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Biography of Carmen M. Pursifull





Carmen M. Pursifull was born and raised in New York City in 1930. Her mother was born in Barcelona, Spain, and her father was born in Utuardo, Puerto Rico. He was a mess sergeant in the First World War, and eventually moved to New York with his new bride. Carmen is the youngest of their children and the only sibling alive, except for her sister, who resides in California with her husband and family.

As Carmen was growing up, she was noticed by Killer Joe Piro, who taught Mambo and Cha-Cha at the Palladium Ballroom in 1951, who invited Carmen to be his dancing instructor partner. From there, Carmen became known as a dancer, dance instructor, and later, a band-singer with local bands, and, eventually, traveled to the Caribbean to sing at the Caribe Hilton, with Miguelito Valdes and his orquestra, and then Ray Wallis and his Calypso Band at the Virgin Isle Hotel in the Virgin Islands.

Carmen grew tired of leaving her children behind with her mother and father in the Bronx, and left show-biz. She became a bartender for 15 years, making fantastic tips throughout the late fifties and sixties. Then she finally met the right man for her and the children and remarried in 1962.

Since then, her parents and three brothers have passed on. She moved to Champaign, Illinois, after her husband, John, retired from the navy, to be near their son, Rajiam Pursifull, who was then attending The University of Illinois. Being the sixties, her son became a hippie, dropped out of school, but now has his own business in Portland, Oregon. Meanwhile Carmen’s daughter, Adrienne Lindsey, had married, was widowed, and left with two sons and twin daughters. Now Carmen has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren and she considers herself rich with family love.

At her son’s suggestion, in 1970, Carmen began a diary, because she was lost in the Midwest – being a typical New Yorker – and after a few years, she noticed that she had begun to write in rhythm and metaphor. Just at that time, a new poetry workshop had opened its doors to new poets seeking constructive criticism, so, as to grow in the art of using language in a new way, she joined the group, and the rest is history. Currently, Carmen is the Matriarch of the group, as many poets have passed away or disappeared since then.

Carmen has had over 650 poems published internationally, and has to her credit the following published books: 1) Carmen by moonlight, 1982; 2) The Twenty-Four Hour Wake, 1989; 3) Manhattan Memories, 1989; 4) Elsewhere in a Parallel Universe”, 1992; 5) The Many Faces of Passion, 1996; 6) Brimmed Hat With Flowers, (Multi-tasking.com), 2000; 7) World of Wet, 2002, which was written with her poetry partner of five years, Dr. Edward L. Smith, a retired ocean physicist who she mentored in poetry.

Last year Carmen had the pleasure of visiting Iowa and being the guest of William and Christina Rogers for five days, where she held workshops and gave readings. Carmen has also given readings at the WorldWind Project in Verde Gallery in Champaign, Illinois, and at the Douglas Branch library in Urbana, Illinois, where she will again read in April of 2005. Recently Carmen read at Wiley School, where her pen-pal, Morgan, goes to school. In October of 2005, Carmen will do her yearly reading at the Channing-Murray Foundation, on the University of Illinois campus, where the Red Herring Poets Society meets every Monday evening at 7:00 p.m.

Carmen is a volunteer with RSVP and calls senior citizens Friday mornings to hear how they are doing, and help them get through the day. She also is a pen-pal volunteer.

Carmen is currently working on three books she hopes to finish someday. One is titled The Long Migration to Illinois in which she steps off a plane in Champaign, Illinois, June 30th, 1970, with her son, Rajiam, waiting for her and her husband, John, to get off the plane.

Carmen still does local readings, and if all expenses are paid, she will travel out of town to do readings and workshops. For further information, contact Carmen at Llaque3605@aol.com, or the webmaster at tyrwanj0@yahoo.com.

Finally, Carmen is grateful to the Creator for all her riches, including Adrienne, her daughter, and the grandchildren Adrienne has given her, and the great-grandchildren, and her son, Rajiam, who has been the perfect son and given her four beautiful grandchildren. Meanwhile, Carmen continues to write, “BECAUSE SHE MUST!”