Memoirs of Cebu Daily News’ beloved columnist Picornell now a book

A closer look of Jaime Picornell’s book, Cebu: Memories of Home. CDN File photo by Niña Mae Oliverio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A collection of memoirs by the late Cebu Daily News pioneering columnist Jaime Picornell was officially launched on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.

The memoirs are compiled in the form of a book entitled, “Cebu: Memories of Home,” released by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) through its Culture and Heritage program.

‘Cebu: Memories of Home’ is a collection of articles that Picornell wrote for Cebu Daily News when he was still a columnist from 1998-2018.

Remembering Picornell CDN’s beloved columnist

The book’s launching on Wednesday was attended by Picornell’s sons, relatives, friends, and colleagues, as well as CDN’s former editor-in-chief, Eileen Mangubat.

The articles compiled in the book came to her as a manuscript, according to Mangubat.

Former Cebu Daily News editor-in-chief, Eileen Mangubat talks about Picornell as a writer during his time in the daily. | CDN photo by Niña Mae Oliverio

These are the “pages of carefully typed narrative” by Picornell, Mangubat said, adding that Picornell was a great writer during his time.

She described him as a “great storyteller” and “one of the easiest to handle” with regard to work.

In writing and submitting his columns, Picornell had always used the classic method of writing—using a typewriter.

“Each column would come to me ‘typed’ so we would have to have it encoded by an office staff. He was the only exception we ever made to going digital,” Mangubat said.

The said typewriter was featured during the event and Mangubat said that Picornell always submitted his works with minimal problems.

This was the typewriter used by Picornell whenever he writes his columns back then. | CDN File photo by Niña Mae Oliverio

Mangubat said that they “only checked for typos” in Picornell’s works, a proof of how “careful” a storyteller he was.

Cebu: Memories of Home

The ‘Cebu: Memories of Home’ was launched on the day of Picornell’s second death anniversary.

He succumbed to cardiac arrest due to complications of COVID-19 four days before his birthday in August 2021.

Picornell’s book showcases the multifaceted history of Cebu from his perspective which includes first-hand accounts of the bombing raids of World War II to Martial Law to the visit of the King and Queen of Spain in Cebu.

Moreover, it also gives readers a glimpse of Picornell’s life and engages the readers’ minds to travel back to Cebu from the 1950s to the 1990s.

This is the timeline where he navigates through Cebu’s high society circles, his meetings with foreign dignitaries, his travels, and the hardships of war.

‘A project’ of Picornell

The award-winning Cebuana writer Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, a younger contemporary of Picornell, wrote the introduction of the book.

She stated there that Picornell’s book “was a project that he had embarked on in 2013 to celebrate his fifty years as a journalist.”

According to Brainard’s introduction, Picornell’s mission statement went, “I have decided to write a series of articles about things I remembered from early childhood and progress to my adult life. They could someday be compiled into a book.”

The late Picornell said that he started writing in 1960 for Adelante, the school organ of then Colegio de San Jose-Recoletos (now University of San Jose-Recoletos) while he was a senior college student.

“I wrote a personality column, some short stories, and poems. I did not consider myself a good writer but it was a form of creative release,” the late Picornell said in the preface entitled, “Fifty Years Ago.”

‘Karaang paghinumdom’

In an interview with CDN Digital, Jaime Ismael “Jimmy” Picornell, the eldest son of the late columnist, shared that the memoirs were the old tales shared by his father to their family.

“Mga karaan ni siya nga mga paghinumdom ni papa nako nga kanunay niyang e-istorya sa amoa labi na kanang mangaon mi kay sauna iya man gyung isulti sa amoa nga kinahanglan mo storya ta og mga nindot nga panghitabo ig pangaon,” Jimmy said.

Meanwhile, he also expressed his gratitude to Cebu Daily News, especially to Mangubat, for publishing his father’s works.

“Pag[sugod] niya sa Cebu Daily News, nagpasalamat sad mi nga na [publish] gyud sa Cebu Daily News iyahang mga article ug na publish ni Miss Eileen sa newspaper unya nabasa sa tanan,” he said.

He added that it felt great when the public recognized him through his father’s articles.

Moreover, he said that his family is extremely happy for making his father’s wish come true.

“Mga tulo ka adlaw usa siya namatay, ako man nagbantay niya sa hospital, ingon gyud siya nako nga ‘paninguhaa ni nga mogawas gyud ning libroha’ kay mao raman to iyahang pirmi gihisgutan nga matuman ang pagbunga sa libro,” he said.

Picornell’s memoirs first appeared in 2013 as a series “Cebu: Memories of Home” and in his column “Pluperfect” in Cebu Daily News, his nest for 20 years.

Besides this, he also wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer after his stints in the Manila Chronicle, The Freeman, Republic News, and the Morning Times Publications.

Cebu: Memories of Home can be purchased by contacting Picornell’s sons: Jaime Ismael and Luis David.   /rcg

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