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Don't
depend on someone else, just yourself, says Hollywood director
Luis’
family was living in a barn when, as a toddler, he was severely burned
by an overturned pot of boiling water. He was dying, his family says,
but the local “white hospital” released him the same day. For
six months he suffered. He could not sleep on his painfully burned back,
so his mother had him sleep on her stomach – “heart to heart.”
Luis credits his mother for not only saving his young life but for
“charging up” his heart for a lifetime of artistic service. One
day, years later, his third-grade teacher, Miss Newfield, brought in a
beautiful wooden toy truck, painted bright yellow with black wood
wheels. She placed it on her desk and announced that at the end of the
month she would give it to the best-behaved boy in class. Luis
knew Jimmy – the son of a local rancher -- was the teacher’s pet,
but he threw himself into winning that beautiful little truck. One day
Jimmy was caught misbehaving, so Luis was sure he could win the truck
now. But when the day came to award the truck, it was Jimmy who received
it. Luis
went home broken-hearted but then went to his uncle’s shop and got
permission to use his uncle’s woodworking tools. That
day he built his own truck. It was pink because there weren’t many
colors of paint to choose from in the shop. Luis found some mayonnaise
jar lids, painted them black and made it so the wheels actually turned
around and around – unlike Jimmy’s truck. Luis’
uncle and parents were very impressed and told all their friends and
relatives. That encouraged Luis more, and he started making all kinds of
toys, including cars and airplanes. Luis
says he learned an important lesson that day: When confronted by
obstacles such as prejudice, “build your own damn truck.” Luis
Valdez overcame many obstacles, went to college and became the creator
of the award-winning Teatro Campesino (The Farmworkers Theater), writer
and director of the Obie Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated
“Zoot Suit,” and the first Chicano playwright of a Broadway show. He
wrote and directed the movie “La Bamba,” nominated for the Golden
Globe Award for Best Musical Picture. And he was also the director of
TNT’s TV series, “The Cisco Kid.” Such
success garnered Luis many honors, including a Presidential Medal of the
Arts, but he – as most migrant children – had every opportunity to
give up on his dreams. But he did whatever was necessary build his dream
like he built his truck. |