Shortly before he passed away in March of 2012, eminent and much-loved Puerto Rican poet, writer, essayist, and master of the spoken word, Louis Reyes Rivera, honored me personally and honored my fledgling organization (The Latino Authors & Writers Society) particularly, by agreeing to be the guest speaker at our first ever writer's conference.
  Mr. Rivera's highly anticipated turn at the mic had the audience electrified! Everyone, myself included, alternated between applauding wildly and crying unashamedly.
  His words and his delivery were that kind of powerful, poignant, and timely.
  In short, he was GREAT!!
  I thanked him effusively of course, and I was hoping that over time we would move beyond the boundaries of colleague and fellow writer, to the realm of fast friends.
  Alas, he left us too soon physically, but his amazing body of work will continue to inspire, move, entertain and elevate us for generations to come.