Victor D. López, Author: Recent Episodes
Victor D. Lopez
Author's Blog - Podcasts will feature sample readings from my published books on subjects that include law, poetry, science fiction, speculative fiction, my recent novel and articles on law-related subjects published in academic journals and law reviews. I will also feature content from my various blogs and works in progress and samples of original poetry and fiction. I hope that you will find subjects of interest here and would very much welcome the pleasure of your company in my personal and professional journeys of discovery. Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B001KMII74
This is my reading of one of the 13 short stories from my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection (C) 2021, 2024.
From my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (C) 2011, 2024
This is the final part of my longest free-verse poem. It details the life of my mom who overcame blindness in childhood during the Spanish Civil War and left school at the age of 11 to illegally work on a full-time basis in a cousin's fish cannery to help provide for her eight brothers and sisters after her dad's death after being persecuted by the fascist forces for his anti-fascist non-violent resistance during the war. At 16 she emigrated to join an aunt and uncle in Argentina and worked (by lying about her age) tirelessly to make enough money to reclaim her mom and two youngest brothers in Spain. Hers was a life of incredible hardship and tragedy that would never break her or rob her of her can-do attitude, optimism, humor, and faith in God. She faced and overcame adversity at every turn in times of poverty and plenty through self-reliance, honest hard work, and an unwillingness to view herself as a victim, speaking truth to power long before the phrase became a cliche, and always seizing focusing on the silver lining in every storm cloud. She had the singing voice of an angel and the heart of a lion. As I noted elsewhere, she was always proud of her only son on whom she doted, but " . . . one of her cells was worth ten of me."
The poem was written in the days following her death after a four-year battle with Alzheimer's that robbed her of her eloquence, her prodigious memory, and her quality of life. I miss her every day.
This poem is about my dad who passed away in 2018. It was first published in my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk second book of poems in 2020.
Like his parents before him, he had a hard life from the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War that saw his father self-exiled leaving behind a wife and four very young children to fend for themselves. Through hard work and self-reliance he overcame adversity in three continents during his life, without a single complaint or assistance from anyone other than my mom. He lived under fascist dictators all of his life prior to immigrating to the U.S. in his late thirties with my mom and me. Serious illness, runaway inflation that caused his two businesses to fail, persecution in his native Spain for being the son of a non-fascist-sympathizer, and a roller coaster of success and failure never held him down. He persevered the old fashioned way: by pulling himself up by his bootstraps and working hard even as society crumbled around him. His word was his bond, just like his father and mother before him, and his ethical compass never wavered from true North. The world never needed more men like him more than it does now (and women like my mom cut from similar precious cloth). I will never see or be their equal.
This is the fourth part of my longest free-verse poem. This part deals with a portrait of my paternal grandmother and her struggle to raise four children during and after the Spanish Civil War after her husband fled to Argentina when warned he was about to be arrested by the fascist forces and woud not return for nearly two decades, after Franco pardoned those who supported the losing side but had not fought and spilled blood in the conflict. This poem was first published in my Of Pain and Ecstasy collection of poems.
This is Part III of my longest free verse poem that first appeared in my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems. This episode relates to my maternal grandmother who was taken back to her native Galicia, Spain, by her husband, my grandfather, from her comfortable home at 10 Perry Street in New York City's Greenwich Village when winds of the coming Spanish Civil War began to blow with gale force.
Her story both during the Spanish Civil War when my grandfather was taken prisoner and tortured as a supporter of the doomed Republic leaving her to raise 8 children on her own through hard work, while still helping less fortunate (and less industrious) neighbors with the help of her adolescent children during and after the war.
Her life is the stuff that heroic fiction is made of, without the glitz, glamor, or accolades heaped upon both fictional and lesser heroic figures in real life. She was poor in material wealth, but one of the richest human beings I ever met or will ever meet in life, and one of my personal heroes.
In writing and reading this poem my intent was to tell their untold stories, and also to have my readers and listeners take a closer look in their own lives for those worthy, unacknowledged heroes who may never have gained their fifteen minutes of fame or sought it, but lived lives of quiet heroism, lifting themselves by their bootstraps and facing adversity head-on guided by a belief in themselves, a firm moral compass, the knowledge that no honest work was beneath them, that no one owed them a free ride, and faith in a God who might test them but never place upon their shoulders burdens they could not overcome. The lessons they teach us if we choose to absorb them are worth more than any taught in any classroom. The wisdom they impart can never be bought with gold.
From my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (C) 2011, 2024
This is my reading the first part of my longest blank verse poem first published in my first book of poems, Of Pain and Ecstasy (C) 2011. It deals with the ultimate price paid by my maternal grandfather's non-violent support for the doomed Republic in opposition to the fascist forces in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and the ultimate price he and his family paid in following the dictates of his conscience.
This is one of the 13 short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection. It involves a young, successful professional in NYC who learns an important life lesson at a friend's birthday party from an uninvited guest.
This is a reading of some newer poems from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk collection (C) 2020, 2024
From Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (C) 2021
Translation of my poem The Subway from my Of Pain and Ecstasy collection (C) 2011, 2024
This is a simple book trailer for my Mindscapes short story collection with my reading of the first two pages of each short story. The book is available in eBook and print versions as well as a professionally produced audiobook version read by voice talent Dale Wilcox. You can preview versions at Amazon and Audible.
As always, thank you for listening.
This is the shortest story in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye science fiction / speculative fiction short story collection. It involves the last remaining crime punishable by death in a fully connected world in which opting out is simply not an option.
Este es el cuento más corto de mi colección de cuentos Echoes of the Mind's Eye, traducido e incluido en mi colección de cuentos Libro de Sueños.
This is a brief paper presentation based on one of my articles published this spring in the North East Journal of Legal Studies (Vol. 44, Article 1, 2024) that deals with the problem of unscrupulous notaries public who engage in the unauthorized practice of law and prey upon unsuspecting foreign-born individuals who mistakenly believe U.S. notaries public to be highly trained lawyers who have successfully completed additional training and rigorous exams to become notaries public (or Notarios in Spanish-speaking countries) unlike U.S. notaries public who are not required to be lawyers and have a very limited purpose and power such as verifying the validity of signatures in legal documents. Unlike their foreign counterpart in the vast majority of countries around the world, U.S. notaries public have few if any training or educational requirements beyond being 18 years old with a high school diploma or equivalency, and a clean criminal record.
May we never forget the true purpose of Memorial Day. May God bless our fallen men and women in uniform and their families. May we never forget the debt of honor we owe them all.
This is a reading of Parts 5 and 6 of my longest free-verse poem, Unsung Heroes, about the lives of quiet heroism and self-reliance in overcoming adversity. The first four parts of the poem deal with the lives of my grandparents, and the last two read here of my parents.
As I note in the introduction to the poem:
Although I stand on the shoulders of giants,
I see little farther than the bridge of my none.
