In 2001, after nearly twenty years, mom left the garment industry in downtown L.A. to start her own business: A newsstand on the streets of East Hollywood. I was just on the cusp of reaching my teen years when she set out on this path, and couldn’t understand then why she chose to start selling newspapers and magazines for a change.
I would realize eventually that while mom’s experience in the classroom back in Oaxaca was short-lived, she loved learning too much to let it go completely. Her newsstand was a place where she could finally reconnect with her childhood dream of being surrounded by words, fellow literary minds, and Los Cuentos they all told together.
Today, inspired by mom’s unlikeliest of dreams coming to stand, Los Cuentos emerges. On the one hand, each Cuento carries ‘old’ legends and trails; on the other hand, an undeniably new dream; it’s a legacy thus origination from L.A.’s classrooms, buses, subways, garment factories, and a myriad of more unique places to be a part of.
And more is right. More Cuentos are on the way in no time, Los Angeles. Try to keep up!
J.T.