Eduardo Calcines

Eduardo Calcines was born in October of 1955, in Cienfuegos, Cuba, in the barrio traditionally known as “Glorytown”. The firstborn child of a truck driver and homemaker, Eduardo Calcines’ childhood was abruptly interrupted by Fidel Castro’s governmental takeover. Calcines was profoundly scarred by uncontrollable conditions brought upon him and his entire family, dissidents themselves. From an early age, Calcines became rebellious against the oppression and injustice wielded by Castro’s government. His childhood became a mix of real-world turmoil and a fantasy life he had created for himself on the roof of his grandparent’s home; the rooftop escape among branches of the avocado tree, high above the roosters, chickens and worries of daily life.  At 14 years old, Calcines, along with his father, mother and sister, finally escaped Castro’s “gulag” for a better life in the United States of America. After a 5 year stay in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Calcines family moved south to Tampa, Florida, where he currently resides with his own family. A successful businessman of over 30 years, Calcines finally decided to tell the story of his childhood in Communist Cuba and wrote his gripping memoir Leaving Glorytown: One Boy’s Struggle Under Castro. His humorous and enthralling story-telling ability breathes life into the characters and anecdotes that shaped his childhood experiences in Glorytown. This same story-telling ability will lead to follow-up books about coming-of-age as an immigrant in a new culture and later becoming an adult, while dealing with the pain of leaving his family and coming to terms with his blinding hatred of Castro. Find out more about him at http://glorytown.net/