In this latest episode of ITSP magazine's Audio Signals podcast, I had the pleasure of hosting a profound conversation with Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi. Ricardo's journey from Cuba to the United States is not just a personal tale but a historical and emotional chronicle, beautifully encapsulated in his book, The Mango Chronicle.
Guest: Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi, Author
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-gonzalez-rothi/
On YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@MangoforYou2day
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Host: Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast & Audio Signals Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Introduction
And here we go. Welcome to another episode of ITSP magazine's Audio Signal podcast.
I have the honor of meeting various fascinating individuals through this platform, and today, I got to chat with Ricardo, a writer, and someone whose life experiences are as rich and layered as the stories he writes. His book, The Mango Chronicle, isn't just storytelling; it's a journey through time, emotions, and the transformation of a refugee's life.
The Mango Chronicle and Ricardo's Story
Ricardo's recount of his initial years in Cuba and the eventual escape to the United States during a turbulent political period is compelling. He begins his narrative in Cuba, reminiscing about simple yet profound childhood moments with friends, like eating mangoes in a tree - a revelation that mangoes are more than just a fruit but a symbol of nostalgia and childhood joy.
Ricardo shared:
"I came to this country from Cuba as a refugee when I was just about to turn 13 years old. It wasn't an easy transition, but I have been very fortunate to be adopted by this country and to make something meaningful of my life here."
Remembering to Forget, Remembering to Forgive
One of the most poignant parts of our conversation revolved around two critical themes in Ricardo's book: remembering to forget and remembering to forgive. It’s not just his personal philosophy but a universal lesson in dealing with past trauma.
Ricardo explained how, when he first arrived in the U.S., he had to selectively remember to forget the painful memories of his departure and the struggles his family faced. Yet, it was in this forgetting that he found the strength to build a new life. On the flip side, remembering to forgive was equally essential. Forgiveness wasn’t just a decision but a needed process to release bitterness.
"You will find that many people who leave the country as refugees always hear from their parents or whatever. They would say, when we go back, things will be better, but after a couple of years, you realize that you can’t go back."
The Journey Back Home
In 2009 and again in 2016, Ricardo returned to Cuba after decades away. These trips were more than just physical journeys back to his homeland; they were profound emotional experiences.
"The first time I went back, after more than 40 years, stepping off the plane and smelling the salty air, I felt like I was home. I started to cry. By 2016, I took my wife, daughters, and sons-in-law with me. We found my old house, and although it was a bittersweet experience, it was also enriching."
The Power of Stories
Throughout our conversation, it was evident that Ricardo’s life is a testament to the power of storytelling. From his experiences in Cuba, heartbreaks, and triumphs in the U.S., to his philosophical reflections on forgiveness and remembrance - it all weaves together into a narrative that needs to be shared and heard.
"I think of it as my way of paying it forward. I'm not trying to make any personal profit from this book. Instead, I'm donating the royalties to charitable organizations, and I hope that by sharing my journey, others find hope and inspiration."
Concluding Thoughts
Ricardo’s story isn't just his own; it echoes the experiences of many who have had to leave their homes and start anew. It serves as a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the necessity of forgiveness and understanding.
For those interested, I highly recommend reading The Mango Chronicle to dive deeper into Ricardo’s thoughts, feelings, and life experiences. It's a powerful memoir that intertwines personal history with broader historical events, offering profound insights into the human condition.
Call to Action
I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of The Mango Chronicle, not only to support Ricardo’s efforts to give back but to enrich your own understanding of a pivotal time in history through the eyes of someone who lived it. Tune into Audio Signals for more such compelling conversations and stories
About the Book
A preadolescent boy is caught in Castro’s Revolution and struggles with trading a Cuban Huck Finn childhood for the price of liberty after fleeing with his family to New Jersey via Mexico.
The boy reminisces about his roots in the barrio. He chronicles spirited narratives that range from stealing a rowboat and being nearly capsized by a Russian tanker, to befriending an old fisherman who tells him a haunting tale, to being bullied by a neighborhood thug, to cockfights gone bad, and to being nearly mauled by a wild boar. He witnesses the plight of captives taken near his home during the Bay of Pigs invasion, and tries to navigate the complexities of growing up in a machismo, homophobic culture.
