Encinitas author translates Latinas' lives from history

By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Saturday, October 2, 2004 5:18 PM PDT ∞

Benvenida Abravanel saved thousands of Jewish people during the Spanish Inquisition. France Anne Cordova was the youngest and first woman to hold the position of chief scientist for NASA. Botanist Ynez Mexia uncovered thousands of previously unknown plant specimens in the early 20th century.

Never head of them? How about golfer Nancy Lopez? Queen Isabella of Spain? Artist Frieda Kahlo? Raquel Welch, Joan Baez or Linda Ronstadt?

Those famous and not-so-famous women are featured in "The Book of Latina Women" ($12.95, Adams Media) by Encinitas resident Sylvia Mendoza, herself a Latino and an author best known for romance novels.

"I thought it was the project of a lifetime," Mendoza said about the opportunity to write about "150 Vidas (Lives) of Passion, Strength and Success," the subtitle of her book.

Mendoza hopes the book will shed light on the often-overlooked contributions of Latino women in history, entertainment, science and the arts.

"We just are so shortchanged for women's accomplishments in history," Mendoza said. "I think in the back of my mind while I was writing this, I wanted it to be far-reaching. I wanted it to be something for my grandma as well as my daughter. I wanted it to reach women of all ages."

The book includes many well-known women, including Eva Peron, Vikki Carr, Charo, Imogene Coca, Gloria Estefan, Salma Hayek, Rita Hayworth, Jennifer Lopez, Carmen Miranda, Rita Moreno, Selena and Daisy Fuentes. Others, however, are much more obscure, and Mendoza herself said she knew about only 50 of the women before starting the project.

Mendoza is best known for her three published romance novels ---- "Flights of Passion," "Waves of Passion" and "Serenade" ---- but she had written nonfiction before and has a background in journalism.

Her involvement with the book stemmed from the 2001 San Diego State University Writer's Conference, where Mendoza met Marcela Landres, a Simon and Schuster editor who gave her an award for a still-unfinished writing project.

"A few months later, she called with a proposition," Mendoza said. "An agent said she had publishers interested in a book on Latino women. She realized she couldn't do it and immediately called me. I knew in my gut that this was what I needed."

It took a year just to decide on the 150 women who would be in the book, she said.

"I wanted women who were timeless, basically, whether they were historical figures or contemporary women. Whatever they would have done would speak to generations of women. I have two teenage girls and a son, and I wanted something out there for them as a reference point."

In researching the book, Mendoza discovered a particular affection for some of the women, such as Ynez Mexia (1870-1938), a botanist who at 57 traveled alone on horseback and by mule through jungles, deserts, rain forests and mountains. She collected more than 100,000 species, including thousands that had never been seen before.

"You try to picture that time period, and these women were really against the grain," Mendoza said.

Mendoza was particularly affected by the three Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic, who were killed for their involvement in the resistance movement against dictator Rafael Trujillo.

"Their mission was to restore democracy and human rights to the island nation," Mendoza wrote. "They were symbols of dignity, strength and inspiration."

Mendoza remembers being overcome with emotion after writing about them.

"I took the kids somewhere, and I was at a stop light, and everything I had written just started flooding back to me," she said. "I was just bawling in my car, overwhelmed about the women and what they had to do."

The book also includes current and past San Diego residents, including Raquel Welch, born Raquel Tejada, who was once a Fairest of the Fair in Del Mar, and Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina astronaut and a product of east San Diego County. Mendoza also wrote about Leucadia resident Pam Munoz Ryan, who has written 25 books for young adults and children and won several writing awards.

One of the biggest challenges for Mendoza was keeping the biographies to just 500 words.

"I hoped I was bringing out the essence of the women," she said. "I wanted to get a bit of their personalities."

Realizing that 500 words does not reveal much about a person, Mendoza said her dream is to have her book in school libraries so students can easily look up more information about the women that interest them.

The experience has left Mendoza wanting to expand her own education. Inspired by her heroines, Mendoza has enrolled in San Diego State University for a master's degree in women's studies.

"As I got deeper into the research of each one, I felt I had to go into a different path," she said. "I still get all teary when I talk about those Mirabal sisters. It really touched me profoundly."

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at gwarth@nctimes.com or (760) 740-5410.

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