The fault is mine.
The shame is mine.
For I am unworthy of you, my beloved dead.
Although poetry represents a minuscule amount of my published writing which is mostly non-fiction, it has been and remains close to the core of who I am as an author. In this podcast I will read samples of my sonnets from my two books of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk (C) 2021 and Of Pain and Ecstasy (C) 2011. I hope you may find at least some of these to your liking. As always, thank you for listening.
This is a sample sonnet reading from my second book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume Two (C) 2021.
I am posting some English and Spanish version readings from my novel Hire Lernin’: An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education here and elsewhere and wanted to provide some general background for the novel. I hope you will sample and enjoy my cold readings from the novel.
his novel involves the bittersweet journey of a young, idealistic, naïve attorney who takes on the role of academic dean at a for-profit business school in New York City in the late 1980s knowing very little about the industry. Unable to accept the way things are, he immediately launches into a personal quest to change lives for the better in an environment where only the bottom-line matters. Hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit quickly propel him to professional success, but at a deep personal cost in the process as he learns critical life-altering lessons about himself, about leadership, about for-profit and not-for-profit higher education, and about love.
This is a cold reading from my novel, Hire Lernin’: An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (C) 2021, 2024.
This is a reading from the first two chapters of my novel about an idealistic young lawyer hired as the dean of a for-profit business school knowing next to nothing about the industry. Unwilling to accept things as they are, he launches on a personal quest to implement meaningful changes, achieving in the process unprecedented professional success, devastating personal loss, and some profound lessons about leadership, about love, and about his own weaknesses and strengths.
Esta es una traducción del autor de los dos primeros capítulos de su novela Hire Lernin' (C) 2021 traducida al español. La versión completa en inglés de la novela y la traducción al español en curso están disponibles de forma gratuita en el siguiente enlace: https://www.royalroad.com/profile/368939/fictions.
Este podcast contiene mi lectura de los dos primeros capítulos de mi novela 'Hire Lernin', publicada en 2021 y que estoy traduciendo al español. He publicado la versión completa en inglés de la novela y también estoy transfiriendo la versión en español. Puedes acceder a ambos de forma gratuita en el siguiente enlace: https://www.royalroad.com/profile/368939/fictions.
I published this novel two years ago which is now available in paperback, hard cover and eBook versions at most bookseller sites, including Amazon. This is one of two poems that deals with the emotionally draining process of reliving the past in order to recast it into a lightly fictionalized novel. At present, I am making the novel available for anyone to read free of charge in a serialized version at Royal Road that you can access in both English and a new Spanish translation by clicking HERE. As of today, I have posted 29 chapters in the original English version and more than 20 in my ongoing Spanish translation. If you sample it, please let me know your thoughts at Royal Road or here. Thank you!
I published my first novel two years ago which is now available in paperback, hard cover and eBook versions at most bookseller sites, including Amazon. This is one of two poems that deals with the emotionally draining process of reliving the past in order to recast it into a lightly fictionalized novel. At present, I am making the novel available for anyone to read free of charge in a serialized version at Royal Road you can access in both English and a Spanish version by clicking here. As of today, I have posted 29 chapters in the original English version and more than 20 in my ongoing Spanish translation. If you sample it, please let me know your thoughts comments at Royal Road or here. Thank you!
Although I love the British romantic poets best, Lord Byron is not among my favorites. But if he can write an ode to his dog, by golly I can write a sonnet to my favorite part of the food pyramid. No, I am not insane, and suffer no kinky bread fetish. The poem was written with a doughy tongue somewhat less than firmly planted in cheek.
This is one of 13 short stories in the single author anthology Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories read by the author.
(C) 2020 (performance copyright 2023) Victor D. Lopez - All rights reserved.
This is a reading by the author of the sonnet Requiem for Love from his latest book of poems, Echoes of Dawn a Dusk (C) 2020, 2023 Victor D. Lopez - All rights reserved.
This is a reading by the author of the blank verse poem, Central Park, from his Of Pain and Ecstasy collection. (C) 2011, 2020
This is a reading by the author of the first two pages of each of the ten SF and speculative fiction short stories in his Mindscapes collection (C) 2012, 2021. (This is a cold reading by the author not to be confused with the audiobook version of the book which is read and produced by professional voice talent Dale Wilcox.)
This is a simple poem about those who embrace the the mostly lonely and unappreciated task of writing poetry knowing it will largely go unread--voices crying in the wilderness hoping to strike a chord that resonates in receptive ears.
This is the author's reading of his blank-verse poem dealing with the process and emotional effect of writing his first novel, Hire Lernin’: An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education. (C) 2021, 2023 Victor D. Lopez - All rights reserved.
This is a sample reading of chapters 3-5 of the novel, Hire Lernin’: An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education, read by the author. (C) 2021, 2023 Victor D. Lopez - All rights reserved.
This free-verse poem is about the emotional turmoil wrought by the process of writing my first novel, Hire Lernin’: An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education. The novel is a fictionalized version based on my experience as an idealistic, newly-minted lawyer hired to be the academic dean of a for-profit business school in New York City in the late 1980s. Knowing nothing about the industry, the protagonist undertakes a two-year Quixotic quest to implement meaningful change in a corporate environment driven by the profit motive. The result? Unprecedented professional success for the protagonist coupled with some painful life lessons about personal strengths, weaknesses, and love.
My first novel is a fictionalized version of my experience in my first academic posting as academic dean of a proprietary, for-profit business school as an idealistic, newly minted lawyer who knew next to nothing about the industry. The book is fiction, though largely based on actual events and situations with names and locations altered and minor dramatic license taken for the sake of the narrative. In this podcast, I read the first two chapters about the beginning of a Quixotic quest that will take the protagonist on a journey to unimagined highs and life-altering lows not unlike those experienced by the author on the way to learning vital truths about himself, about for-profit education, about leadership and for the protagonist at least, about love.
Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest through the Realm of for-Profit Education is available in hard and soft cover editions as well as eBook editions from all major booksellers.
This is a poem comprised of 11 linked haikus about the plague that is violent crime. (C) 2023 Victor D. Lopez.
This poem was written in the days after my mom's passing and first published in print in my second book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk. (C) 2018, 2020, 2023 Victor D. Lopez. All rights reserved.
This poem first appeared in print in my second book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk. (C) 2018, 2020, 2023 Victor D. Lopez. All rights reserved.
(C) 2011, 2023 Victor D. Lopez. All rights reserved
This poem first appeared in print in my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems.
First published in my first book of poems, Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems, in 2011. (C) 2011, 2023 Victor D. Lopez. All rights reserved.
This is the first of six parts that comprise my longest free-verse poem. The poem first appeared in my first collection of poetry, Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems. Ovr the next few day I intend to record additional new readings of the remaining five parts of the poem and post them here. The last two poems in this collection are about my parents and were both written immediately after their death. The first appeared in print in my second collection of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk, in December, 2020.
