A NEW HOME
By: Mauricio Gerson
As I remember the story related to my dad starting a new life in a new home at the age of 10, I am reminded that I also had to make major adjustments to my life when I lost my dad at the same age of 10. In the same way his family was notified by his oldest brother Samuel they were migrating to Mexico, I also waited for a very important letter that changed my life again at the age of 23 when I started a new life in a new home, the USA. In 1976, I received a letter from the University of Pennsylvania notifying me I had been accepted at the graduate program of the Annenberg School of Communications in Philadelphia and I had to be there by September 1st to start my master’s program.
It was during the legionaries disease health crisis and uncertainty that I traveled to Philadelphia where I found my new home. I had never been in the City of Brotherly Love and according to my student visa, I was supposed to return to Mexico City within three years after obtaining my Master’s degree. However, I fell in loved with an Irish boy seven years younger than me and got a job in News and Public Affairs at PBS as a producer/host at New Jersey Network. I had to go through the immigration process to become a US resident and eventually a US citizen. I couldn’t imagine how complicated and lengthy the process was after been approved. While waiting I finished my Master thesis, and worked at a Children Hospital for a year as part of my practical training at Penn using television as means to develop rapport with teenagers who were facing growing up with Cystic Fibrosis as a first generation in a world where they used to die at a very young age. That is were I developed as my final project in TV Lab the technique of interviewing individuals about their disease and then, have them all come together in the studio to hear how others answered the same questions.
While my undergraduate thesis was based on developing the best message for controlling the high growth of the mexican population, my Master’s Thesis at Penn included analyzing network television to define minority portrayal on prime time television drama. That subject matter has become very relevant in the 21 century. I also worked on content analysis for the CIA analyzing in a daily basis newspapers through the Latin America and other Spanish speaking countries. I had to provide top line results for policy makers.
My career took off and I had a weekly show on PBS for 8 years, which garnered several journalism awards, including an EMMY award from the NY Chapter of the television Arts and Sciences. I was still in the closet for my family and professionally, bought a brownstone property and made it into several apartments and together with my partner we bought a second property in the Queen Village area of Philadelphia where we opened a gourmet Mexican restaurant. However, my secret would be in danger as a local gay newspaper in Philadelphia recognize me and wanted to out me. I asked them not to do so as I had not yet come out to my nuclear family. I believe that I was fluid at the time like many of young people this days.
That is when I received an offer to move to the big apple and work in the recent launch of Telemundo Spanish Network in charge of Programming. After several months of commuting from Philly we decided to rent out the local which we owned for 20 years.
My journey through my new home also took me back and forth from NYC to Miami (where I experienced hurricane Andrew, which I had never had experienced before) with Robert who I was together with for 32 years. It was the second time I moved to Miami he had a tragic accident and passed away in 2010.
Matzo Tacos: A blend of culture and flavors with a sense of sensuality: As I remember the story related to my dad starting a new life in a new home at the age of 10, I am reminded that I also had to make major adjustments to my life when I lost my dad at the same age of 10. In the same way his family was notified by his oldest brother Samuel they were migrating to Mexico, I also waited for a very important letter that changed my life again at the age of 23 when I started a new life in a new home, the USA. In 1976, I received a letter from the University of Pennsylvania notifying me I had been accepted at the graduate program of the Annenberg School of Communications in Philadelphia and I had to be there by September 1st to start my master’s program. During my adult life in Mexico City I had a relationship with a man and a woman and loved them both very much. I also participated in the first gay wedding which my oldest brother Jack and his wife hosted to an odd couple in a a Buddhist themed wedding in 1973 in Mexico City. One groom was white blond and tall from England while the other groom was a short back handsome Brazilian. On April 18, 2014 Jimmy Baker and Mauricio Gerson got married in NYC.
