A Cold July in Cuba

Book excerpt: You Can't Run From Your Past, And You Can't Hide From It. Author Ray F. Ledon, M.D. didn't ask to have a seat at the heart of the Cuban revolution--that seat just happened to be at his kitchen table. Ramon Calixto Fernandez-Ledon, Dr. Ledon's father, a renowned anesthesiologist famous for having created Havana's first department of anesthesia at the University of Havana at a time when anesthesia was relatively unknown, was more than just a doctor--he was also a renowned Cuban activist and infamous revolutionary, being one of the many thousands to join a political and militaristic offensive against Fulgencio Batista's increasingly non-democratic and brutal reign. Exploring themes of sacrifice, dedication, and a sense of belonging, Dr. Ledon presents in his book, A Cold July in Cuba, an image of a terror-stricken Cuba through the eyes of a young boy--his own--whose father is wanted for dead by the very country they both love, and the journey that follows after his father is abducted by a pair of Batista's men outside of the hospital where he worked in a middle-class Havana suburb of El Vedado. While personal in nature, A Cold July in Cuba displays familiar images of family, persistence, and humanity that any reader can relate to.