The U.S. blockade of Cuba during the Missile Crisis unexpectedly disrupts their egress. He and his family endure the next several months in isolation.
As a new expatriate, the boy lands in Mexico, He eventually arrives at freedom in blue-collar, New Jersey. He endures the many ordeals of being an immigrant in an at-times intolerant culture and struggles with adjusting to American life. But he perseveres.
He scratches his way from a Green Card to American citizen, then to becoming a highly respected professor of medicine at two major medical schools in the United States. He eventually returns to the island in search of his roots, of the mango tree and of the boyhood for which he so dearly longed. He doesn’t succeed altogether. But he doesn’t lose hope.
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Resources
The Mango Chronicle (Book): https://gonzalezrothiauthor.com/
The Mango Chronicle trailer: https://gonzalezrothiauthor.com/mango-chronicle/
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Book | The Mango Chronicle: A Journey Through Stories, Memories, and Forgiveness | A Conversation with Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi | Audio Signals Podcast With Marco Ciappelli
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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[00:00:00] Marco Ciappelli: And here we go. Welcome to another episode of ITSP magazine's audio signal podcast. Sometimes I have to think about it because I do have a couple of different podcasts plus the coverage. But lately, Uh, I am enjoying very, very much the audio signal podcast because it's, it allows me to meet new people.
And it's just, just about talking about cybersecurity and the future of technology and artificial intelligence, which is fascinating. Um, it's actually, I get to know people. I feel like after a podcast of an half an hour, when you talk about stories and stuff Storytelling and a book that you wrote and your own reason why you're writing.
It's kind of like, I'm not going to say you become a friend, but you, you get to know somebody pretty, pretty well. So today's actually my second podcast on Audio Signals and, uh, I have the pleasure. To be here with Ricardo, I'm going to do the all name, Ricardo Jose Gonzalez Rotti. How about that? And, uh, and we have been introduced by Ray, Raymond Paul Johnson, and, guess he has so much, such a good time that he decided to introduce me to, to a friend, which is Ricardo, which also happened to be a writer and, uh, kind of like Ray became a writer and like actually many other authors that I talked to, um, once they get to the end of their career.
Or once they finally take a break from something that is very busy, they keep them, you know, busy 24 seven with their life and, and their job. And all of a sudden they have this story inside that they want to let it out. They want to share with the public. And that's actually what we're going to talk about today with Ricardo.
So enough for me having this blah, blah, blah. Um, I'm happy to have you on the show, Ricardo. Um, let's start with. My favorite question, which is, who is Ricardo?
[00:02:06] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: My name is Inigo Montoya. I love doing characters, but Marcos, thank you for having me. I, of course. I was so thrilled because I actually got to watch the, the podcast that you did, uh, with Ray Paul Johnson and
[00:02:22] Marco Ciappelli: Yep.
[00:02:23] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: And his book is a great book and I, I just thoroughly enjoyed the to and fro format that you didn't just talk about a book, but you talked about the parts of the engine and how it's made. And, um, and I, and I think I enjoy how people do things. I guess if you had to summarize me, I am somebody who takes what I do very seriously, but I don't take myself very seriously.
I came to this country from Cuba as a refugee when I was just about to turn 13 years old and ran into a not real welcoming situation as a refugee in the Northeast. And, um, Being one to, I've always had a work ethic that my dad gave me. I just put my head to the plow and decided I wanted to move forward and be a good American.
And so I have been very fortunate that this country has adopted me and given me, um, all the opportunities, despite the fact that it's not always been easy, it's given me all the opportunities to, to really. Do something and be something. And a lot of people take that freedom for granted. It wasn't always easy, but it is just been a great privilege for me to have been adopted by Uncle Sam.
[00:04:03] Marco Ciappelli: Uncle Sam. Yeah, I kind of, it's definitely a different story compared with yours. Um, but you know, I've been adopted too. Uh, I chose it. Uh, again, I wasn't forced to do so. Maybe like you had to, and you're going to tell us a little bit of that story because what I understand it's the book that you wrote is actually that story.
And it's called the Mango Chronicle. And, uh, and I'm, and I'm pretty sure that it is by reading the synopsis, um, the story about you, so the difference here, we, I usually ask what is the story and, um, and the story behind the storyteller. In this case, when I ask you about the story, you're actually going to tell me that at the same time.
