I dont have my mother nor my father any longer. They both have left us. But they left me with great memories and a deep sense of love and family.
My City
La Habana during L'Heure Bleue
FAMILY PHOTOS
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Papi took these artistic photos! He had converted our garage into a photo studio to develop and experiment, like printing photos in blue, sepia, etc. Leon and I were his assistants.
Mami and me. I was 1 year old.
Marta Larraz dice que mami tenia una belleza ´sensual´ que a la vez era muy ´'virginal'. Era preciosa y nunca de dio cuenta de lo bella que era, como lo muestra esta foto de ella en los anos 30 y tantos, cuando tenia su programa-revista de radio y era una mujer adelantada a su tiempo. La echo de menos cada minuto de mi vida
My beloved aunt Fela Ichaso with my cousin Johnny Turro. Their smiles show the love they shared.
My father called this "your artistic close up". He took these beautiful pictures of us and turned into sepia or blue prints. My friend Rolo Sainz de la Pena called my haircut "very Prince Valiant"
Here I am in Istanbul. Great city!
Tita Pura my aunt will be 100 in just 5 months! This photo with my cousins Purita & Julio was taken in August 2010
With Picasso's Guernica when it was at MOMA in New York in the 70's
mc and i in our recent trip to Paris. I dont have any make-up, so please forgive my wrinkles....
My brother Leon at age 2 or 3 "a-la-Tarzan". Mami loved this picture taken by our father. Leon was blond and so cute. Everybody adored him, including big sister here!
This is when I first interviewed Karl Lagerfeld in the late 70's. That day he showed me his made to order Goyard suitcases. First time I heard the now-very-trendy brand!
Opening of Xenon, which was very famous in the 80's. These guns were laser guns, which were part of the fun. How absurd was this? Xenon opened to compete with Studio 54 but it never achieved its goal.
Here I am in Versailles famous Hall of Mirrors in the 80's. I love visiting all these historical places
MC con Mila Cardoso la nueva miembro de nuestra familia.
Mami and Leon. He was six or so. This was at Woolworth photo booth in Havana.
Mami and papi at MC´s Williams College graduation. Such a great day. They were SO proud of their grandaughter!
Love this picture of MC in our recent trip to London -April 2010
my aunt Martha was very beauriful and so glamorous
My grandfather Justo, in his grand Havana home, surrounded by my grandmother Isabel, my great/grandmother Jesusa, his sister Lola, etc. sent this picture to his relatives in Asturias and called it The Sacred Family. My father is seating in the far ledt next to his sister Graciella.
Mami as photographed by my father at El Laguito in the mid 50's dressed with the retro prints we now lve. She was so stylish in a soft and organic way. We miss her every day of our lives!
Mami and I with Leon who was 1 year old. I still remember that dress made of wool with a plaid taffeta to match my hair bow!
My father in one of the CMQ sets of his programs. Notice the image of the palms and the landscape that he loved to use and superimpose on his live shots.
With Placido Domingo. He was a good friend for some years. Such a talented artist.
My friend Eva Andino and me shopping in New York in the 80's We used to walk for hours with 'killer' heels!
Crossing from Asia to Europe in Istambul.
With my friend Fernando Botero in his studio Paris in the late 80's, A very nice man who is very sure of himself,
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MC and Steve at Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Mexico DF- Jan 2010
My cousins Purita and Julio Carrillo with their great-grandaughter Mila
mami y Leon en la Iglesia de St Paul March 2007
Leon at age 6
My good friends Nora Hartmann Abitbol, Luis Molina del Sol and I in O´Faia, a fado restaurant in Lisbon during a trip we all took together and had a great time. The unknown man approaching the table and his tablemate were annoying me and Nora all night long and poor Luis was very upset and almost had to defend our ´honor´!
MC y yo en el Parque del Retiro en Madrid en 1986
MC, Orlando and I at the gardens of the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
Con esta carita de niño triste siempre le cogia pena a mi hermano León y asi todos lo consentimos y malcriamos ¡hasta el día de hoy!
Mami con sus sobrinos Purita y Julio Carrillo en mi casa en NYC. Fijense en lo elegante que mami iba a todas partes.
My aunt Fela with my cousin Johnny Turro Ichaso, who is also my beloved godfather. I inherited my dimples from her.
Mi tia Pura el dia de sus 99 cumpleaños con sus hijos mis primos Purita y Roger Fernandez Ichaso
My wedding picture on April 29 1972. I was so young and so in love. Leon took this picture early in the morning in Westchester County near Manhattan.
My beloved aunt Alicia 'Tati' Ichaso de Moreno -my mother;s eldest sister- on a trip to Mexico in trhe 50's. She was so enthusiastic and full of life. She had cancer and died in her 40's, a little after this picture was taken. We have always missed her 'joie de vivre' and the love she had for all her nieces and nephews.
