 5, 2012 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores I don't know, Helen. Where did you find the answer? I am curious to know if he did or not. In the other book I just read, "Dark Stones," by Dias de Melo, Francisco did return and marry his Maria. Celeste Celeste Perry [email protected] From: helen kerner <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, July 5, 2012 11:40 AM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores Celeste, I know quite a few people that did indeed return and marry their island sweetheart. But, did Jose return to Pico for Maria? I know the answer and will leave it up to you to discover. helen cunha kerner researching santa maria, azores From: celeste perry <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, July 5, 2012 10:24:00 AM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores I just finished, "Home is an Island" and read about the author (I seem to do things in reverse order!). The dust cover says he "immigrated to California in 1922, learned English only after arriving in America and went on to study law and became a municipal judge in the San Joaquin Vally." Since the book ends with Jose leaving the Azores, I was curious as to what happened to Jose. I am assuming Jose was Alfred Lewis' experience in his homeland until he left for America. Now, I am pretty sure he did not return to Pico and his beloved, Maria da Serra. Celeste Perry [email protected] From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, July 5, 2012 4:41 AM Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] History of the Azores Thanks Celeste, I will try and find those two books, and I too, would like to learn more about the life of our ancestors on the islands. AVA In a message dated 7/3/2012 1:21:26 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time (Mex, [email protected] writes: I have just finished reading "Dark Stones" by Dias de Melo. I am currently reading "Home is an Island by Alfred Lewis and both of these books have given me more understanding of what life was like for those that lived in the Azore Islands at the time my grandparents (and before their time) came to the USA. Because I lived in their home and listened to the stores told about their life before they immigrated, I thought I had a pretty clear picture of what that life was like. In 1989, I visited the continent where my grandfather was born and the village where was born where they received electricity in 1980. I saw things I had no idea existed; and, things were more "modern" than when my grandfather lived there. Although Terceira is more updated (I think the airbase has made for that change), from my first trip to Porto Judeu where my grandmother was born in 1999 and subsequent visits until 2009, I still saw bread being baked in what looked like a fireplace behind a house and stayed in hotels that had no heat in the rooms. In the winter of 2003, I thought I would freeze. The temperature was about what we have here in Hayward; however, with no heat in the room, tile floors, and cement walls, I truly got a feel for what my ancestors felt in their little villages with few things we take for granted. These 2 books have given me a sense of what the poor had to put up with. I got the feeling that if one person had 2 trees in a certain orchard, they felt superior to someone who had no trees. If a child learned to read, he was looked upon as someone who was "showing off;" and, there have always been bullies who taunted those who tried to better themselves. Celeste, Hayward, CA Celeste Perry [email protected] -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. 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