This is my reading of a sonnet I just wrote intended as a teaser for my second book of poems that bears the same name. You can download a free copy of the eBook version of my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 through June 20, 2022 by clicking on the following link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1035449.
The eBook version of my novel, Hire Lernin', is also available for free download until June 20, 2022 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1071699.
This is one of my early poems from my first book of poetry, Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (c) 2011. Performance Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.
This is one sonnet from my latest book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (c) 2020 Victor D. Lopez.
This is a simple introductory lecture on copyright law intended as a primer on the subject. It is based on two of my intellectual property books, Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets and Copyright Law: A Practical Guide. This is not a lecture that I prepared for any of my law classes where I cover the subject. It is a simple introduction to the subject that I created as a fun project during a break from real work. It runs for approximately 50 minutes. Despite the importance of copyright law for authors, artists, librarians, and anyone who shares materials not of their own creation online, both the general public and professionals who create or share intellectual property have many misconceptions about copyright law, including how copyrights are created, what they do (and do not) protect, what constitutes public domain, and the criminal and civil penalties for copyright infringement. This presentation will provide a useful albeit general introduction to the subject that most people should find useful and informative.
(C) 2021, 2022 Victor D. Lopez. All rights reserved.
These two very different poems are inspired by two of the 13 short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection (Modern Art and the Critics and Redemption).
In Honor of Poetry Month, I am making the ebook versions of my two books of poetry available for free download until April 10, 2022. You can find them along with a current fiction free download by visiting my author's page at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/VictorDLopez. You will also find a few samples of my poetry and fiction readings there. (Scroll down to view my books currently offered for free download.)
(C) 2022 Victor D. Lopez, all rights reserved.
This blank verse above is my teaser for my short story Amor Vincit Omnia which deals with the subject of true love and our need to embrace it no matter how unlikely the source. It is one of my most unusual short stories from my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection from a very personal point of view with humor and tongue only slightly planted in cheek. You can preview this short story as well as most of my current books at https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B001KMII74 and most other booksellers.
(C) 2022 Victor D. Lopez.
My first book of poems published in 2011 is available for free download in all major ebook formats until 3/27/22 only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/181370
You can download a free copy of one of my books of poems until 3/27/22, but only at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/181370
This is one of my earliest sonnets written when I was an undergraduate at Queens College around 1978. It is still one of my favorites from my Of Pain and Ecstasy collection.
Please Note: November 24-30, 2021 in honor of Thanksgiving I am making available a free download of my complete book of short stories, Echoes of the Mind's Eye, which contains 13 short stories, including the one previewed here. The free download is only available at Smashwords but not at other vendors where the book is sold (no coupon needed). The Smashwords link to order the book free of charge until November 30 is https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1056565.
Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for your support.
May God bless all of our veterans who served with honor that we may continue to enjoy freedom bought and paid for by their blood and sacrifice. May we never take it or them for granted.
This reading of a poem written with tongue only slightly inserted in cheek concerns the increasingly acrimonious accusations of racism, white privilege, and grievance-of-the-day rants from those who wield the proverbial hammer (and sickle?), see the whole world as a nail, and raise their loud voices with effects akin to nails on chalkboards in the mistaken belief that the answer to attaining their desired ends is more screeching.
This is one of the 13 short stories from my Echoes of the Mind's Eye short story collection (C) 2020, 2021. My eclectic collection of short stories range from hard and soft science fiction, to mild psychological horror and love stories that do not fit the cookie cutter mold of their respective sub-genres. "Redemption" is the closest thing I've ever written to paranormal fiction, and the most appropriate short story for Halloween in this collection. Although this is a cold reading, as are all of my podcasts here, I hope you will enjoy it. And if you do, please feel free to share its link. As always, thank you for your support.
This is one of the sonnets from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (c) 2020, 2021
This segment was published in the Binghamton Sun Press from a letter I wrote while the Dean of the Business Division at SUNY Broome around Thanksgiving 2005. It was reprinted as it appears here in my latest collection of poetry as it appears here. (c) 2005, 2021.
A free-verse poem from my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems collection (c) 2011, 2021
This is one of the short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection. For previews of most of my published books (novel, short fiction, poetry and non-fiction) please visit my Author's Page at Amazonwhere you will also find additional links to my blogs and YouTube videos.
I've taken some liberties with the narrative and introduced some fictional elements for dramatic effect. People and places are fictionalized. The core issues are not. The events leading up to this fragment actually happened, including the timeframe of Dan's interview cycle and his girlfriend's reaction--and wise counsel to exercise caution. At this point in the novel my own life and the protagonist's are almost perfectly aligned. My girlfriend's warning (now wife) was no more heeded than Linda's warning to Dan. Optimists always see the glass as half full until the very moment they die of dehydration. And people who have not had to face failure can develop an unrealistic level of confidence that can propel them to great heights or catastrophic crash landings. And sometimes, as in the case of the protagonist, both--all at once. Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021.
As they say in the movies, this is fiction inspired by a true story that delve into the little known world of for-profit education. The book is available in hardcover, paperback and eBook versions from Amazon or your favorite bookseller where you will also be able to read a generous preview. I hope you enjoy it.
Este es uno de los poemas escritos originalmente en inglés en mi segundo libro de poesía recientemente publicado, "Echoes of Dawn at Dusk". El poema es uno de los que se incluirán en un próximo libro de mi poesía escrito en español o traducido por mí de mis originales en inglés. Espero les guste.
This podcast consists of my reading of one of the 13 short stories in my recently released Echoes of the Mind's Eye
collection. The story is also available as a stand-alone eBook as are 11 of the 13 short stories in the collection.
Amazon description: Human beings are not the only intelligent life forms on Earth and possibly not the most intelligent. Efforts at communicating with marine mammals such as whales and dolphins whose brains are larger than our own have had very limited success to date, less so than the success we've enjoyed in teaching some gorillas and chimpanzees to communicate using sign language although their brains have less capacity than our own. This short story explores the possible consequences of bridging the language barrier with dolphins whose larger brains may well provide them with intelligence that exceeds our own. When a dedicated marine biologist/linguist makes a breakthrough in the near future that allows true communication to take place, what rewards may we expect from her research, and what might our aquatic cousins learn about us and teach us about ourselves?
This is one of the 13 short stories in my new short story collection, Echoes of the Mind's Eye (and is also available as a two-short story eBook here). The short story posits one plausible solution to the enigma that is the Great Sphinx of Giza. Egyptologists have long debated the true nature of the sphinx and its original form. Traditional wisdom holds that it was originally a lion and that the lion's head was later carved into the likeness of a great pharaoh, though debate still rages as to which one as well. You can read my short story or listen to my reading of it, such as it is, to find out my take on its true origin and purpose. Without giving away too much, let us just say that it is best to let sleeping sphinxes lie. Feel free to share this post or the podcast link if you enjoy it. Better yet, I hope you'll consider asking your library to add my Echoes of the Mind's Eye to its eBook collection. (Libraries can get my recently published novel, short story collection and poetry collection at half price in any eBook format.) Thank you!
