Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Reading in Honor of Hector Torres

Students, faculty and staff are invited to honor Hector Torres on Thursday evening, March 11th at 6:30 in the English lounge. Please bring readings, stories, mementos and food.
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4 comments:

  1. J. David Jerez-GómezMarch 10, 2010 at 12:22 PM

    Héctor Torres was my friend and a great professor. I recently had the chance of attending a recent conference in UNM, just 2 weeks ago, where we meet again after many years. I was just a student in Granada when I meet him and other professors attending the first conference on Chicano Literature in Spain in 1998. Then I moved to the States to pursue a M.A. and Héctor kept in touch always kind and supporting in my transition to this country. I remember his letters and chicano music he sent me then, his passion for Spain, Granada, literature and our common Hispanic culture. It was great to see him again last February, catching up in our life events, and make plans for future reunions. I'm terribly sad for his loss and his girlfriend Stefanie. I cannot believe this! I wish I could be there for this reading in his honor tomorrow. Please, remember Granada for him, which he loved, on my behalf and the friend he made there who mourns him now.
    J. David Jerez-Gómez

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  2. todd eddyMarch 11, 2010 at 9:16 AM

    What a terrible loss. Héctor was one of the warmest individuals I ever met, and was always a pleasure to talk with.

    todd eddy

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  3. NathalieMarch 12, 2010 at 6:42 AM

    J.David, you're absolutely right, we miss him so much here. Ánimo a ti también, abrazo granadino,
    Nathalie Bléser, Universidad de Granada

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  4. AnonymousMarch 21, 2010 at 3:26 PM

    I remember Professor Torres well. As an undergraduate, we had rather serious disagreements about literary theoretical matters, and at times our differences seemed to veer into the 'personal' gray zone. He went so far as to accuse me of plagiarism, at one point (which was exonerated). But even after all this, we were able to maintain cordial relations, and we even came to respect one another, on our own terms, personally and intellectually. I counted him as a genuine supporter, despite our differences, and I am deeply saddened by the loss, which I only discovered inadvertently by visiting the UNM English departmental website.

    The circumstances of the loss are, tragically and ironically, very much related to the contents of our disagreements. Héctor rejected my arguments for "universal," evolved human faculties and attendant behavior, and rebuffed my criticisms of post-structuralism. But in the end, we were both right: we are able to overcome "human nature" as much as we succumb to its grip on our lives.

    It is important, I think, to also honor what Prof. Torres may not have known: I was profoundly influenced by one of his selected texts: Hunger of Memory, by Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez. I still have my copy, some twelve years on, and I hope to use it in a course of my own some day.

    Farewell, Héctor.

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