On the spotlight: Rafael Pi Román interviews Luis Santeiro

Renowned TV journalist Rafael Pi Román interviews PBS colleague Luis Santeiro on his new book, Dancing With Dictators, a humorous and compassionate account of his  family’s journey from pre-Castro Cuba to exile in the turbulent sixties. The great grandson of Cuban president Eduardo Machado (1925-1933), Santeiro searches for an objective viewpoint. A veteran writer of Sesame Street, for which he has received twenty Emmy Awards, Santeiro was also the head writer for the PBS series ¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?, the first bilingual sitcom on American television, for which he earned another Emmy. ¿Qué Pasa? has become the I Love Lucy of the Cuban diaspora, and is still aired frequently, more than thirty years after its premiere.

Santeiro has also written for the theater, where his plays include Our Lady of the Tortilla, which has enjoyed hundreds of productions across the country. The presentation will include a Power-Point presentation by Santeiro, with many archival photographs never before seen in public. Pi Román will discuss with the author the irony implicit in the title of the book as Santeiro tries to reconcile the personal and the political realms.