So that's going to be, well, it is,
[00:04:52] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: it is a story about me, but you know, it's really interesting because. I had reached a point, um, when I was very busy in academic medicine and I did research and I also did a lot of clinical work, so I didn't really have a lot of time. And it really occurred to me that, you know, I, my wife and two daughters, there were things about me that they would never know.
So I started just kind of writing them down on pieces of paper, um, foolishly thinking. Uh, so. As time went on, I, uh, started writing a few things on the side that were not medically related. And, um, I, um, had a few published and then some people said, you know, uh, have you ever thought about writing a book?
And I have a tendency to mull on things. So like if I'm going to build a, I like to build stuff with wood and I'm going to build something. I, I just think about it for several days. And then it crystallizes. I guess it's the way I do things. If I was giving a lecture to medical students, I just thought about what I was going to say for a few days, and then boom, one time it just all came together.
So, um, I decided to write this, and it took me ten years. Whatever it takes. Not because I'm a slow writer, but because it was, um, it was actually a, a healing process for me. And, um, also I was so busy with clinical medicine that I, I just had no time to myself. So I would be nine o'clock and I would sit down to my computer and try to write something and before 30 in the morning.
And then I would say, Oh, I have to be at rounds at 7:30. And I was just exhausted.
[00:06:52] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. You know, I get that feeling and there is always something else that you can do. But I let, tell me, tell me about this. Wait, when you have. First of all, I always like to say we're all made of stories and there are some people that not only Is made of story because it's been told stories, you know We watch movies we listen to the radio and and even in our own everyday life.
We tell story to each other but some people they have this story that they kind of kind of need to share it and Is that what you you felt into it?
[00:07:29] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: No, not really, you know, I I started to think you know You , what would my wife and kids think about the fact that they didn't really know a lot about me when I was a kid growing up in Cuba and that they might never have the opportunity to?
So I was taking a a night community co college course, um, and the fellow that taught it was an old Austrian. writer, and he was just a superb man. And, um, he said, well, why don't you just write a sentence about something memorable? That's, we call that a prompt now.
[00:08:13] Marco Ciappelli: Right. Yeah.
[00:08:14] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: And so I would, I would think back and I would say, okay, well, what was something that I thought was memorable that I think my, my wife and my kids would want to know about me.
And that's kind of how it started. And so some of these prompts I ended up writing as essays and I had a few published. And then I started thinking about just how does that gel with my whole life? And, um, I started kind of selectively picking at them. And, um, then the theme of the mango came to me and I love mangoes.
There's two kinds of people in the world. There are people that love mangoes and there are people that do not love mangoes. And I, ever since I was little, I love mangoes. And I used to go to my friend Juanito's farm in the town where I lived. Um, my father was a grocery here at Bodega and most of his customers would come in from the countryside.
They would actually bring their horse and tie it to my father's sidewalk. There were rings and they would bring in stuff to barter with. So they would bring watermelons and he would give them coffee and that sort of thing. Um, and one of his good friends was a man who had a kid that was my age, his name was Juanito.
So I would go to his farm and he and I would climb up this mango tree and we would sit up there in the branches, mangoes all around us, and we would just tell each other stories and eat mangoes till we were just really sick. That was good. And as I thought about all these things and what happened to me, I realized that I had a A couple of friends had told me, you had a really Cuban Huck Finn childhood, and I did.
And I started thinking back about the fact that here I was, you know, I had a pretty good childhood, and all of a sudden I got yanked out of it.
My childhood was yanked out of me. I had no control. One day my parents said, we got to go. You guys are, you know, your grandfather's sick. Your grandmother's sick.
You have an uncle that can't get medications. He, he was an epileptic and you know, we have to leave. We were not political people, but we realized that our freedoms, our day to day freedoms were slipping away.
And in the process of that, I come to this country. I end up in blue collar, New Jersey. And in not a very welcoming area, people would mock the way I didn't say things because I couldn't speak English.
Uh, people ask me just totally ridiculous things. And I talk about this in the, in the book. Right.
Don't give us too much. No. And, uh, so, um, I, I started to realize that when I first came here, I felt really out of place. The place in New Jersey looked different, the streets, the houses. And I started really having a lot of nostalgia.
