Crispin Salvador

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Crispin Salvador (Crispin Narciso Lupas Salvador) (February 21, 1937 - February 20, 2002) was a Filipino writer and intellectual known for his novels, essays and short-fictions. His writings were particularly popular in the 1970s and 1980s, though they have since fallen out fashion and most are no longer available in print.

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[edit] Early Life

Born the youngest of three siblings (sister was Magdalena Lupas Salvador; brother was Narciso Lupas Salvador III) to Philippine politician Narciso "Junior" Salvador, Jr., and housewife Leonora Fidelia in Bacolod, Negros, in the Philippines.

[edit] Novels

Salvador is known for his novels which include: His first international novel, Lupang Pula (Red Earth), published in the US in 1967, about a farmer who joins the Huk Rebellion communist uprisings of 1946 to 1954; Walang Paraiso (No Paradise), published in the Philippines in 1964; and Dahil Sa’yo (Because of You), published in 1987, a massive account of the rise and fall of the Marcoses. Also amongst Salvador’s most significant contributions to Philippine literature are Manila Noir, the most famous of his crime novels concerning the detective Antonio Astig; the Master of the Seas series about the saga of the Chinese pirate Limahong and his Spanish adversary Juan de Salcedo; the Kaputol (Brothers) trilogy , about the adventures and coming-of-age of three adolescent boys in Martial Law-era Quezon City; his 1976 rock and roll novel, The Cool Kids of Death, adapted his experiences in the late-1960s Manila-based conceptual-art rock band, Mga Jakoleros; and his popular Europa quartet (Jour, Night, Vida and Amore), which follows the life of a young mestizo gadabout in 1950s Paris, London, Barcelona and Florence. Also popular in the 1970s was the recently out-of-print travel guide, My Philippine Islands (with 80 colour plates). In 1992, Salvador published his memoir, Autoplagiarist, in which he attempted to use his life’s story to describe a history of the Philippines from the advent of World War II to the end of the millennium.

Salvador was also known for his milestone essay (November 1968, Philippines Free Press) “Nobody Loves a Feminist”, which elicited an uproarious reception that thrust him into the consciousness of Philippine popular culture. Additionally, his short story Matador, published in The New Yorker magazine in 1972, confirmed him as arrived on the global literary scene.

[edit] Cincos Bravos

Salvador was part of the Cincos Bravos, the influential Manila-based art group that consisted of filmmaker Danilo de Borja, critic and filmmaker Marcel Avellaneda, the painter Paolo Jones-Matute, and poet Mutya Dimatahimik. In the 1960s Salvador flirted with communism in the Philippines and subsequently throughout his life his work reflected Left-leaning philosophies.

[edit] He ceases publishing

Salvador stopped publishing following the lukewarm reception of his memoir Autoplagiarist and his mother's death in 1993. From that time until his own death in 2002 he lived in New York City and taught at Columbia University.

[edit] Death

Salvador died under mysterious circumstances in New York City in 2002, his body found floating in the Hudson River. Authorities declared his death a suicide, though media in the Philippines speculated on alleged foul-play connected to a controversial book project he had been working on.