I met Catalina years ago when we sang together in a choir in Yorkville on he Upper East Side. After mass, the choir sometimes met for brunch. Catalina was born in Cuba, and I quickly bonded with her while talking about all things Cuba: the food, the music, the language, and the customs. I had moved to NYC from Miami, so I was very familiar with the Cuban culture. I missed speaking Spanish. I missed the food!

One day, she told me that she was a Peter Pan kid. I knew from living in Miami that over 14,000 children took part in a mass-exodus from Cuba called Operation Peter Pan or Operación Pedro pan in the early 1960s. Not many people outside Havana or Miami even know about Operation Peter Pan.

“Oh, my goodness! How old were you?”

“I was nine when I left Cuba.”

I wrote the novel, A Crowded Loneliness, based on her experiences. Since she couldn’t remember many of the details, we decided the story should be told as narrative or creative non-fiction. Even though much of the novel is fictionalized, it is based on Catalina’s experiences. I also included a lot of historical research regarding the Cuban Revolution, Operation Peter Pan, New Orleans and the Jim Crow South before the Civil Rights Act.

Some have suggested that I shouldn’t be the one to write this story because I’m not black. To be clear, this is not about me. I will never know the burden of that struggle. This story is about Catalina and thousands of children like her who left their homeland without knowing if they would ever see their families again. It’s about all those who have been (and still are) displaced. It’s about human rights, dignity, and how we should treat our fellow human being. Most important, this story is a story of hope. It’s a story that is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.