Schumacher, Edward

English

DigitalCommons@Connecticut College

Teatro: Revista de Estudios Culturales / A Journal of CulturalStudiesVolume 23 Motivos & estrategias: Estudios en honordel Dr. Ángel Berenguer Article 107-2009Hombre, don't worry about it!Edward SchumacherFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/teatroPart of the Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons, and the Theatre andPerformance Studies CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Teatro:Revista de Estudios Culturales / A Journal of Cultural Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Connecticut College. For moreinformation, please contact bpancier@conncoll.edu.The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.Recommended CitationSchumacher, Edward. (2009) "Hombre, don't worry about it!," Teatro: Revista de Estudios Culturales / A Journal of Cultural Studies:Número 23, pp. 46-47.I was the correspondent for The New York Times in Madrid when I first met AngelBerenguer.  I don’t remember if it was my predecessor, John Darnton, who told methat I should meet Angel, or if it was through the Fletcher connection.  I was agraduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, andAngel ran the Tufts program in Madrid.  However the first meeting was arranged,it was for me love at first sight.  Angel was a bearded, bearish, charismatic Spaniard with a wonderful sense of humorabout Spain and the world around him.  He and his beautiful, intellectually powerfulwife Joan, a Californian who directed the Skidmore program, ran a running classroomand intellectual salon in Madrid for Spanish, American, French and other academics,journalists and thinkers.   You never know who you might meet at their place, whichat that time was a large apartment in a wonderful old building on La Castellanathat they split up into office, classroom and living space.  A magazine group wason another floor.  In that apartment, over good wine and cheese and other delights—with Angel there was always good food—I met diplomats, philosphers, painters, columnistsand just generally interesting and convivial people.  For a foreign correspondent, thesalon was a gold mine.  But the center of the conversation was always Angel.Angel was first and foremost a scholar on dramaturgy, but his knowledge of theUnited States led him to start a center for North American studies at the Universityof Alcala.  He immediately made it into a great center of debate and scholarshipon American culture, history and foreign policy.   With an enthusiasm that wasn’t boggeddown in faculty or bureaucratic politics, Angel explored, experimented and executedwith quality.  Hoping to add genuine scholarship, he started and edited a journal onNorth American studies.  For one issue, he invited Spanish and U.S. scholars tospeak at a university conference on U.S. foreign policy under the first PresidentBush and asked me to be the guest editor of a bilingual book of the collected papers.Only Angel would have the courage to publish a book with chapters written ineither English or Spanish.  He was genuinely bilingual and bicultural.On occasions, Angel asked me to speak to his classes at Alcala or in theTufts/Skidmore program on issues of journalism or US-Spain relations, and Igladly accepted.  I was especially honored one year to be the graduation speaker atthe Alcala institute.  I gave a whole speech dedicated to what I meant to say wouldbe a feared return of American “isolatonism”.  By mistake, however, I substituted insteadthe word “neutralism” throughout the entire speech.  Don’t ask me how I did that;   Americanneutralism was by definition preposterous.  Angel of course knew as much.  ButHOMBRE, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!EDWARD SCHUMACHER46Schumacher: Hombre, don't worry about it!Published by Digital Commons @ Connecticut College, 200947when after realization of the mistake suddenly hit after the end of the ceremonyand I turned to him and said in total embarrassment that I had just royally screwedup, he laughed, slapped me on the back, and said, “Hombre, don’t worry about it!”   Itwas characteristic of his generosity, and I will never forget it.Angel and Joan have two wonderful daughters, Celia and Paloma, who sometimesbabysat for my two younger daughters, and with my wife Maribel we were allfriends.  They gave warmth and meaning to our seven years in Madrid.  Along theway, I became the sword carrier, an addendum, to the three Almeria musqueteers: ChenchoArias, José Antonio Martínez Soler and Angel.  Chencho was at different timesthe spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Minsitry, the head of the government’sIberoamerican outreach and president of Real Madrid.  José Antonio was the editorof two newspapers and the founder of morning television for Televisión Española.We would meet evenings at Angel’s or at the Moroccan restaurant downstairs. JoséAntonio would host Sunday afternoons over paella at his house outside Madrid. Angelwould regale us with stories of his father’s bakery shop and youth in Almeria, whereAngel returned to build a house. Rising from a middle class background in a provincial city, Angel represented thenew Spain that was converging on the capital and rapidly changing the countryfollowing the death of Franco.  Having had a foot in the United States, he alsoknew how to translate the changes for a foreigner.  Angel politically leaned leftwards,but he was scrupulously honest and fair in his analysis of political and social trendsin the country.  In reverse, he interpreted the United States for Spain, dispellingmyths that had built up on both the Spanish right and left.  Once we were on aradio talk show together, and he even defended American hamburgers!  What it allmeant was that Angel was a genuine intellectual, extremely well read but independentand rigorous in his analysis and thinking.  Still today, I turn to Angel for his views and insights on Spain.  They are sure tobe original and interesting.  They are also sure to be mixed with humor on thehuman condition.  Perhaps it comes from his real love, which aside from Joan,Celia and Paloma, is drama. He has seen all today’s stories before, written by Greekand French and Spanish and other playwrights, and it gives him a unique perspectiveon life and politics.  In the process, Angel Berenguer, as a critic and scholar, hashimself risen to the pantheon of the greats.   Even more, in that great heart andsoul of his, is a generous mentor to countless passing students and foreigners and someoneI am forever grateful to call friend.HOMBRE, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT!EDWARD SCHUMACHERTeatro: Revista de Estudios Culturales / A Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 23, No. 23 [2009], Art. 10http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/teatro/vol23/iss23/10

Hombre, don\u27t worry about it!

https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1250&amp;context=teatro

Hombre, don\u27t worry about it!

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@Connecticut College