RIP Edgardo Vega Yunqué

A couple of weeks ago, I ran into Ed Vega on the B67 heading into Park Slope. I was in a rush, he looked like just another melancholy boricua, I would have passed him by had he not been wearing a De La Vega t-shirt.

We rode together for a couple of stops, talked about how he had finished yet another mss., this one in response to the brouhaha with his publisher over the novel that was supposed to come out in July, "Rebecca Horowitz, Puerto Rican Sex Freak." The rest was small talk. I kissed him goodbye and said I'd call in a couple of weeks. Here's a brief obit.

We had met about a month before, when he had found me and asked me to write about the dispute over "Rebecca Horowitz." He claimed the publisher was trying to censor the book. I promised to look into it, but the story never quite jelled.

We talked a long time in that lunch in Olive Vine's cool garden, and the conversation was quintessential Vega: it had near-conspiracy theories, child-like wonder over the birds visiting the garden, lots of bitterness, lots of charm and tons of digressions peppered with obscure facts he'd gathered in unorthodox research, facts that sounded off but I did not challenge him on.

Ed was angry that even now, he was not getting his due. Talking about the literary market, we of course talked about Junot Diaz. We also talked about Abraham Rodriguez, about the near-extinction of Nuyorican prose writers. I knew better than to bring up Latina writers -- it would only have triggered the reflexive anti-feminismo that had gained him a bad reputation among Latina artists citywide.

The truth is, he did not get his due. Prior to any of the half-dozen "Latino booms" I've lived through, he wrote stories that refused the "when I was ethnic and poor" identity politics formula. Writers like Diaz, Rodriguez and Ernesto Quiñonez, tried to rescue his reputation, which had been buried in the 90s by his contentious relations with almost everyone in the Latino arts world when he ran the Clemente Soto Velez Center, one of the last bastions of LES Latin bohemia.

His doorstopper novel, Bill Bailey (for short), finally got him some critical acclaim in 2003. You can hear a funny interview with Leonard Lopate here.

But he kept thinking his subsequent novels, Blood Fugues and Omaha Bigelow (also for short), were even better. In this humble reader's opinion, they were not, even with their inventiveness, even with the complexity they tried to introduce to his beloved LES universe.

As my friend Marco, fellow writer and teacher, often says, Ed seriously needed an editor with a firm hand. I always read Ed's work with a virtual machete in hand. But I really appreciated how he didn't want to leave out a single word, thought, image, to render his world in its full humanity.

But now I feel like another link to that unspoken history of NY's Latin bohemia has broken. Yes, Ed was cranky and impolitic. He had alienated so many people that it took his agent a week to find out he'd died, in Lutheran hospital, alone. But Vega lived through all the fights of the 70s, 80s, 90s, the ones that get marginalized as "ethnic concerns," but really are epic struggles over whose city this is, whose stories matter, and how badly we disrespect artists.

UPDATE: Check David Gonzalez's clear-eyed, touching tribute to Ed here. David is not only a colleague and a friend, but one of the best chroniclers of Nueva York out there. There will be a memorial Monday Sept. 15, 6-8 pm at the SGI-USA Culture Center, 7 E 15th St, Manhattan.

Comments

[Amanda St. John]

Eduardo was often online in the Authors Lounge on AOL. His wit, his biting tongue, everything about him, made me sense there was a bitter little boy behind his madness. His insistence on his works being true to the last word interested me as an editor, as I knew the importance of cutting..I loved Ed, and we had a few short discussions in the IM box about his works and his feelings. We are mourning him today, Monday.

[Kiko Jones]

I did not know the man's work and was only slightly familiar with his reputation.

How sad that he died alone. I thought he had a large family--stepdaughter Suzanne and her siblings.

In any event, it's always a loss when a talent of his stature and background leaves us. May he rest in peace.

[Caro]

Kiko, I think the word you're looking for is "estranged." He was a great and talented guy, pero no era fácil. Very sad.

[Alyson Vega]

Edgardo Alberto Vega Yunqué died alone because he died so fast. He did not have enough time to call anybody or even be admitted to the hospital. His family (I, his daughter) loved him. We loved him but he was impossible to live with. I would have been with him if there had been time but he knew he was loved and he went peacefully.

[Skevos Mavros]

I only knew "evy" as a fellow participant in the atheist chat rooms on PalTalk, and even then I only knew him for a few months. I remember most his fiery defenses of Buddhism as a non-theistic humanist religion, his laments on the emerging trends in higher education, and his quick and brutal attacks on those he disagreed with -- including me on a few occasions! But he was always quick to remind me that it was my opinion he found "reprehensible", not me as a person.

