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Obituary
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+ Writer Lino Leitao
 24
Jan: Dorval, Quebec, Canada. LINO LEITAO (aged 77;
ex-Uganda, born Varca, Goa Husband of Olga. Beloved father of
Andrew/Lisa, Rodin/Nicola, and Sheila/Francis. Author of the
Gift of the Holy Cross as well as many short stories. Funeral on
Saturday, February 2nd at St. Veronica’s Parish, Dorval, Quebec.
H9S 1M6. Visitation at 1:30 p.m. followed by funeral mass at
2:30 p.m. Condolences to
leitaofamily@hotmail.com
The following are excerpts from The Writer Union Website
http://writersunion.ca/ww_profile.asp?mem=57&L=L&N=Lino%C2%A0Leitao
Lino Leitao was born in Goa, a former Portuguese Colony in
India. He studied in Portuguese and English schools and attended
the University of Karnataka in India and Concordia University in
Montreal. His stories have been published by Goa Today, Gulub,
Gomantak Times (Goa); Afro-Asian Quarterly, Journal of Asian Litearature (Michigan State University), The Toronto South Asian
Review, Massachusetts Review, Short Story International (New
York),The Antigonish Review and others. His articles on Goan
issues have been published in Herald, Gomantak Times, Navhin
Times (Goa), and in South Asian Studies Papers, no. 9 - Goa:
Continuity and Change - University of Toronto, Centre for South
Asian Studies, 1995.
PUBLICATIONS:
The Man and His Writings. English trans. Goa, India: Xavier
Centre of Historical Research, 2000.
The Gift of the Holy Cross. Leeds, England: Peepal Tree Press,
1999.
Six Tales. Cornwall, ON: Vesta Publications, 1980.
Goa Tales. Cornwall, ON: Vesta Publications, 1977.
Collected Short Tales. New York: Carleton Press, 1972.
Lino Leitao—An Appreciation
By Ben Antao
 On
Saturday morning (Jan.26/08) I received an email from Olga
Leitao, giving me the sad news of her husband’s death in a
Montreal hospital and adding, “He would want me to tell you that
he was very happy to have met you and always thought of you as a
very dear friend. I thought you would have liked to know that.”
What a touching sentiment! There was something about Lino Leitao
that affected me deeply when we met in Mississauga, Ont. on
August 31, 2007. We had a couple of beers and talked about his
life in Goa, Uganda and Montreal, about his involvement in the
freedom struggle, his teaching and writing career.
Five years older than me, he studied in Margao, Goa, like me,
and understood the Goan society of the colonial period of the
40s and 50s.
I had first met him in 1991 at a Goan conference in Toronto, but
he seemed to have no recollection of that meeting. But we made
connections again in the late 90s on the Internet. He was
Goa-centric in his love for his native land and Konkani. We
corresponded often by email, sharing views about the craft of
writing and the future of Goans in the diaspora.
At the time of his health problems, he was doing the final
revisions to his second novel called Sorpatel, the first draft
of which he’d sent me to read and evaluate in 2003. I liked his
story set in Uganda and encouraged him to revise and rewrite
certain scenes.
He in turn was positive in his reviews of my books. Even while
suffering from bladder problems last summer, he wrote a review
of my novel, The Tailor’s Daughter, and emailed me the final
three paragraphs in early September, 2007.
As a writer is known by his work, Lino’s character and humanity
are revealed in his writings archived on
www.colanet.net
He was a good friend and an insightful writer of Goan society.
May his soul rest in peace!
Toronto
Jan.29/08
See review of Ben Antao’s Novel – The Tailor’s Daughter – by
Lino Leitao.
Excerpt:
Tailor’s Daughter probes Goan psyche shaped by caste, class and
colonial mindset
Lino Leitao
Ben Antao’s third novel, The Tailor’s Daughter, is set in Margão,
Goa, at the height of Salazar’s dictatorship during the 1950s.
In this novel, Antao, through his characters, engages in
exploring the mindsets of Goans who lived in the confines of a
stratified society of that time.
Full Review at:
http://www.goanvoice.ca/2007/issue25/canadaspecial.htm#csp_5
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