I first met Franz in late 1949 when Silvino “SV” Epistola introduced me to him in campus. The Literary Apprentice of 1949-50 edited by SV together with William Pomeroy and Reuben Canoy had just come out with my story “Growth.” Franz told me he liked my story. SV told me that Franz had said I was one of the writers “who could see”—a big encouragement for me. I knew he lived in one of the cottages in U.P. Diliman—having read Emy Arcellana’s piece in Armando Manalo’s Literary Apprentice about their quonset abode close to the hills in a once cogonal campus.
Diliman then was a cool place (literally) and the Balara Filters close by was a resort. Halili buses plied between Quiapo and campus through the circuitous route of Kamuning, Cubao, and East avenue. I imagined Franz commuting (like most of us who lived in Manila) to one of the universities in Manila to teach every weekday.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)