In my opinion he was overly fond of elaborate conspiracy-like explanations for events, but I will greatly miss his keen mind, wide knowledge, and cutting wit. I often found myself thinking about our conversations many days afterwards, and looking forward to the next one. Alas, there will not be a next one.

I may have to return to reading fiction just so I can experience evy again through his books.

I am in Australia so I cannot attend his memorial, but I will raise a glass to him at about the same time.

Skev

[David Basora]

Ed was a friend of mine. He encouraged me to write, to explore and refine my voice. He told me I had talent and that I made "language come alive". Then he told me that, as a fellow Puerto Rican, I had an obligation to make my voice heard. That I need to speak out. He gave me courage when I had lost it. He had faith in me when I had none.

We had lost touch over the past year or so. I was going through some tough times and he was dealing with "Rachel Horowitz".

I'm going to miss him very much.

[David Basora]

Correction, it should have been "Rebecca Horowitz". Sorry, I'm having a hard time processing this right now.

[David Basora]

Correction, it should have been "Rebecca Horowitz". Sorry, I'm having a hard time processing this right now.

[David Starobin]

I got to know Ed in the AOL Author's Lounge. Our initial point of connection was Manuel Gayol, the wonderful Puerto Rican guitarist, and my teacher in the late 50s. Ed and I exchanged our wares: my CDs for his books. His books came heavily inscribed. Much like the volumes themselves, the inscriptions were densely written, sometimes running more than a page in length. I'll miss his enthusiasm for life, but savor his passionate involvement with the characters that populate his writing.

[Amelia]

Ed and I spent about six months fervently writing emails and chats to each other and he was convinced we were meant to meet. He was hoping that one day I could help him with the Rebecca Horowitz book publicity or some such - I suppose I reminded him of the character.

We eventually met in person and I was amazed and overwhelmed for every minute of our visit while he was in San Francisco for a speaking event.

We lost touch over the past year. For any of his family who is reading this - and I see that Alyson has - he always spoke very fondly and frequently of you all and recalled memories of your youth daily. I'm glad to see that you loved him, and yes, I can see how he was impossible to live with.

He had one of the fullest lives I've ever known.

[Claudia]

I met Eduardo about four years ago at one of my poetry readings in Manhattan then at a book signing for his Ohmaha Bigelow book signing at Barnes and Nobles in Manhattan. He had autographed Casualties of War as well. Eduardo had an online persona and a real time persona...It is a pity he hid who he really was as a person from those on AOL.

I know that he didn't believe in G-d. May his soul rest in peace nonetheless.

[Rebecca]

Having just found out today, Christmas day, that Edgar passed away has brought me great sadness and personal regret for the contact we'd not had lately.

Had there been time, I'm sure he'd not have been alone for he did have loving family and friends despite any relationship challenges.

After my holiday greeting bounced back from Edgar's usual email address, I was confronted by online headlines associated with his name. I've just now been able to search for information regarding his passing and hope to find note of his final resting place so that I may pay my respects...however regretfully overdue.

Edgar was a unique friend and one I shall regret the loss of.

~R

[Huck Portobello]

EVY was a great friend in the chatroom (AOL Authors Lounge). I never had the privilege of meeting him face to face. I experienced him as hugely well-read, kind and generous, with a massive energy - his input into the chatroom was never less than 'electric', always with something enlightening or cogent to say. It was always great great fun to be alongside him in a chatroom - I say alongside, as I was fortunate 'never to be on the receiving end' of Ed's famed brutal tongue! I enjoyed his company, his prose - and was honored to be mentioned somewhere in the opening pages to Omaha Bigelow, along with several others. He was a phenomenon - Jekyll and Hyde! I was utterly privileged to have known his 'Dr Jekyll'/good side. And I will sorely miss him, the irreplaceable EVY!

[Okie Dokie]

I chatted with him in the AOL chat room. He was obviously intelligent and talented and made enemies in there because he didn't suffer fools. He turned his wrath on me once but I took it in stride because I greatly admired his talent. Sorry he didn't get his due as a writer, there must be more writers out there like him, and it must leave them with bitterness; it's the luck of the draw to a certain extent. I hope someday he gains the recognition he longed for-who knows, it could happen.

[Bob Cherin (chatdrivel)]

I knew Ed for 12 years. The last time I saw him was in Miami, when he attended the Miami Book Fair.

Few know that Grammy winner Suzanne Vega was his step-daughter.

[Minerva]

EVY was the soul of the authors' lounge on AOL. We made vague plans to meet in Cambridge that unfortunately never materialized, but we chatted often on AOL. He could be difficult, but he was brilliant and it was always obvious to me (and to anyone who listened) that a warm heart beat beneath that acerbic tongue, and that he craved appreciation.