Centro Cultural Barco de Papel presented Puerto Rican author, Irma Aguilera, who with her book “El final de mi otoño (The end of my autumn)” wherein a number of inspired stories, be they anecdotes, music and poetry were gathered together in a composite of positive thought. In it, the aim of the author was to offer a compendium of practical lessons for life based on her personal experiences and of people with whom she shared moments of her life with. Find photos of the event in our Facebook Page.
About the author
Irma Aguilera was born in the small town of Guanica, Puerto Rico, where she lived with her parents. As a child she liked to go to the Caribbean Sea with her brothers and cousins to gaze at the fishing vessels that were in the horizon. These childhood excursions prompted her to believe that she would ride on those same sea waves to reach the United States. In 1955, she arrived in New York with her two children and began working in a bag factory.
In 1974, she received a diploma through the Manpower Training Program, which was sponsored by Mayor John Lindsey’s administration. Her contributions as a cultural civic leader for her work in the organization Sons of Guanica garnered recognition in 1975. In 1979, she received a professional designation for radio and television by way of Cambridge University, in Washington, D.C. She also founded the Pro House Guanica Aguilera’s Family Society, Inc. with the aim to serve the senior citizen population. This organization is the only official representation of guaniqueños in the Puerto Rican parade of New York.
She graduated with a Journalism degree in 1981 and since then has written for local newspapers and magazines. In 1986, she received the Certificate of Merit from The Assembly of the State of New York. In 1997 Aguilera ventured onto another project and began to produce and host her own radio program, “Open Doors.” Aguilera is retired and lives in Brooklyn, but her civic work continues by producing and presenting the weekly cable program called “Varieties of our Communities” found on Brooklyn public television.
Biography by Isaac Mejil
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