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Book
Review
LAST RIDE
ON THE FERRY
by Angelica Reyna |
Order
Here
Last Ride on the Ferry | |
Review:Although
it is technically a work of fiction, Last Ride on the Ferry is "97%
true" according to the author. The locale is mostly the border region of Hidalgo
County in Texas' lower Rio Grande Valley. Texas readers should instantly recognize
all place names. |
| | Severo
Reyna sits for a portrait circa 1960 | |
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| In 1848 after the
Mexican War, parts of Old Mexico were transferred to the United States under the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. One of the many families split by the treaty was
the Ozuna family - with factions living on both sides of the river. Later generations
of the family that remained in Mexico frequently crossed to "the other side" in
search of work. In 1930, the first year of the Great Depression, Severo Ozuna
crossed the Rio Grande to "seek his fortune," as stories used to say. He spent
most of his adult life in and around Edinburg,
Texas. |
| | The
funeral procession on Labor Day weekend 2003 | |
|
| | "Hearse
waiting for Severo Revna's body. Mexico (across from the ferry)" |
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| | Angelica
Reyna (with parasol) and her father Severo crossing on the ferry in the summer
of 2000 | | |
| Last
Ride on the Ferry is the saga of the Ozuna family and the poignant story
of Severo's return to the place of his birth - not far from where he had crossed
seventy-one years previously. The hand-pulled ferry at Los Ebanos that he was
so familiar with serving as his funeral bier. Mr. Ozuna (1915 - 2003) was born
in San Miguel de Camargo (now Gustavo-Diaz Ordaz), Tamulipas, Mexico. |
| | "Last
Ride on the Ferry" book cover | |
|
The
Author: Born
in 1941 at Mercedes, Texas, author Angelica is the eldest girl in a family of
eight children. She spent her childhood as a migrant worker and her education
was learned from a patchwork quilt of new schools scattered from Texas to Florida
and the Midwest. Never experiencing the stability of one school or the tutelege
of familiar teachers; she moved with the migrant workers allowed in under the
Bracero Program of the 1950s. As an adult she worked in a variety of factory jobs,
finally gaining some stability by becoming a cosmotologist. Angelica is the mother
of two and has two grandchildren. With her hard-won life experience and college
courses, Angelica's interest in her culture has only deepened over time. Last
Ride on the Ferry is her first book. |
| | 1948
photo of Angelica Reyna "in the first grade ...around the time we lived in
Los Ebanos." | |
|
Letter:
Dear Texas Escapes:
I am a new author who has written a fictional novel
inspired by a true story (mine). Last Ride on the Ferry is now available
in bookstores as well as www.amazon.com
My father, Severo Reyna, was
born four miles south of the Rio Grande where the Los
Ebanos Ferry is now in operation. The story is 97% true. My father must have
crossed on the {Los Ebanos]
ferry over a thousand times during his 87 years. I, myself, went to school in
Los Ebanos, Texas during
the 1940's so the ferry is also very special for me. I can still remember when
they bulldozed a path for the "New Ferry" in 1949, when I was in the second grade.
- Angelica Reyna Bland, Hagerstown, Indiana and (two months out of the year)
Edinburg, Texas, October, 2006 |
Order
Here
Amazon.com
Last Ride on the Ferry | |
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