Please note that this is my cold reading of the short story not to be confused with the professionally narrated and produced audiobook version from my earlier short story collection, Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories read by Dale M. Wilcox and still distributed by Audible and Amazon.
Este podcast contiene mi lectura de la sexta parte de mi poema en verso libre más largo hasta la fecha, Unsung Heroes, y narra detalles sobre mi mamá que vivió una vida increíblemente difícil, incluso más que mi papá, llena de tragedia personal y potencial insatisfecho. Cuando dejó la escuela a la edad de 11 años para ayudar a su madre a poner comida en la mesa para sus 8 hermanos y hermanas al fallecer su padre poco después del final de la Guerra Civil Española trabajando a tiempo completo (ilegalmente) en la fábrica de conservas de un primo. Había faltado a la escuela durante más de un año antes de eso debido a la ceguera causada por una infección que su médico local finalmente curó mediante un procedimiento quirúrgico, devolviéndole su vista perfecta. Era una niña obstinada que siempre anteponía a los demás a sí misma y sacrificó su juventud y educación por el bien de su familia. Seguiría siendo una trabajadora durante toda su vida, poseyendo un don para la narración de cuentos y como escritora a pesar de que no aprendió a leer y escribir hasta después de emigrar a Argentina a la casa de su tía desde su Galicia natal a los 16 años, con una hermana menor a cuestas, trabajando allí (nuevamente ilegalmente, mintiendo sobre su edad) para pagar el pasaje de su madre y sus dos hermanos menores, trabajando como empleada doméstica en un hotel en Mar del Plata, como mucama y eventualmente como auxiliar de enfermería. operadora de máquina de embalaje para los productos de la empresa Ponds. No solo era una persona mucho mejor de lo que sería su único hijo, y una mejor escritora natural de ficción y poesía si hubiera tenido solo unos pocos años más de educación formal. Su prodigiosa memoria siempre me asombró ya que, a diferencia de mí, podía recordar los nombres de cada personas que conocía, y de todos sus familiares y podía relatar textualmente conversaciones que había tenido años antes con casi cualquier conocido. Podía cantar como un ángel y le ofrecieron un contrato de grabación cuando un productor la escuchó cantar en el hotel donde trabajaba mientras realizaba sus tareas domésticas, un contrato que rechazó, sin duda en parte debido a la inseguridad sobre su educación formal, aunque era una artista natural como cualquiera que la conociera lo atestiguará fácilmente. Ella y mi papá estaban casados durante 61 años cuando él murió, y ella lo siguió dos años después, víctima de la demencia que le robó sus muchos dones naturales, incluida su prodigiosa memoria. Fui la última persona que olvidó. La extraño a ella y a mi padre todos los días.
This podcast contains my reading of the sixth part of my longest free verse poem to date, Unsung Heroes, and chronicles details about my mom who lived an incredibly difficult life--more so than even my dad--full of personal tragedy and unfulfilled potential as she left school at the age of 11 to help her mom put food on the table for her 8 brothers and sisters when her dad died shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War by working full time (illegally) at an uncle's cannery. She had missed school for more than a year prior to that because of blindness caused by an infection that her local doctor eventually cured through a surgical procedure, returning her perfect vision. She was a willful child who always put others ahead of herself and sacrificed her youth and schooling for her family's sake. She would remain a hard worker throughout her life, possessing a gift for story-telling and as a writer despite the fact she did not learn to read and write until after emigrating to Argentina to her aunt's house from her native Galicia at the age of 16 with a younger sister in tow, working there (again illegally by lying about her age) to pay for passage for her mom and two younger brothers, working as a Maid in a hotel in Mar del Plata, as a nurse's aid and eventually as a packing machine operator for Ponds. She was not only a far better person than her only son would ever be, and a better natural writer of fiction and poetry had she had only a few more years of formal education. Her prodigious memory always astounded me as, unlike me, she could remember the names of everyone she ever met, as that of their own families and could recount verbatim conversations had years before with nearly anyone she met. She could sing like an angel and was offered a recording contract when a producer heard her singing in the hotel where she worked while going about her chores--a contract she turned down, no doubt in part because of insecurity about her formal education though she was a natural entertainer as anyone who knew her will readily attest. She and my dad were married 61 years when he died--and she followed him two years later, a victim of the dementia that robbed her of her many natural gifts, including her prodigious memory. I was the last person she forgot. I miss her and my dad every day.
Este podcast es una lectura de la quinta parte de mi poema en verso libre de seis partes sobre mis héroes personales. Esta parte concierne a mi papá que vivió una vida difícil en tres continentes y logró tanto una relativa riqueza, sufrió la pobreza a pesar de trabajar largas jornadas con excelentes salarios, sin nunca quejarse, eludir sus responsabilidades, culpar a otros o comprometer sus principios. El mundo nunca necesitó a personas como mi padre más que hoy: hombres y mujeres que establecieron altos estándares para sí mismos y los cumplieron sin concesiones, sin importar el costo, no por los elogios, la fama o la fortuna, sino simplemente porque es lo correcto que se debe hacer.
This podcast is a reading of the fifth part of my six-part free verse poem about my personal heroes. This part concerns my dad who lived a difficult life in three continents and achieved both relative wealth, suffered poverty despite working long hours with excellent salaries, without ever complaining, shirking his responsibilities, blaming others or compromising his principles. The world never needed people like my dad more than it does today--men and women who set high standards for themselves and uncompromisingly met them, no matter the cost not for accolades, fame or or fortune, but simply because it is the right thing to do.
Musings on some of my well-traveled published books and the new 40-50 percent discount for libraries that they inspired.
Esta es la cuarta parte de mi poema Héroes Desconocidos escrito originalmente en inglés y traducido al español por mí. El original apareció por primera vez en mi primer libro de poesía, "Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems" (c) 2011, 2021.
Esta es mi lectura de la tercera de seis partes de mi poema en verso libre, Unsung Heroes - Remedios. Las primeras cuatro partes conciernen a mis abuelos y aparecieron por primera vez en mi primer libro de poemas, Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (c) 2011. Las dos últimas partes, escritas inmediatamente después de la muerte de mis padres, aparecieron por primera vez en mi último libro publicado de poemas, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) (c) Diciembre de 2020. El poema fue escrito originalmente en inglés y traducido por mí al español.
This is my reading of the third of a six-part free verse poem, Unsung Heroes - Remedios. The first four parts covering my grandparents first appeared in my first book of poems, Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (c) 2011. The last two, written immediately after the death of my parents, first appeared in my most recently published book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) (c) December 2020.