Mami, en los años 70, descansa junto a la Fuente de Trevi en Roma, En realidad no le gustaba viajar, pero me acompañó en varios viajes a Europa y la pasamos muy bien las dos juntas. Era tan joven y tan llena de inocencia a pesar de to lo que habia sufrido en la vida.
MC at the Paris fashion collections with my friend Paloma Picasso and Marta Larraz. She used to go with me to the Paris collections since she was about 6 and all the models and designers were so nice to her! This was at the YSL show.
During my honeymoon at the Dyonissos Theatre ruins in Athens
My cousin Cristina Alfonso Ichaso-King and her daughter Natalie King. Her mother was my adored aunt Fela Ichaso de Alfonso, my darling 'Tafela', one of my mother's sisters, who was a role model for me.
Leon y Leo en Times Square
Mami y Mariano Ros, a quien queria tanto.
With mami age 3
Marta Larraz, una de mis mejores amigas de toda la vida y su hija Lizette
Papi era nadador del Miramar Yacht Club y mami siempre me contaba -aun cuando era mayor, al hablarme de cuando ella y papi se conocieron en el club- "el buen cuerpo que tenia, con una cintura tan pequena que ella tenia que mandarle a arreglar los pantalones cuando se casaron". Como ven, es verdad.
Con mis amigas Evangelina Leivas y Rosita Sori Marin en La Habana en 1958. Poco despues de esta foto triunfo la Revolucion y nuestras vida cambiaron 180 grados.
PETER PAUL & MARY AKA LEON, MARIANO Y MARI
My darling Tito Rogelio and Purita on her graduation day.
Mi abuelo paterno Justo Rodriguez, su hermana Lola y su cunado Ramon en la preciosa casa que lleguo a tener en La Habana despues de haber llegado de Grado, Asturias siendo un joven ambicioso y trabajador. Asi eran las cosas en Cuba!
Mami and papi in one of their many drives around New York, in Tuxedo Park in the 70´s
MC with papi in the Staten Island Ferry. Notice the World Trade Center Twin Towers behind them!
This is when I met Carolina Herrera -1974
I love Oscar de la Renta. He has always been so nice and good to me.
At age 13 during a costume party in Havana. This dress had belonged to Purita and I think it was a costume from a region of Greece.
Mami´s wedding announcement in Cuba's papers...The 2 hearts with their initials were a gift from a friend. How cute!
Mami, papi and I in Havana's Central Park
My friend Eva Leivas-Andino. We know each other since we were teenagers
The day before my wedding Leon took my favorite picture
Leon dressed as a basque boy during Carnival, It was mami's idea and she painted a little moustache on him!
Mari in 1950 in el Vedado on my dad's car
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MC and her grandfather Justo. I love this picture
Mami con mis tias Alicia y Fela y los pequenos Johhny y Purita
Leon and our cousin Luis Alberto in Miami during MC´s wedding celebrations. He is one the sons of our cousins Marilyn and Alberto
My grandfather Justo Rodriguez in his birthplace: Grado, Asturias in northern Spain. MC and I were there and we met one of my dad's cousins who still lives there.
This is my favorite picture with mami, There is such love in the way we are holding our hands and the serenity of 'love' is all around us. Papi took the picture in 'el Laguito' in Havana
Alberto y Chuchu en los años 90
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Henry Kissinger was funny and a big flirt. This was taken at a a Superman The Movie party in NYC and we were seatmates at dinner.
First time I saw snow - New York
With my friend Gladys Obelleiro at the roof og Madrid´s very trendy ME Madrid Hotel -Oct 2008
Here I am with Cary Grant in Studio 54 in the 80´s. He was amazing and so very charming. I loved meeting him.
Papi a la izq con sus padres y tios en Asturias
Mari con Elizabeth Taylor y mi amiga Perla. Fue una noche increible y me dio lastima ver a Liz tan mal.
Mari en el Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao Oct 2008
Papi and I are in a beach we called "las uvas caletas" near Miramar. I was 4
Mami, so beautiful!
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Leon and papi on Leon´s motorcycle in Cuba
Me and my dad at the beach in Cuba
My cousi Purita with the Picasso dress (my father´s description) made by Zula
Havana Grand Prix. The French racing champion Jean Behra, Leon, papi and I, circa 1956.
My uncle Francisco Ichaso in his library in Havana where he ketp the airconditioning blasting and freezing cold.
Papi directing TV in CMQ
MC at Hotel du Palais in Biarritz, age 3
Papi during his swimming champion days
Mi buen amigo Tomas Milian en el 'ashram' de Gurumai y la botella magica
Mari age 4
My grandfather Leon Ichaso
MC in our country house. Always so chic!
Traveling is favorite thing. This was in Athens 1980's
Tafela, Johnny and mami in Havana
Leon y Marc Anthony en El Cantante
With my brother Leon
MC in Florence in the 90´s
My father's favorite self-portrait
Mami's 93rd birthday at Cafe Espanol
My brother Leon at age 3. He was blond and so cute!
