Esmeralda Santiago

Esmeralda Santiago was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a suburb of San Juan. Her family moved to Macùn when she was four. As When I Was Puerto Rican describes, Esmeralda's mother moved her growing family to and from the city a number of times before deciding to relocate permanently to Brooklyn. There Santiago attended New York City's Performing Arts High School. By the time she graduated, she was the oldest of 11 children. After studying at community colleges for eight years, she received a full scholarship and transferred to Harvard, graduating with honors in 1976. Soon after, she married Frank Cantor and with him founded CANTOMEDIA, a production company that focuses on documentary filmmaking. Initially, Santiago began writing essays and opinion pieces for newspapers, as well as writing for CANTOMEDIA's documentaries. An article she wrote about her mother attracted the attention of her first publisher, and the result was When I Was Puerto Rican. Santiago has since written two more autobiographies and several novels. Santiago describes herself as an active volunteer: she's spoken on behalf of public libraries, founded shelters for battered women, and designed community programs for adolescents. The Girl Scouts of America recognized her in 2002 for her community service endeavors. She suffered a stroke in 2008 while working on her novel Conquistadora. Santiago made a full recovery and was able to finish writing the book, which was published in 2012.