And I kept thinking about Juanito and me up in the mango tree. And so that became kind of a metaphor and an arc for the book. Um, and, um, That's kind of how it got started. And, um, the first half of it is, is mostly written and I very deliberately did this in the perspective of a kid my age, that age. Um, and then kind of the second half is more kind of as an adult looking back and going back and forth how those things affected me.
[00:12:10] Marco Ciappelli: Let me ask you something. Have you ever got an opportunity to go back and see if that tree is still there?
[00:12:19] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: Yes, I went back in 2009 and in 2016 and um, I wish I could tell you it was easy. It was heart wrenching. But I have to tell you something. The first time I went, I had been away for 40 plus years. I landed in Havana.
The plane opens up its doors. And I walk out. And I take a deep breath. And I could smell the salty air and the perfume of a lot of the trees. And I said, I'm home. And I started to cry. And the guy who was with me said, I love you. What, what's going on? I said, right, I'm okay. And it was okay in a good way.
And then when I went back in 2016, I was really lucky because I had really been working on getting the book finished, but I got to take my wife, my two daughters, and my sons in law. We all went. So we got to really, uh, spend a, uh, a few days and I found my house, the house that we had to leave behind to the government.
And there's a chapter in there that talks about that. That was, that was a very hard, bittersweet thing. Um, and, um, and I left. I came back here. So, uh, Yes, I was very fortunate that I had the opportunity to do that.
[00:14:10] Marco Ciappelli: This was after, the second time you went, was after you finished the book.
[00:14:17] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: I had almost finished the book.
Almost. It was in 2016. I, I, I finished the book probably in 2018, 2020.
[00:14:27] Marco Ciappelli: Now, the reason, the reason why I'm asking you this is because I'm a very visual person. So I can see you getting out of the plane and get emotional, remembering the smell and of the land. And, and I'm thinking like the second time that you went, you had all this time to, to remember things, to reprocess, because when you write, I mean, as, you know, Hemingway used to say, you just open a vein and start bleeding, right?
You bleed your soul into it. That's true. And so I think that a lot of things came back into, into your memory.
[00:15:07] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: I'm glad you asked me that because in those two years after I came back, you know, I had, I had the backbone of the book put together. And it turns out that as I started writing and thinking about it, several concepts came.
And there's actually two chapters. One is titled, Remembering to Forget. And I started really getting a little bit philosophical about that in the span of the two trips. And it became obvious to me that when I was really having a rough time here in the United States, we had nothing. I mean, my mom was the teacher in Cuba, and she ended up working in the United States, uh, cleaning bedpans in the, in the hospital in the graveyard shift.
And my father, you know, he was a groceries, he owned his own grocery store in Cuba. He ended up getting a job as a kind of a glorified cashier in a Latin market. Um, so we really struggled and out of, Bit of some really bumpy times. And I think you'll find that many people who leave the country as refugees always hear from their parents or whatever.
Well, when we go back, things will be better and we'll go back. And after a couple of years, I realized we weren't going to be able to go back. Things weren't going to get better. Uh, so I stopped. I started deliberately remembering to forget. I didn't pay attention to what was going on in Cuba. I just said, I got to learn English.
I got to work hard. I used to run track. I worked on that. I worked on my schooling. And I didn't even bother to think about the politics. I just, I ended up going to college. I was very fortunate. And, uh, that sort of selective blindness allowed me to. Not wallow in nostalgia. Okay. Um, which is something that, you know, nostalgia as you know is good, but it can become malignant if you get paralyzed by it.
Um, the other aspect of it in between those two years that when I finished it and, and I hadn't had my second trip to Cuba was that, um, I had to realize that I had to remember to forgive.
And that was a really difficult process, and remembering to forgive means that you don't become judgmental. That people will say bad things about you. People will mock you. And you have to remember to forgive, because a lot of prejudice, as you know, is ignorance. And so, those two concepts were actually woven in after my second trip to Cuba.
Um, and they were very helpful in really, kind of, putting the last touches on the book.
[00:18:26] Marco Ciappelli: Did you have to forgive people in Cuba, or did you have to forgive people in the U. S.?
[00:18:33] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: Both. Both. Um, you know, my mother was, uh, She lived to be 98. She had become very senile in her later years. And she would have some of these episodes where there were glimpses of like, you know when it's cloudy, and there's a cloud that gets in front of you, and she would be like that most of the day.
