Nina Serrano, an important poet and leader in the Chicano movement, was born on 1 September 1934 in the Bronx to an immigrant from Santander, Colombia, and his wife, whose parents were from Eastern Europe. Since Nina's parents had to work in restaurants and cafeterias in Manhattan, her early years were under the tutelage of a gentleman she called Uncle Paul--Augustín Polo Arroyo--who was born in Puerto Rico but lived in Cuba for many years. He loved the arts (performing, graphic, and visual) and was responsible for her love of them. Whether it was opera, ballet, theater, or vaudeville, he took Nina along. Her father also loved art--he was an artist--and so, like many working-class families in New York, they spent their Sundays in parks and museums where entry was free. Nina's interest in other peoples may have been spurred by the many languages heard as she passed...