I suppose that most writers, particularly those of my ilk, harbor a secret ambition to write a book. We imagine ourselves the author of that respected tome that was meticulously researched and that is the utmost authority in its subject matter and used by scholars and peers alike. Or we see ourselves the playwright of that dramatic offering that is always associated with the word “Pulitzer.”
Of course most of us never get beyond the pretend stage. We are too busy, we repeat over and over, or we convince that no one outside of a few family members would take the time to read our prose.
There are some, however, that tear down those barriers. They simply sit down and write a book. Juan Luis Curiel, a Chula Vista resident, did that about four years ago when he came to the Bonita Historical Museum and approached me with this project.
He saw a need for the lives of certain people detailed in one volume for the reading of others. He wanted, he told me, to highlight those persons who might be role models for others.
To accompany these mini-biographies he wished to liberally sprinkle the pages with photographs—both vintage and modern—of various landmarks in the San Diego area, primarily those of the South Bay. Basically a historian, Curiel wished to demonstrate to his readers life in the area now and in those generations just past.
The writing of almost anything comes natural to Curiel. He has spent most of his adult life in that profession. He started in the communication business in the infancy of television, particularly television in the South Bay.
He, for example was the voice, and nearly everything else, at the Mexican outlet Channel 12. In those early days there was only one other station in Tijuana. Channel 6 was the one with which we were most familiar. It, in a sense, went big time picking up one of the American networks, the American Broadcasting Company and beaming it north. Curiel, with Channel 12, carried those programs originating in Tijuana or beamed from the interior of Mexico.
He recalled sometimes being the announcer for seven or eight shows daily as well as the moderator at a talk show, probably one of the first of its kind. In addition he was also engaged in script and advertising copy.
As most persons in his capacity, Curiel also had the job of finding advertising accounts. This job took him into the San Diego market as well as Tijuana and enabled him to meet many influential persons. He lists among his acquaintances persons like the former mayors Pete Wilson, Frank Curran, Maureen O’Connor, people who helped him with his fledgling television station.
On listening to Curiel relate his early life I was thinking a bit of writers like Jack London or Mark Twain. Curiel was born in Mexico City but left home at an early age. He went to Vera Cruz, the romance of a seaport, no doubt, drawing him there. He stowed away on a ship bound for Cuba but was found out and sent back. This, however, was the start of an adventurous life that would take him to many places before he came back to his family eleven years later.
Curiel, probably intentionally, has selected persons for his book that, like him, led somewhat adventurous lives. The title “Forjadores San Diego Hispano” tells us much of what is in there.”The Forgers of History in San Diego” that is the persons who made the South Bay what it is. The book is the type of tome I referred to earlier. It should be a reference work for any young man or woman ready to embark on life as well as those who want to read about a life that has been.
