Carmen M. Pursifull
Encyclopedia
Carmen M. Pursifull is a former New York City
Latin dance and Latin American music
figure of the 1950s, and since 1970 in Illinois
, is an English-language free verse
poet who was a top ten finalist nominee for Poet Laureate of that state in 2003. Since late 2009 she has been a local public television personality in the Champaign-Urbana market.
-born father and his Army bride from Barcelona
, Spain
. She grew up in New York City where she left high school after her first marriage in 1946, ending her formal education.
Thereafter she was a member of a New York City interpretive dance
troupe, and in 1950 at age twenty she was recruited by Frank "Killer Joe" Piro
to partner with him teaching Cha-Cha-Cha
and Mambo
at the Palladium Ballroom
at 53rd St. and Broadway in Manhattan
. This thrust her into the center of the Latin dance craze of the time. She became a featured vocalist with Latin American bands in New York City, belonged to American Federation of Musicians Local 802 (Greater New York City), toured widely in the United States, and had extended engagements in the Caribbean including the Caribe Hilton Hotel
in San Juan, Puerto Rico
with Miguelito Valdés
and His Orchestra in 1953 and with Ray Wallis and His Calypso
Band at the Virgin Isles Hotel
in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands in 1954.
In 1959 she ceased touring in order to be with her children, and began a sixteen-year career of tending and managing bars in Manhattan. In 1962 she married her fourth husband, John Pursifull, a career non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy
.
where their son was attending the University of Illinois. At his suggestion in 1970, Ms. Pursifull began keeping a diary to ease her adjustment from New York City to Midwestern life. Her writing soon took on rhythm and metaphor, and she joined the newly-formed Red Herring Poets workshop, and eventually became its official Matriarch. She is self-educated, obtaining her graduate equivalency diploma in 1979. She has published over 650 poems in the United States and internationally in academic and other refereed poetry journals, has published ten book-length collections, and has read her poetry extensively in academic and community arts settings in Illinois and surrounding states and on the local broadcast media. Since October 8, 2009, Ms. Pursifull reads her poetry on a weekly half-hour prime time television show on Urbana Public Television.
Ms. Pursifull is also the mother of Rajiam Pursifull and Adrienne Maria Lindsey Scott, and has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Latin dance and Latin American music
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
figure of the 1950s, and since 1970 in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, is an English-language free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
poet who was a top ten finalist nominee for Poet Laureate of that state in 2003. Since late 2009 she has been a local public television personality in the Champaign-Urbana market.
Early life and career
Born Carmen Maria Padilla in New York City, she was the youngest of five children to a Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
-born father and his Army bride from Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. She grew up in New York City where she left high school after her first marriage in 1946, ending her formal education.
Thereafter she was a member of a New York City interpretive dance
Interpretive dance
Interpretive dance is a family of dance styles that seeks to translates particular feelings and emotions, human conditions, situations, or fantasies into movement and dramatic expression combined...
troupe, and in 1950 at age twenty she was recruited by Frank "Killer Joe" Piro
Killer Joe Piro
Frank "Killer Joe" Piro was a dance instructor to high society and popularized steps of the discotheque era of the 1960s and 1970s.- Early life :...
to partner with him teaching Cha-Cha-Cha
Cha-cha-cha (dance)
The Cha-cha-cha is the name of a dance of Cuban origin.It is danced to the music of the same name introduced by Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín in 1953...
and Mambo
Mambo (dance)
Mambo .In the late 1940s, Perez Prado came up with the dance for the mambo music and became the first person to market his music as "mambo". After Havana, Prado moved his music to Mexico, where his music and the dance was adopted. The original mambo dance was characterized by freedom and...
at the Palladium Ballroom
Palladium Ballroom
The Palladium Ballroom was a second-floor dancehall on 53rd Street and Broadway in New York City which became famous for its excellent Latin music from 1948 until its closing in 1966.-Opening of Palladium:...
at 53rd St. and Broadway in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. This thrust her into the center of the Latin dance craze of the time. She became a featured vocalist with Latin American bands in New York City, belonged to American Federation of Musicians Local 802 (Greater New York City), toured widely in the United States, and had extended engagements in the Caribbean including the Caribe Hilton Hotel
Caribe Hilton Hotel
The Caribe Hilton Hotel, located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is one of the best-known hotels in the Caribbean. It was the first facility ever operated by Hilton Hotels outside of the continental United States....
in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
with Miguelito Valdés
Miguelito Valdés
Miguelito Valdés, born Miguel Ángel Eugenio Lázaro Zacarias Izquierdo Valdés Hernández , also called Mr. Babalú, was a Cuban popular singer of high quality...
and His Orchestra in 1953 and with Ray Wallis and His Calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
Band at the Virgin Isles Hotel
Music of the Virgin Islands
The music of the Virgin Islands reflects long-standing West Indian cultural ties to the island nations to the south, the islands' African heritage and European colonial history, as well as recent North American influences. Though the United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands are...
in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands in 1954.
In 1959 she ceased touring in order to be with her children, and began a sixteen-year career of tending and managing bars in Manhattan. In 1962 she married her fourth husband, John Pursifull, a career non-commissioned officer in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
.
Move to Illinois and writing career
On retirement from the Navy, the Pursifulls moved to Champaign, IllinoisChampaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
where their son was attending the University of Illinois. At his suggestion in 1970, Ms. Pursifull began keeping a diary to ease her adjustment from New York City to Midwestern life. Her writing soon took on rhythm and metaphor, and she joined the newly-formed Red Herring Poets workshop, and eventually became its official Matriarch. She is self-educated, obtaining her graduate equivalency diploma in 1979. She has published over 650 poems in the United States and internationally in academic and other refereed poetry journals, has published ten book-length collections, and has read her poetry extensively in academic and community arts settings in Illinois and surrounding states and on the local broadcast media. Since October 8, 2009, Ms. Pursifull reads her poetry on a weekly half-hour prime time television show on Urbana Public Television.
Ms. Pursifull is also the mother of Rajiam Pursifull and Adrienne Maria Lindsey Scott, and has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Collections
Book-length collections of the poetry of Carmen M. Pursifull are:- Carmen by Moonlight (1982);
- The Twenty-four Hour Wake (1989);
- Manhattan Memories (1989);
- Elsewhere in a Parallel Universe (1992);
- The Many Faces Of Passion (1996);
- Brimmed Hat With Flowers (2000);
- World Of Wet (with Edward L. Smith, Ph.D.)(2002);
- Carmen by Moonlight 2nd Edition, (2005);
- The Many Faces Of Passion 2nd Edition (2006); and
- Probing The Depths of Mind & Matter (2007).
See also
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- List of Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican literature
Additional reading
- List of Puerto Rican writers
- Zimmerman, Marc, U.S. Latino Literature: An Essay and Annotated Bibliography, MARCH/Abrazo, 1992.
- Live reading poster, 1953 show business photograph, and 2003 photograph with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Poet Laureate of Illinois. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7755351@N03/sets/72157611277705986/
- Hawk Production's link (subject's home page). http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/hawkproductions/