Esta es una traducción del original en inglés de mi poema en verso libre más largo hasta la fecha. Las partes I a IV se publicaron por primera vez en mi primer libro de poemas, Of Pain and Ecstasy, Collected Poems (Del dolor y el éxtasis: poemas recopilados) en 2011. Las partes V y VI (sobre mis padres, Felipe y Lita) se publicaron recientemente en mi segunda colección de poemas Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2 (Ecos del alba en tinieblas: poemas recopilados (Vol. 2)) (c) 2020.
Un cuento completo traducido de su original en inglés que aparece en mi colección recientemente publicada, "Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories" (c) 2021.
This is a complete reading of the shortest story in my Echoes of the Mind's Eyeshort story collection (c) December 2020.
This is a reading of a sampling of haikus from my recent Echoes of Dawn at Dusk collection. I hope you will enjoy them.
This podcast contains some brief commentary on the subject and a poem from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk recently published second book of poems.
This is a reading by the author of the ninth chapter from his recently published novel (in hardcover, paperback and eBook editions) Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) Victor D. Lopez 2021.
This podcast contains my reading of the eighth chapter of my newly released novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021.
This is my complete reading of the seventh chapter in my new novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021.
This is my unabridged reading of one of the longest chapters in my recently released novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021.
This podcast is my plea to turn away from the destructive popularization that has gripped our country before it is too late.
This is an unabridged reading of the fifth chapter of my new novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021.
This is a complete reading of chapter 4 from my novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021.
This podcast contains a brief commentary on independent publishing challenges and six linked haikus as a poetic teaser about the novel.
This is my cold reading of Chapter 3 from my novel Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education. The book is now available from Amazon and most book retailers in hard cover, paperback and eBook editions.
This is a complete reading of the second chapter from my new novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest through the Realm of Higher Education. The novel is a fictionalized version of my own experiences as the dean of a proprietary, for-profit business school in New York City in the late 1980's facing issues not very different from those of the fictional protagonist. Beyond the humor, drama, romance, professional successes and personal failures in the fictionalized narrative lie very serious issues about both for-profit and some segments of traditional non-profit higher education that have been flying under the radar of public awareness for too long and could use a public airing. Although the characters, locations and some situations are a work of fiction, this is a novel only a former insider could write and is intended to both inform and entertain.
This podcast contains a personal message and plea to remember our fallen and their families on Memorial Day. It concludes with a reading of a sonnet, Death of a Fallen Soldier, based on an actual event.
A reading of two short poems from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) (c) 2020.
This is a new recording (May 25, 2021) of the front matter and first chapter from my new novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education (c) 2021. The book is available in eBook and paperback versions at Amazon and your favorite book sellers.
This podcast consists of an introduction to copyright law based on two of my intellectual property books: Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secretsand Copyright Law: A Practical Guide.
This podcast is a reading of a little more than half of one of the longer stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories collection (c) 2021. It is one of my earliest short stories written while I was still a sophomore at Queens College as a young old man of 19. It deals with themes echoed throughout my fiction and poetry from then to now: love, friendship, split loyalties, the interplay with the conscious and subconscious mind, and the interplay between the physical and metaphysical realms. It is still one of my favorites these many years later.
This short story is also available as a stand-alone $.99 eBook from Amazon and all leading booksellers.
Este es uno de los 13 relatos originales de mi última colección, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk, que contiene 13 cuentos de ciencia ficción y ficción especulativa--algunos de los cuales fueron traducidos por mi de inglés a español y publicados en mi reciente Libro de Sueños: Cuentos de Ciencia Ficción y Ficción Especulativa. (Justicia no forma parte de este libro.) Epero les guste.
This podcast contains my complete reading of one of the short stories from my Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories collection (c) 2020. The short story has also appeared in other short story collections since its original form (c) 2014 and also appears along with my short story Justice in a separate stand-alone $.99 quick read ebook, Two Speculative Fiction Short Stories: Justice and The Riddle of the Sphinx: Solved (Contemporary Science Fiction Short Stories). This and several other short stories are also available in a Spanish translation. You can access most of my published books (novel, short stories, poetry and non-fiction) at Amazon other major booksellers.
This podcast is a preview of one of the 13 short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection. (c) 2021.
This is a reading of the entire shortest story in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection (c) 2015, 2021.
This is a preview reading of approximately half of one of the longest stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection (c) 2015, 2021.
Read from my latest book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Vol. 2) (c) 2021.
This is another poem from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) collection (c) 2021. I am disturbed by the rebranding and repackaging of the same old, failed, destructive ideas (Marxism) as shiny, new objects of veneration for a different set of uninformed pawns in the same old chessboard. Distributive justice, "American Socialism", identity politics, stifling of dissent, revisionist histories, banning of ideas/books/people and the polarization of the masses by race rather than by economic class or status (this go-round) to avoid giving away the same rotten foundation behind the shiny facade. A revolution is taking place reimagining Marxism "for a new century" but using the same exact playbook and leading us to the identical ruination that the original version wrought on every country that imposed it through the business end of a gun. Bad ideas will always flourish when planted in the fatuous, the uninformed, the hate-filled (and the love-filled who confuse the hatred of those they follow for self-righteous indignation). So it begins again and will end again in ruin, only to be reborn like a zombie phoenix yet again in the next generation, rebranded, repackaged and resold as the same malodorous steaming pile of dung it is to a growing market eager to ingest it for fear of being seen as lacking a sophisticated palate. Bad ideas never die. They rise from the ashes of the fools that died from espousing them to infect a new generation of fatuous zombies pumping fists in the air while marching down the road to perdition.
This is a poem from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) collection (c) 2021.
This podcast involves a reading of a preview of the short story "Earth Mother" from my recently released short story collection, Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories (c) 2021.
This podcast deals with the long-standing, unresolved issue of unaffordable college textbooks in an effort to answer the question of why at a time when anyone can publish a book without cost students are still forced to pay upwards of $200 each for their college textbooks in many (most?) of their college and university undergraduate and graduate courses.
I have written about ethics and principled leadership for many years in various venues, including an article published about a decade ago in the University of Botswana Law Journal. This podcast focuses on the ten characteristics that I believe define principled leaders, regardless of which ethical philosophy they espouse.
This is a preview reading of the first pages of my short story Amor Vincit Omnia which is available both as a stand-alone ebook and is also one of the 13 short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye collection. I hope you enjoy it.
This is a brief presentation on a paper I presented last month at the annual conference of the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business (NEALSB) that deals with the issue of notarial fraud and examines the training, powers and qualifications of notaries public throughout the U.S. in contrast with the vast majority of countries around the world to explain why so many foreign-born immigrants fall prey to unscrupulous notaries public that fraudulently engage in the unauthorized practice of law. The paper is titled "When Legal Systems Clash: Why Foreign-Born Residents Fall Prey to Unscrupulous Notaries Public and What Can Be Done to Prevent It."
