Juan Flores (1943-2014)
Juan Flores -- scholar, mentor, author, professor of social and cultural analysis, pioneer of Puerto Rican studies, living encyclopedia, and friend to many people in our community -- has passed. So far no obituary has been published that I can find.
He was taken with a sudden illness not long ago, prior to which he was as vital as ever. A familiar presence in the audience at musical events, he seemed much younger than his 71 years, with plenty of energy, enthusiasm, and ideas, moving forward. He was teaching a graduate course at NYU this semester, which is being completed by a colleague.
His career was a long one. I hope someone knowledgeable will write a piece describing its trajectory more fully than I can. Having received his doctorate from Yale in 1970 (in German literature; his first book, from 1970, was Poetry in East Germany: Adjustments, Visions, and Provocations, 1945 - 1970), his long-term influence over more than four decades is such that anyone who teaches Latino or Puerto Rican studies is walking in a world he helped make. He was one of the people who helped forge a cultural link to postrevolutionary Cuba. Between authorship, translation, and editing, he published ten books, according to his faculty webpage at NYU; two of them received Casa de las Américas prizes, in 1980 and 2009. More recently, Juan's thought was an important influence on Miguel Zenón's recent large-scale work, Identities are Changeable, in which his recorded speaking voice was featured.
I learned much from him. Three years ago, when I found myself putting together a syllabus with little advance notice to teach an undergraduate course called "The Music of the Puerto Rican People" at Brooklyn College, my first call was to Juan, who gave me constructive suggestions and good vibes by phone from Puerto Rico.
I can attest to the singular importance and high quality of his writing on Puerto Rican music. I hope his unpublished work will come out soon.
Here's an article by him that students in several of my classes have read. Interview at afropop.
He was taken with a sudden illness not long ago, prior to which he was as vital as ever. A familiar presence in the audience at musical events, he seemed much younger than his 71 years, with plenty of energy, enthusiasm, and ideas, moving forward. He was teaching a graduate course at NYU this semester, which is being completed by a colleague.
His career was a long one. I hope someone knowledgeable will write a piece describing its trajectory more fully than I can. Having received his doctorate from Yale in 1970 (in German literature; his first book, from 1970, was Poetry in East Germany: Adjustments, Visions, and Provocations, 1945 - 1970), his long-term influence over more than four decades is such that anyone who teaches Latino or Puerto Rican studies is walking in a world he helped make. He was one of the people who helped forge a cultural link to postrevolutionary Cuba. Between authorship, translation, and editing, he published ten books, according to his faculty webpage at NYU; two of them received Casa de las Américas prizes, in 1980 and 2009. More recently, Juan's thought was an important influence on Miguel Zenón's recent large-scale work, Identities are Changeable, in which his recorded speaking voice was featured.
I learned much from him. Three years ago, when I found myself putting together a syllabus with little advance notice to teach an undergraduate course called "The Music of the Puerto Rican People" at Brooklyn College, my first call was to Juan, who gave me constructive suggestions and good vibes by phone from Puerto Rico.
I can attest to the singular importance and high quality of his writing on Puerto Rican music. I hope his unpublished work will come out soon.
Here's an article by him that students in several of my classes have read. Interview at afropop.