And then all of a sudden, the sky would break, and she would have these incredibly lucid moments. And then I would talk to her, And one day she said to me, you know, the people in Cuba that live there, they were born into a situation now. They didn't know any better. They couldn't leave. So they were basically programmed into a totalitarian system.
Why should we continue blaming them for being communists? They have no better. They don't know better. And uh, she came to grips with that. I have to tell you, many. Cuban immigrants who like us had to leave, have not been able to shed that bitterness. I'm not happy with what's going on there. I think it's terrible.
But by the same token, we can't continue to hold grudges because people are people. And there are a lot of good people that have kind hearts and they've grown up and just. Crappy situation.
[00:20:06] Marco Ciappelli: When you have the situation, you have a handful of people that made the decision, the wrong decision, maybe for all the rest of the population.
And as you say, they had to deal with it. So we can't just point the finger back to, you know, everybody under, under the same umbrella, because some people had most of them that didn't have anything to do with it. Um, I don't think we've mentioned that, but, um, that was the period of, of the missile crisis, right?
[00:20:42] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: When I, when we left. Yeah.
[00:20:43] Marco Ciappelli: When you left. So I, I saw that in the, in the synopsis of the summary of the book, it seems it's, it's an important moment of.
[00:20:54] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: It is. It was a key moment because I tell you the truth. You know, , Castro came on 1st of January, 1959. We did not leave Cuba until 1963. So we were there for three and a half years.
So you studied three years of the beginning. And we knew what was going on. Um, At that time, you know, my uncles who were in the United States, I had two uncles that were physicians and they were trying to get the Red Cross to, to give us permission to leave. And finally we were set to leave through Miami.
The day was October 23rd, 1962. We were at the airport, Jose Marti airport in Havana. We got out of a cab, we cross the street, go in the airport, and there's all these militia men. The place was closed and they said, where do you guys think you're going? And we thought it was a joke, you know, we're leaving from Miami today that no, you're not president Kennedy put a blockade around.
You either have to walk home or swim. And we were left there for about six months in limbo before we were able to leave and. We eventually left through Mexico, not through Miami. Um, and uh, so I got to see that. Um, I also, you know, in 1961, they had the Cuban Missile Crisis. And um, we lived 60 miles from the Bay of Pigs.
Um. And like I say, I'm not a political person. I was not political as a kid, but you know, kids see things and they know when something is right and when something is not right. And I remember distinctly after the invasion took place that they captured all these prisoners. They hogtied them and they put them in the back of pickup trucks.
They were army trucks. And they paraded them up the main street in my city. I'll never forget that. I just was looking up and all these people were shouting at them, um, saying horrible things. And these guys were, some of them were really young, young men. They were hogtied. They had mosquito bites. There was sunburn.
They have bruises and you could hear. A big speaker with Che Guevara saying the traitors that killed the traitors. And I never forgot that. It was just such an upsetting thing. And sometimes when I, when I look at some of the film clips, like when the invasion of Poland and stuff like that, it's not in the same degree, but it was, I can imagine how kids feel.
They don't understand what's going on. So that, that was tough.
[00:24:05] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you look at history, there is, uh, there is a lot of this situation. And then, and then you get to, to your new country, something you look up and, and then you, you find people that are not very welcoming. And, and because they, they simply probably don't even, Don't even know where you're escaping from.
And this is, uh, this is happening now too. I mean, we don't get political in this, in this show. It's about storytelling, but I mean, stories are made because again, of decisions and, and, and looking back, but I understand from, from all the things that you said now, all the, the remembering to forget and remembering to forgive.
It, it, it makes more and more sense as you're sharing your, your story. I mean, obviously you get to that point that you needed to forget all of that and move on with your life. And, and,
[00:25:00] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: well, let me, let me give you an example. This is a perfect example. If you ask the majority of people who left Cuba around that time, um, and I'm talking the adults, many of them are probably in their eighties now and we're dead.
They would say Kennedy was just a miserable, horrible president for doing what he did, that he betrayed the Cuban people. And in fact, many of the Navy and Army personnel that trained to, to get that mission in Cuba, um, resented the fact that Kennedy basically said, okay, you know, you guys, you, you can't intervene, just kind of sit in the background.