This is my reading of a preview from one of the 13 stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye short story collection 9c0 2021. I hope you enjoy it.
This is a preview of one of the 13 short stories in my new book, Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories (c) 2021. It is available as a single short story as well in all eBook formats.
Poema traducido de mi libro Echoes of Dusk at Dawn: Collected Poems (Volume 2) (C) 2021
This is a complete reading of Chapter 9 from my new novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest through the Realm of for-Profit Education. The eBook version of the book is available as of today (May 1, 2021) in all the major eBook formats from Amazon and other leading book sellers.
Este es un breve poema en verso libre sobre un castillo en A Coruña, Galicia, España, donde mi abuelo materno estuvo prisionero por un breve tiempo durante la Guerra Civil Española. Fue torturado por sus carceleros exigiéndole que revelara los nombres de otros simpatizantes Republicanos y condenado a muerte por un pelotón de fusilamiento en La Plaza de María Pita como traidor, a pesar de que nunca portó armas pero sí apoyó al las fuerzas anti-Franquistas respaldado por los soviéticos en el conflicto. Fue puesto en libertad por un oficial fascista que se compadeció de él en la víspera de su ejecución y le permitió nadar por la noche hasta un lugar seguro en la orilla opuesta de la bahía a kilómetros de distancia, una hazaña que logró a pesar de su condición debilitada según mi abuela y mi madre. He escrito sobre él en mi Unsung Heroes I - Emilio (Heroes Desconocidos). El podcast está disponible aquí en el original en inglés y en mi propia traducción al español.
This is a short free-verse poem about a fortress by the beautiful bay of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. My maternal grandfather was held prisoner there for a time during the Spanish Civil War according to my grandmother and mom. He was tortured to reveal the names of others who opposed the fascist forces and condemned to be shot in La Plaza de Maria Pita as a traitor, despite the fact he never bore arms during the war--just spoke out in favor of the failed Republic and supported in words but not deeds the Soviet-backed anti-Franco forces. He was released by an officer in Franco's forces who allowed him to swim to the opposite shore at night. I write about my grandfather in my Unsung Heroes I: Emilio podcasts of which are also available here in both the original English and my Spanish translation.
This poem is a variation on a theme I've written about before in a poem I posted earlier today. I just published it today on one of two sites in which I frequently post my work, HelloPoetry.com (the second is AllPoetry.com).
Esta es una lectura de la fabula original de Esopo y de mi nueva versión actualizada para el siglo XXI. Publiqué mi versión hace más de una década en uno de mis blogs y también la volví a publicar hace cuatro años. Esta es la primera lectura de mi traducción al español de mi original en inglés. espero les guste. :)
This is my reading of Aesop's original "The Grasshopper and the Ants" fable and my update for the 21st Century. I wrote my version more than a decade ago and have posted it on several of my blogs over the years. It seems somehow more relevant than ever today, alas.
This is an excerpt from one of the 13 short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye short story collection (C) 2021.
This podcast featured my reading one of my early poems from my Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems first poetry collection. It is perhaps my darkest poem, which one which one reviewer accurately termed urban fear and loathing. Alas, the subway station in the late 1970s was as described, and descending into it after hours was not unlike a descent into hell without the warning to "abandon all hope ye who enter here" or the benefit of Dante's Vergil as a guide. Gangs of marauding thugs ran through the old GG trains even during rush hour mugging Technites for their expensive calculators and slide rulers (yes, we had to use those back in the mid-1970s), watches, wallets and whatever else they could carry and move on to the next subway car in the days when moving between cars was still possible. It soon became a metaphor for me for life in a city that had lost its way and perhaps its soul, if ever it possessed one, and allowed crime, grime and political ineptitude to flourish unchecked.
This is one of my earliest poems written in the late 1970's while I was a freshman in college. It (and its companion poem The Subway which I'll record and post next) is one of my darkest poems to date. My antipathy to the subject at the time comes from two sources: first, New York City was a much more dangerous place at the time than it is today, though, alas, it seems to be slipping back into the dark days of yesteryear of late. Central Park for all of its outward beauty was a very dangerous place at night even in Midtown Manhattan, and not necessaril;y safe during the day in many locations. Second, Central Park is not natural but a carefully planned, artificial construct no more natural than the skyscrapers that surround it. Ponds, hills, trees, rocks, pathways are all carefully planned, planted, created to provide a facade of natural beauty that replaced real natural beauty with a pretty mirage amid a concrete jungle. I did not and do not hate Central Park; I resented the artificiality of it and see it not as it is intended to be seen, but for what it is: an unnatural, manufactured lovely space that only further emphasizes the price we pay to live in large cities far removed from the state of nature our souls crave.
This is a brief preview of Chapter 8 of my novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest though the Realm of for-Profit Education
This podcast concerns an issue I've written about in the past but is more vitally important today than at any time in my lifetime. I have never before feared for the country I love above all others as I now do. If we do not find a way to put aside our differences, tone down the corrosive rhetoric and ignore the voices from the extremes of the political spectrum that are gleefully stoking the fires of dissention for purely political gain, we will reach a tipping point after which all hope of rational political compromise will vanish. We are better than that, even if our elected representatives are not. It is time to look for common ground, respect opposing points of view--other than those calling for violence--and begin to live up to the motto that despite the failing of the past can and should become the source of our greatest strength: e pluribus unum.
This is a reading of a portion of Chapter 10 from my novel Hire Lernin': An Idealist's Quest through the Realm of for-Profit Higher Education and includes brief commentary to place the clip in context. I hope you enjoy it.
In 2026 the world will be destroyed by an extinction event involving a massive asteroid far larger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and paved the way for the eventual rise of homo sapiens to the top of the food chain. Earth will have nearly two years--666 days, to be precise--to prepare for the inevitable. What will the world do in an all-out effort to prevent the seeds of humanity and all traces of once glorious civilizations from being relegated to the ashes of history? That is the premise of this all too plausible short story that details some plausible efforts with existing technology to provide a chance for the survival of humanity's seed in the hope that it may yet once again take root elsewhere in our solar system.
I've previously posted the first five chapters in two separate podcasts available here and elsewhere, and today I'd like to provide some additional information that can help place the novel and its narrative in context. The narrative itself is fiction based on actual events. Beyond the tension, humor, drama, romance, and personal and professional struggles in the narrative, the underlying themes about some of the failings of both for-profit and not-for-profit higher education which have come parallel one another rather closely in a growing segment of traditional higher education are deadly serious and worthy of wider airing and debate.
