Cuban Transplant: Author Interview with Matias Travieso-Diaz

I caught up with Matias Travieso-Diaz, author of the newly released book: Cuban Transplant: An Immigrant's Recollections of Life, Love, and Loss in America. This is a fascinating book about your journey from Havana, Cuba as a boy to finding your way in America, falling in love, adopting your daughter in Russia, having a long a successful career as a lawyer and then as a writer, and finally, taking inventory of your life as you are older. 

1. I really enjoyed reading about your years growing up in Cuba. You were a very prestigious student, reading literature and listening to classical music while other children were playing. What would you say shaped your childhood in Cuba most? 

My childhood was mainly shaped by three factors: a nurturing, but restrictive home life that allowed me to grow intellectually while limiting my social contacts; an excellent educational environment at one of Cuba’s finest educational institutions; and adverse political conditions in the country that made me yearn for the ability to fully develop my potential.

2. You lived through a tumultuous time in Cuban history and reference historical events I remember reading about in history class: the Bay of Pigs, the Castro regime, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. What do you remember most about navigating life during these historic moments?

As a teenager, I was constantly in fear of being jailed or worse because of my known opposition to the Castro government; I had to be very circumspect as to what I said or did in public. You have to experience tyranny to appreciate the great gift of living in a democratic society.

3. You almost weren't allowed on the plane with your family to leave for the United States since you were twenty years old, and according to the authorities not considered a minor. What were you thinking or feeling as you waited to find out if you would make it out? How did you feel when you were finally on the plane?

The day I left Cuba I went through an emotional rollercoaster in which, in a matter of less than two hours, I experienced concern, fear, desperation, hope, relief, and exhilaration. When I finally took my seat on the plane that would deliver me to the United States I joined, together with over one hundred other passengers, in a roar of applause at having made my escape from oppression and anticipating freedom.

4. You describe your immigrant experience as you transitioned to the U.S., first in Miami and then in Ohio. What kind of culture shock did you experience?

The initial culture shock of transitioning from Cuba to Miami was mostly economic. Miami was a sheltering cocoon where I navigated mostly among fellow Cuban exiles; however, my family and I experienced severe poverty until, three years after arriving in the United States, I graduated from college and landed a well-paying professional job. As I describe in my book, moving from Florida to Ohio was a severe change in all respects: the living conditions, the weather, the food, the character of the people with whom I interacted, were all different from everything to which I was accustomed. When I went back to Miami during the first Christmas break, I seriously considered not returning to Ohio but, luckily, I decided to stay the course and do my best to get used to the new circumstances.

5. You attended Ohio State University and credit college football for helping you acclimate to the midwest and bridge the cultural divide (congratulations to your Ohio State Buckeyes for winning the national championship by the way!). Were there other things besides football that helped you feel more at home in the U.S.?

First, I slowly became accustomed to the physical and cultural differences between my new environment and what I had left behind. Then I made friends – American as well as Cuban – and bonded with them through shared experiences in music, movies, sports, and games. I became familiar with the issues of concern in the community. I traveled extensively through Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania and came to appreciate the beauty and solidity of America. All of these things allowed me to become a more rounded person, in tune with the country that had generously welcomed me.

6. You share about finding love in America. I love how you talk about the early days of your relationship with your wife and how you had to work pretty hard to convince her to give you a chance. After she finally did, you had a long marriage life together until she passed a few years ago. I found your tribute to her in the book very moving. What stands out most to you about your love story and the time you were able to spend together?

I will be astonished until my dying day about how lucky I was to meet and become one with my wife; how much I cherished over four decades of life with her, and how short the time we had together feels in retrospect. If I were to single out the happiest period of my life, I would unhesitatingly say it lasted from the time we met in 1979 until she left this world in 2022.

7. You also share about your adoption journey, adopting your daughter Nastya from Russia. I imagine your immigrant journey informed the way you empathized and parented her early years in the country. What allowed you all to connect across cultures and create one strong family?

Being an immigrant myself, I had no qualms about bringing another foreign-born person into my life. In fairness, though, I must credit my wife with both the initiative to pursue a foreign adoption, the perseverance in carrying the process to its successful completion, and over twenty years of nurturing and developing the child so that she has become the accomplished adult she now is.

8. This book isn't a political book per se, but it is timely given the anti-immigrant sentiment and deportations happening across the country by the current administration. What do you hope people will take away from your immigrant story as we are living in a season of political unrest?

These days there seems to be a widespread amnesia among many in America about how this nation was founded, and how it grew to its current greatness: it prospered on the blood, sweat and tears of immigrants. If my personal story attests to anything is to the fact that immigrants are not weeds to be removed and kept from entering our soil but priceless seedlings that can, and in most instances will, in time become valuable trees bearing great fruits for the country.

9. You talk about your journey from working as a lawyer to retiring and becoming a writer. You have published over 180 stories! Which one(s) are your favorites and why?

It is very hard for a parent to single out one or more of his children for special praise. I will, however, mention three stories that are particularly meaningful to me. One, which I describe in my autobiography, is “There Is Something in the Water,” my first completed story and one that, seven years after I wrote it, remains one of my most successful science-fiction tales; the second, “The Potion,” an ominous tale which is the lead story in the new collection of  dark fantasy and horror stories entitled “The Potion and Other Perilous Libations” that will go on sale on April 8; and a third, “Reynard and Hermeline,” a bittersweet tale of love and loss between a couple of foxes, which I finished the day after my wife’s death.

10. Something I appreciate about hanging out with octogenarians, is the perspective on life, and death, that they have. Toward the end of the book, you write very openly and poetically about your everyday life. You even wrestle with the significance of your life. What are you most proud of as you look back?

I am proud of having led a full life in which I made contributions, however small, to the society that welcomed me; also proud of having provided a measure of happiness to friends, loved ones and others whose lives I touched; and proud of my humble attempts to create beauty in my writings for the benefit of those who will follow me.

11. Do you have any advice for the younger generation that you wished someone would have told you?

As I said, I have no regrets about the way my life has turned out, but I wish someone would have urged me years ago to follow my heart and work on the things that would be most meaningful to me. By 1970, I already knew that writing was my preferred professional activity. Had I started writing then instead of forty-seven years later, I might have accomplished more than I have been able to do -- but, of course, I might have failed as well.

12. You talk about dying twice in the book. The physical death and then when your memory is forgotten. How do you hope you'll be remembered? 

I am reconciled to the idea that the years I have left in this world are few and look at death as an inevitable occurrence that must be embraced without fear or regrets. In my short story “Polyps” I liken an individual’s life to that of a member of a coral reef, who exists briefly and then becomes an anonymous structure that lends support to the ever-growing colony. However, it is always the wish of every individual – myself included – to extend life through remembrance by those they leave behind. I hope that those now alive who know me will remember me fondly, and that my writings will bring some pleasure to people who have not met me. That is as much as one can hope to accomplish beyond the grave.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It really is a well-written and engaging book. I hope many people will read it, especially in the times we are living in now. 

You can order a copy now by visiting Story Sanctum books.