Uh, and for years, for years, I had this seething, Anger towards President Kennedy. And I read a book called The Last 12 Days, and it was a book about what was going on with, with the missile crisis. I had no idea that here I was sitting in a, in a town where not far from me, there were nuclear warheads aimed towards Miami and towards the United States coast.
I had no idea. And then when I started to understand what President Kennedy, the position he was put in, he inherited this, he had to make decisions. Do I feel regret that it happened that way? Of course. But he had to make the best decision for his country and for the American people. And I forgive him for that.
I do. Because I've been in situations where other people have heartily disagreed with my decisions, but they didn't know the other side of the story.
[00:26:58] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah. Yeah. You gotta put things in perspective. Because that, that was the close, probably one of the closest moments we ever got to my gosh, to a nuclear, uh, confrontation.
[00:27:09] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: When I think about the fact, when I think about the fact that I sat in that Island, Who are all these people? Nuclear warheads being put together. It just, I can't believe it.
[00:27:22] Marco Ciappelli: Yeah, that was, uh, it was an important piece of, of history, but listen, Ricardo, I mean, I, I can stay here and listen to you for, I'm sure you have many more stories.
I, again, I, I know you have stories about, uh, they almost got, uh, mauled by a wild boar. I've read like these little pieces here and that one I don't forget. Yeah, but you know, I I don't want to give away everything. I mean, I think we got a really good um idea of what this, this travel, uh, this adventure that, that, that you had and, and, and a lot of philosophical reflection, um, about what, what has been going on.
So I, I think it's an interesting book that look at history and look at emotions and look at the need to move on. And, and so I, I suggest obviously, People to listen to this. And of course there'll be all the links in the notes for, for the book to get in touch with you. And, uh, and obviously to, I don't know, get, get somebody else perspective.
Cause unfortunately in this world, especially now with social media, people tend to read the headlines and think that they understand the whole story. Um, you know, we, we tweet, we, we share, we, we, we hit that and we, You know, I'm, we're all guilty of not even knowing exactly what we're doing with the bubble of, you know, of social media that they create around people that think the same way we do.
And I think, and especially being someone that come from a different culture and you got to experience that, that you need to put yourself in other people's shoes and you need to give the time to listen to their story and be open because. That person could have been anyone else. That situation could have happened anywhere else.
And it's too easy to think that everybody in the world is in the same situation that you are. So if you can experience different culture, do it. And if you can't physically, I think that reading. Watching movies, listening to stories that tell you the perspective from another place and another time. I think, uh, I think it's a good thing.
As painful as it may be. Um, but I think it's a good thing.
[00:29:54] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: It makes us grow though. It really does when you read about it. Absolutely. I was just reading about a fellow during World War II. His name was Nicky Winton. Who was a stockbroker. And then he found out that it was just before World War II. And he helped evacuate I don't know how many children, refugees.
from Czechoslovakia. It's a wonderful story. Um, a lot of messages in there. So I, you know, my book is basically a hope filled book. I think that there are some ups and downs and there are some areas where I get a little cynical and angry and there are areas where I get really silly. So I, I purposely wrote it Uh, with short chapters so that you get a little sleepy, you can put it down and pick up the next.
And the other thing is I decided that I'm going to give the royalties to charitable organizations. I'm not trying to make any personal profit on this book, and I think of it as my way of paying it forward. So, um, I really do appreciate talking with you. I hope we can talk offline after this, this program, because I feel like you said, you get to know people.
And, uh, that enriches me personally. Every time I talk to somebody and I learn about their life. And I say how lucky I am that I can listen, that I can share with other people. We need to do more of that.
[00:31:34] Marco Ciappelli: Absolutely. And that's one of the major pleasure that I have on top of loving storytelling in any form.
Uh, you know, like it's, it's a song.
[00:31:46] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: I have to tell you a story. Yeah, go for it. We talked about the commonality of life. Yeah. As I was reading about you. I came across this Storie Sotto Le Stelle, and it's interesting. And I want to congratulate you for what you're doing with your mother, because in the book I write about this, um, my mother died and she was a writer and she, I found out two years after she died, my brother had a whole big box full of her poems and everything.