Esta es una lectura de un poema escrito inmediatamente después de la muerte de mi padre. Tanto en el dolor como en la alegría a lo largo de toda mi vida he recurrido a la poesía. Mis padres y yo tuvimos una relación muy especial a lo largo de mi vida. Ambos tuvieron vidas extremadamente difíciles que incluyeron tener que vivir a través de dos guerras: la Guerra Civil Española y sus secuelas y la guerra para derrocar a Perón en Argentina, y sufrir la ruina económica debido a circunstancias fuera de su control en el caos económico de Argentina en la década de 1960. Sin embargo, nunca se verían a sí mismos como víctimas ni comprometerían sus principios frente a la adversidad. Simplemente encontraron un camino a través del autosacrificio y el trabajo duro que habría aplastado a seres humanos inferiores como su amado hijo. A menudo hacemos héroes de aquellos que no merecen el título. Pero si miramos a nuestro alrededor, podemos encontrar verdaderos héroes para venerar y emular en nuestras propias familias y entre nuestros amigos. Que los recordemos siempre, y las lecciones invaluables enseñadas por su ejemplo.
This is a reading of another free-verse poem from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2) collection.
This is a reading of one of my free-verse poems from my recent collection, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2).
This is a sample reading of a portion of one of the short stories in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories collection. I hope you enjoy it.
This podcast is a reading of one of the poems from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk book of poems. It is a poem about love, regret and wisdom come too late.
love #love_poem #regret
Este es uno de los poemas de mi segundo libro de poesía, "Echoes of Dawn at Dusk". Fue originalmente escrito en inglés. La traducción del al español es mía.
This podcast is a brief presentation from a scholarly article I am presenting this month at the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business annual academic conference dealing with the problem of notarial fraud.
Unlike notaries public in the overwhelming majority of nations around the world that follow the prevalent civil law legal system, U.S. notaries public are not required to be highly trained lawyers and, unless they are also attorneys, are neither qualified nor authorized to give legal advice, represent clients in court or before state or federal agencies, or provide immigration-related advice, filings, or representation. Foreign-born permanent and temporary residents--legal and illegal--are usually not aware of the very limited role that non-lawyer notaries public are authorized to play in all U.S. states and most territories and are, therefore, easy prey for unscrupulous notaries to whom they turn for advice and representation in the mistaken belief that U.S. notaries public are the same as notaries in their countries of origin, be they in Africa, Asia, Europe or the Americas.
Notarial fraud is almost always framed as an issue that affects only Mexican nationals and nationals of other Central and South American countries seeking immigration-related legal advice and assistance with issues relating to change of immigration status or sanctuary applications. And, though it certainly affects these individuals, it also affects many others who mistakenly place their trust in unscrupulous notaries public to handle a wide range of legal issues such as divorce, wills and trusts, contract negotiation, and a wide range of other civil and criminal matters. My paper and this presentation touches on what measures need to be put in place to prevent the widespread unauthorized practice of law by non-lawyer notaries and educate the public as to the nature and extent of the problem.
This poem from my Echoes of Dawn at Dusk collection was written in response to my coming across two statements made by Che Guevara quoted in the poem. It is my response to him and to all those who proudly wear his likeness on their t-shirts across college campuses and elsewhere world-wide. As good old Charlie Brown might utter, "SIGH - My stomach hurts."
Este podcast contiene una de las seis partes de mi poema en verso libre, Héroes Desconocidos. Esta parte concierne a mi abuela materna, Remedios.
Esta es la primera parte de un poema de seis partes, Héroes Desconocidos, sobre mis abuelos y padres que vivieron vidas increíblemente difíciles sin quejarse ni esperar elogios, levantándose a sí mismos por sus propios medios, y superando tragedias y dificultades que aplastarían a los humanos inferiores, como este, su nieto, que nunca podría ser su igual. Esta imperfecta traducción del ingles original es mia.
Maria was my paternal grandmother and one of my unsung heroes. She was left with four small children to fend for herself when her husband, my paternal grandfather, self-exiled to Argentina during the Spanish Civil War after being warned that his arrest was imminent due to his support of the failed Republic and opposition to fascism. For the better part of two decades, my grandmother was left to run my grandfather's business without his skill or business acumen and to raise four children during and after the Spanish Civil War and its sad aftermath. As is true of my maternal grandmother about whom I also wrote in this my longest free-verse poem, I never heard her complain even once about her burdens in life, or talk about her hardship, or of her self-sacrifice. I know their stories through my parents and others who knew them well, and through my own experience with them. Both grandmothers were as different as can be from one another: Maria was regal, very soft-spoken and seemingly aloof, while Remedios was gregarious, fun-loving and a people-person. Both shared unspeakable hardships in very different ways and both got along very well in later life when they met for some time in New York, perhaps their unspoken past hardships a bond between them that bridged their differences. It is women like these that built and rebuilt this world from the shattered dreams and other physical and emotional debris left behind by good, honorable, well-intentioned, idealistic men like their husbands who followed their conscience down the road to perdition leaving them to pick up the pieces on their own and rebuild a future from the wreckage of their lives through sheer force of will and hard work.
This podcast is a reading of a poem about my paternal grandfather, who faced nearly 20 years of exile in Argentina for his support of the doomed Republic during the Spanish Civil War, leaving behind a wife and four children, one of whom would die at the age of three from meningitis in his absence.
This podcast contains my reading of the first two pages of the 10 short stories in my Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories collection. The book is available at most booksellers in eBook and paperback versions, and well as an audiobook from Audible and Amazon (read by voice talent Dale M. Wilcox).
This is a reading of one of the new poems in my recently published second volume of poetry, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk. I hope you enjoy it.
This podcast is a reading of the last two parts of my longest free-verse poem, Unsung Heroes. It is about my mom and dad who both had very difficult lives from earliest childhood until their deaths including living through the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War that caused the death and exile of their fathers, living under dictatorships on two continents, pulling themselves by their bootstraps to a very comfortable life only to lose it all in business ventures in a times of economic chaos. Through it all they never once lost their moral compass, made excuses for their plight or wallowed in self-pity. They bent under circumstances that would have crushed lesser human beings, like their only son, and pushed forward with unshakable faith in themselves and the belief that God may test them but never crush them, and that hard work would allow them to once again prosper if they simply persevered. I wrote my dad's poem in one sitting the day after his death as a means of dealing with the grief and sharing his life with those that did not know him. My mom's poem I began writing during the fourth year of her four-year losing battle with dementia when I sensed the end was near and completed it the day after she passed in 2018. They are both together again with God and I am comforted in the possibility of seeing them once again in the fullness of time should I prove worthy of the honor when my time comes.
This is a simple introductory lecture on copyright law based on two of my books, Copyright Law: A Practical Guide (C) 20218 and Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets (C) 2013. Both are available in eBook and paperback editions from Amazon and other booksellers. I should note that this is not a formal lecture from one of my graduate or undergraduate courses, but a brief lecture intended as a video presentation on one of my author sites as a companion to my Copyright Law: A Practical Guide.
Un cuento de ciencia ficción sobre un mundo en un futuro no muy lejano donde un hombre está siendo juzgado por el último crimen penado por muerte en un planeta mediante el mundo entero.
