Linda Watanabe McFerrin reads “Noche de los Muertos”
McFerrin is adept at describing the concerns of women of various ethnic backgrounds, from different geographic regions of America and showing that despite race, country of origin, or physical location, some feelings and difficulties are universal. Elizabeth Millard
“Tonight we remember, we make room for the dead. Tonight, they are among us.”
Linda Watanabe McFerrin, consummate traveler, didn’t have to stray too far from home to experience this San Franciscan tradition. As a resident of the Bay Area she could hardly have avoided it. Funny, how death might struggle to coalesce in the narrow canals of Venice or dense forests of Lapa Rios, but how easily it forms itself when you return home, clogging the “balmy alleys,” filling the streets, parading prismatically about you. There is a depth to Linda Watanabe McFerrin’s stories beyond the intricate syntax and mesmerizing diction, there is a depth that comes from reading her many times over, and, like a friend, learning through her words, thoughts, and actions, the story of her life. This is one of the many reasons why we think she deserves a Legacy book which comprehends the multitudes of her work and herself. For someone with Linda’s body of work, with her literary and emotional depth, one or two stories does not suffice to illuminate the whole.
Hear Linda read “Noche de los Muertos”
Listen to Linda on the ASP Podcast