ABOUT CURTIS

Curtis W. Long is neither scholar, intellectual nor academic. He is, in varying degrees, a maverick; iconoclast; armchair-revolutionary; romanticist; language teacher; lyricist; musicologist; stenographer; composer of popular songs; poet; adventurer; linguist; writer and translator-not necessarily in that order.

Curtis was born in 1929, and-except for three childhood years spent in Columbia, South Carolina-lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until the end of the forties. The first capital of the United States is endowed with deep historical and cultural roots. This influence apparently was absorbed by Curtis, and probably accounts for many political allusions in his work and an abiding interest in the performing arts and the expressivity of the written word.

After travel and residence in many different parts of the United States mainland, Alaska and Japan, under military auspices, Curtis lived for several years in California. Contact with a Tijuana, Mexico group involved with the nascent rock music, convinced him of the creative validity of his lyric-translating pastime.

Curtis returned to Philadelphia for a brief time. In 1967, he proceeded to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there, a Berlitz School of Languages-assignment took him to Mexico City. That was the culmination of a long-held desire; he had, for some time, wanted to ply his song-translating skills in the Latin American Mecca of popular music.

After unimaginable personal contact with the popular music elite of Mexico, Curtis returned to Puerto Rico. This provided him the opportunity to renew and broaden contacts with Puerto Rico's popular music elite, as well as to continue with those acquired in Mexico City.

There was a hiatus back to California, in the early seventies, with a return to Puerto Rico in 1976, which lasted until the close of 1979. Since then, except for travels to Europe, North Africa, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba--and many trips to the East Coast--Curtis has resided in San Diego.

Since retiring from regular employment in 1994, macular degeneration has deprived Curtis of the central vision of both eyes, rendering him legally blind. Nevertheless, with the use of special equipment, he has managed to:

• Translate and have published by the San Diego State University Press, "The Whispering Voices of Atabalpa," an award-winning Mexican novel (Donde las voces se guardan) by Marco Antonio Samaniego.
• Become an associate partner, writer and translator with RosArt Multimedia, Inc., a versatile and growing cyber-based phenom, presided over by José Rosa, a long-time friend and business colleague.
• Complete the libretto and lyrics of "Playing the Game," an original musical, with good-friend and composer Tommy Dodson of Los Angeles.
• Finish the manuscript of "Duende," a memoir that covers the Latin American music experience.
• Begin, with Tommy Dodson, the libretto of "Naomi and Ruth," an opera based on the Old Testament Book of Ruth, set in early twentieth century.
• Teach a Spanish class at the Braille Institute without the benefit of a lesson plan, textbooks or other visual references.

A more detailed account of the above may be found by conducting a word-search of the "Duende" manuscript, which is available in its entirety, in the book section of this site.