This podcast features a sampling from my newest book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2). I hope will find something to like in this eclectic collection.
Una lectura de poesía original, parte de la cual ha aparecido en mis dos libros de poesía anteriores: Echoes of Dawn at Dusk [ecos del alba al anochecer] y Of Pain and Ecstasy [de dolor y éxtasis].
This podcast includes a reading of my poem "Mi Canto" in the original Spanish version and in my English Translation. It runs for approximately four minutes.
This short podcast contains a reading of one of the poems in my recently published book, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2). If you prefer reading the actual text and my commentary, you can find it in one of the book bubbles on a number of my books (fiction, poetry and non-fiction) at https://bublish.com/author/victorlopez.
As always, thank you for listening.
Victor
poetryreading #authordeading #poem
This episode contains the complete reading of the shortest story in my Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories collection. I hope you will enjoy it.
Este es uno de los poemas que figurarán en mi próximo libro de poesía "Ecos del Alba en Tinieblas". Este soneto trata con una de las emociones más difíciles de soportar para los seres humanos: el arrepentimiento.
This podcast is a reading of Chapter 6 of my new novel, Hire Lernin': An Idealist’s Quest Through the Realm of for-Profit Education. It concerns Dan's eye-opening one-day orientation at the flagship school in Manhattan that raises far more questions for him than it answers but does little to blunt his optimism and self-imposed mission to implement meaningful changes starting immediately as he fully begins his new role as dean of the Queens school.
A reading of my free verse poem from my latest book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems (Volume 2).
This is a reading of approximately half of one of the longest short stories in my new book Echoes of the Mind's Eye: 13 Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2021 - Victor D. Lopez. The short story involves among other things a novel theory as to the genesis of The Big Bang and the role played by black holes in the creation and extinction of infinite numbers of universes in the multiverse. It also explains what actually happened in the catastrophic shutdown on the Hadron Supercollider--at least according to the narrator's prescient dream.
This is a reading from my longest free-verse poem, Unsung Heroes, which deals with the lives of my grandparents and parents. Part I is about my maternal grandfather, Emilio, who died shortly after the end of the Civil War in Spain leaving behind a wife and nine children.
This is one of the sonnets from my most recent book of poetry, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2.
This is a reading of one of the sonnets from my recently released Echoes of Dawn at Dusk collection.
This is my reading of one of the sonnets in my recently released book of poetry, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk.
love #poetryreading #author #authorreading #spokenword #poetry #sonnet
I began my longest free verse poem nearly a decade ago when I published Unsung Heroes, a four-part poem about my grandparents who each lived incredibly difficult and inspiring lives in different ways during and after the Spanish Civil War, in my first book of poetry, Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems. In my recently released second book of poems, Echoes of Dawn at Dusk: Collected Poems, Volume 2, I continued that poem, adding a fifth and sixth part for my parents, Felipe and Lita, who themselves lived incredibly difficult lives on three continents and overcame adversity through their work ethic, never once giving up despite overwhelming odds against them, and never once sacrificing what they believed to be right for the sake of expediency. In my dad's case, who died in 2016, I wrote Unsung Heroes #5 days after his passing. My mom's poem, Unsung Heroes #6, I started towards the end of her four-year convalescence and losing battle against the only enemy she could not defeat: dementia. I completed it within days of her death as well in 2018. I could never do them justice and am a poor living legacy of their lives of sacrifice, sustained hardship and heroic battles overcome by reliance on each other and on their hard work. They rose and fell many times due to circumstances beyond their control--war, corrupt government, unsustainable social policies, health issues and simple bad luck. But they were never victims. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps when their relative wealth vanished and found a way through honest hard work when businesses failed through unsustainable economic policies, never asking or receiving government help or using available legal means to avoid their obligations. As I wrote in one of my books dedicated to them, no matter what I may achieve in life, I will never be their equal. It at once a source of pride and shame for me, the knowledge that despite having received every advantage thanks to their personal sacrifice and constant support, I could never be the son or legacy they deserved. There is no justice in this world, but I believe that they will have received their just rewards in the next. It is that belief that sustains me.
This is a continuation of my reading three additional complete chapters from my novel, Hire Lernin'.
My first novel involves the bittersweet journey of a young, idealistic, naïve attorney who takes on the role of academic dean at a for-profit business school in New York City in the late 1980s knowing very little about the industry. Unable to accept the way things are, he immediately launches into a personal quest to change lives for the better in an environment where only the bottom-line matters. Hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit quickly propel him to professional success, but at a deep personal cost in the process as he learns critical life-altering lessons about himself, about leadership, about for-profit and not-for-profit higher education, and about love. The novel is fiction based on my own experiences as academic dean of a for-profit business school as a newly minted lawyer in circumstances quite similar to those of the protagonist and in a similar frame of a bit more than a year.
The novel offers a rare peek behind the curtain of the for-profit education industry that only a former insider could write. Beyond the drama, tension, humor and conflicting love stories of the narrative, the novel raises some very real, compelling and little discussed issues about the failings of both for-profit and traditional non-profit public and private institutions in meeting the needs of students who need meaningful job training or retraining in a reasonably short time to provide meaningful work and a living wage for themselves and their families. For economic and political reasons, public institutions such as community colleges and schools of technology have largely abandoned what was once a primary mission of providing workers with meaningful skills in the trades and office support positions for business and industry and have largely become feeder schools for baccalaureate programs that often do not provide the skills employers need. It is very expensive to provide the labs and equipment needed to train students as mechanics, machinists, plumbers, electricians, welders, and a host of other blue collar professions that provide good jobs, high pay and the opportunity for individuals to build their own businesses. Educating students in the liberal arts, humanities and the social sciences, on the other hand, generally requires minimal resources and no costly labs by comparison. Liberal arts degrees can also lead to rewarding careers, though usually only after many years of study. And in the professions, graduate degrees are likely to be a requirement for employment and/or advancement.
I was one of the fortunate students who could have studied any career of choice with no concern about having to feed a family or keep a roof over my head thanks to very supportive parents. But I know were that not the case that my training at Brooklyn Technical High School that besides college-level coursework in the liberal arts, math and sciences provided me with significant tools in electronics, electricity and mechanics that would have made me highly employable in any of these fields out of High School at two or three times the starting salary I could have commanded with my B.A. in Queen's College's English Honors Program with high honors designation four years later. My dad as a world-class machinist/mechanic earned more than twice my salary when he retired, though I was a tenured professor in the SUNY system at the time.
In the past two decades, certain segments of public and private non-profit education and for-profit education have come to mirror one another in their common failings--something that is touched upon in this novel but I will fully explore in a planned sequel that will also be fiction based on my experience as both a professor and administrator in non-profit public and private institutions.
Hire Lernin' is now available in hardcover, paperback and eBook versions at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.