Very sad to learn about Lino's passing away. I had the
privilege of knowning and meeting him on a few
occasions.
When he was about to publish his book, The Gift of the
Holy Cross, we exchanged a few emails. He was gracious
to send me a copy.
After reading it, we discussed the book in a few
emails or perhaps by phone. There was something that
bothered me, possibly the flow of the story. He told
me that the length of the book was cut drastically.
He used to send me the literary magazine he was
editing and had to stop because of financial
contraints. I forget the name of the magazine.
Knowing that he was also Goa's freedom fighter, we
spoke on the freedom movement and also on some of the
movement's leaders. No doubt, he took up the task on
writing a book on Fanchu Loyola-Furtado at the behest
of Iona Nazareth, Fanchu's daughter also based in
Montreal.
In fact, Lino's name came up when I went to Goa
Today's office and had a chat with Alexandre Barbosa,
the associate editor. He informed me that he is
writing a book or translating Fanchu's works from the
Portuguese into English. The suggestion for the book
also came from Iona.
If I remember correctly it was Prof. Peter Nazareth
who first mentioned to me about Lino Leitao. He made a
big impression with his Afro-type grey (almost white)
hair, reminding of Lord Megnad Desai, the Indian
economist/intellectual based in England.
Above all, Lino was a true gentleman. He took
criticism in his stride. His passing away is a big
loss to the Canadian Goan community. As someone who I
held in great respect, I will deeply miss him.
I think it was Prof. Peter Nazareth who first
mentioned Lino's name to me. Peter's, I think,
informed me that he was going through Lino's book and
was trying to find Lino a publisher. Eventually,
Peter's recommendation to Peepal Tree helped Lino
publish his maiden novel.
Eugene Correia
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