Carlos Eire, acclaimed author of Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy (Free Press, 2010) and Waiting for Snow in Havana (Free Press, 2004), will speak on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at the College of the Holy Cross. Following his talk, Eire will sign copies of his book, Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy, which was the common summer reading for Holy Cross students entering their sophomore year. Books will be available for purchase at the event, which is free and open to the public.
As his two well-known memoirs detail, Eire was born in Havana in 1950, but fled his homeland of Cuba in 1962. He and his brother, Tony, were two of 14,000 children airlifted by Operation Peter Pan, unaccompanied by parents and guardians. After living a life in and out of foster homes in both Florida and then Illinois, he finally reunited with his mother in Chicago in 1965, but never saw his father again. Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy details the heartache of his adjustment to life in the U.S. but also his resilience.
"The book serves as an inspiration to all who have faced obstacles but have found the strength to continue and be reborn," says Esther Levine, dean of the class of 2014.
The “refugee boy” grew up, and earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1979. Eire then taught at St. John’s University for two years and at the University of Virginia for 15 years. He is currently the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History and Religious Studies at Yale University, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. He resides in Guilford, Conn., with his wife and three children.
Eire’s keynote lecture is the culmination of Holy Cross’ Second-Year Opportunities Program (2YO). The program, one of the few of its kind in the nation, provides opportunities for sophomores to reflect on their academic goals and progress in order to make the most of their three remaining years at Holy Cross. Through a common reading, advising, and a keynote address to the sophomore class, 2YO introduces students to the value of the College’s rich curricular electives, including minors, concentrations, study away and abroad, special academic and advisory programs, internships, college and departmental honors programs, and post-baccalaureate opportunities.
Related Information
- The Boston Globe (Sept. 3, 2011) A new focus on sophomores, academia’s sometimes forgotten child