And. As you're fortunate to do now with your mother, who's living, and tell these stories for children, my mother left a trove of over 300 poems, short stories, and my next job, not my next job, my next love, is to maybe put together a book. It will be a little bit of a memoir, but around her work.
[00:32:52] Marco Ciappelli: I think you need to do that.
[00:32:55] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: So we'll both be writing and, and she's looking over my shoulder. I know that.
[00:33:00] Marco Ciappelli: I, I, I love that. I mean, think about how many people write their diary, write their thoughts, and they never get the opportunity to, to put it out there. And some people maybe don't want, but also nowadays it's a little bit easier to.
Put things out there, put your thoughts and the Storie of Sotto Le Stelle, it's, it's, it's a typical example of that because, you know, I can translate it with CHAT GPT. I can have artificial intelligence read it because we have a podcast about that. And, and in the end, uh, is it going to turn into a big book or a movie or a big podcast or whatever?
I gotta tell you, I. I honestly don't care. I think they're great little story and me and my mom, we have so much fun doing it. It's like reconnecting something and it's something I didn't even know for the longest time.
[00:34:03] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: She's giving you a gift and you're giving her a gift and uh, you know, um, it's just, it's terrific.
I just think for me, uh, I'm going to write this one in Spanish. Because our poetry, um, a lot of it is in a rhyming fashion and it's very difficult to, to really convey a rhyming. In Cuba, there's a very popular, um, it's called a decima and it's a, uh, it's, it's actually become a street form of, uh, you know, like when people do hip hop and they rhyme and stuff like that.
Well, Cubans were doing that in decimas years ago. And you go to the streets in Cuba, and you will find people who do not know how to read or write. And they will tell you these rhyming stories. And what they do is they stand around, and one guy will start talking about his wife, and how beautiful she is, and what a great cook she is.
And then the other guy will respond saying, no, my wife is a better cook.
And it's all in
that rhythmic It's all in rhyming. Oh, that's cool. I didn't know that. Oh, and and so a lot of the things that my mom wrote, they were stories. I mean, she writes about a hurricane. She writes I'm going to be doing a video on the children's stories about the little frog who lost its pond.
And so I am just so anxious to just dive into that. It's like a treasure chest.
[00:35:31] Marco Ciappelli: You know what? You do that, and then when you put it together, you come back and you tell me all about that.
[00:35:39] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: I will take you up on that. Absolutely. I will take you up on that.
[00:35:42] Marco Ciappelli: For sure. I think it's something you need to do. I think it's going to be a wonderful, wonderful project. A wonderful trip for, for you to do.
[00:35:49] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: I have to tell you a story about Ray Paul Johnson. When he and I were corresponding, you know, I was talking about, you know, I'm 74 years old. Okay. I kept saying, well, you know, I kind of see, I see the end of the runway implying that maybe that was kind of, you know, we're all going to die sometime.
Um, and he wrote me back and he said, uh, Ricardo, remember the end of the runway. That's where flight begins.
[00:36:20] Marco Ciappelli: And the guy is a pilot. So, he knows,
[00:36:23] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: again, back to perspective. This is how he looks at it. It just made my, my month, my year.
[00:36:30] Marco Ciappelli: I love it. And you know what? With that, with that, we're gonna, we're gonna end this conversation with a promise to have another . And in the meantime, I want everybody, if they enjoy this conversation, if they find your story interesting to actually get, uh, get the book, read it and the fact that you, you donate. What you get from the book, it's an extra reason. But I think that in this conversation, there has been many pieces that if people want to understand what was going on at the time and, and, and the emotion connected with a refugee.
, uh, I think they have to read this book. So I'm going to say. Goodbye to you. So it's a goodbye. I'm going to see you again very soon and we'll stay in touch outside of the podcast anyway. And for all the people listening to, yeah, get the book, subscribe to Audio Signals, because as you can tell, nothing is script here.
And, uh, we, we just open our veins and, and, and talk our heart. So
[00:37:32] Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi: Marco, thank you. It's just been a delight. And to everybody that listens in on you, please do stick with him because I think this is some really fantastic episodes.
[00:37:45] Marco Ciappelli: Thank you. Thank you. You be well too, and everybody be well. I'm going to call it off here.
The end of the runway. The end of the runway, but it goes