My Aunt Pura Ichaso at age 96. This year she turned 99. She is here with her daughter my cousin Purita and my cousin Julio Carrillo
Mami and MC 1991
Mami, Johnny Turro my uncle, my aunt Fela and my aunt Alicia at the horse races in La Habana
Mari at Jardins de Luxembourg Paris 1980
MC and her uncle Leon 1979
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Here I am with Placido Domingo in 1982, one of the many celebrities I have interviewed
With my nanny Julia at 5 months on Mother's Day
I was 2 and holding my dad's pipe!
Mami and Leon in 1952 in Havana
With my cousin Purita on a boat in Cienfuegos
With my good friend Julio Iglesias
My grandmother's brother Genaro Macias, he looks like Daniel Day-Lewis!
I was about 4 and this was at Enriqueta Sierra's home where papi used to take me to when he attended her literary afternoons
My cousin Purita in her French Salon wedding dress Nov 1956
The day of my Baptism in Havana. My face shows that I was dying to get rid of that dress and the big bow!
Mami, Leon and I in El Laguito, Havana
My cousin Purita in our house in Miramar -among my mother's beloved plants!
Mari and MC at La Casa de los Pescados. She was 6
Mami and I on December 2004
My uncle Paco Ichaso one of Cuba's leading writers and one of the authors of the very advanced "1940 Constitution" with his wife my aunt Mary Caballero in Spain
Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Nydia Rios y Rene Jordan en una cena en mi casa en NYC en los años 80
My father playing chess by himself, in one of his Cuban outings, next to his dog Chocolongo
All the Ichaso cousins in Cuba. Mari, Purita, Leon (1 year old), Roger and Johnny holding Cristy who was 4 months old.
Our witty and great cousins Marilyn and Alberto in one of their many visits to NYC with mami, papi, Leon and MC
Mami and my aunt Alicia when they wrote and produced their pioneer magazine-style radio program "The Hour for Women" in Cuba
Leon with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony at Toronto Movie Festival with El Cantante
My uncle Paco and his grandson Luis Alberto in exile in Mexico
For many years Mariano Ros has been a loyal and beloved family member
My mother and father with MC, age 6 at La Casita, our weekend beach house in Long Island
I always dreamt being here! Since I was 7
Mami the day of her 92nd birthday
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My aunt Martha Rodriguez Santos with my cousins Jimmy and Ruli Toraño
My cousin Johnny and MC age 3.
Always protecting my little brother Leon!
Mami and Leon with Tafela (in the middle) -the day we arrived in Miami on the Greyhound bus all the way from Mexico City!
Mami and Leon at Cafe Español in New Jersey, in March 2007
Leon, Cristy our cousin and I look like a bunch of 'mataperros' (see Leon´s open shirt, which he loved to do), We had been playing when papi wanted to take this 'automatic' picture and ran to be in it. My grandmother Rafaela is with mami, her sisters Alicia and Fela, and my uncle Gustavo Alfonso
Papi y sus amigos los escritores Leopoldo de Luis y Gaston Baquero en el homenaje que le hicieron en Madrid
Mami con Johnny Turró Ichaso, su sobrino querido quien siempre la visitaba en NYC.
Con Eva Leivas-Andino, Martha Larraz y Rosita Sorí Marín mis amigas de Cuba
Leon en Miami ¡Qué bueno es estar reunidos con la familia!
Petición de mi prima Purita Fernández Ichaso - Mi inolvidable tio Rogelio Fdez. Llorens; mi divina y todavia bella Tita Pura Ichaso; Purita (con un vestido-toga griego blanco y dorado); Maria Angulo de Carrillo (Granny, la abuela de Julio), Julio de dril 100; mi querida Olga Silva y Edgar Carrillo (estos dos delante del cuadro de Mijares de una china tejiendo que Dios sabe quién lo tiene!)
I love the 'raptured' expression of my cousin Cristy Alfonso Ichaso, who -with her inseparable 'compinche', my brother Leon (wearing a suit and tie!) -snuck into the altar area during our cousin Marylin´s wedding. In the center is our aunt Mary Caballero de Ichaso, while Nena Garcia de Morató kisses her son, the groom Alberto Morató. This was on Dec 21 1958, the last time in our lives that the entire family was together. Ten days later the Revolution had started, mayhem took place -and we all ended up living in different parts of the world,
My darling Alberto. So handsome and such a good friend.
With my cousins Marylin Ichaso de Morató and Purita Fdez. Ichaso de Carrillo in NYC. Marylin loved the theatre, as well as eating 'escargots' --and on this trip she thoroughly enjoyed both!
My last picture in Cuba. I was 18
My Aunt Fela Ichaso, my basque grandfather León Ichaso and my grandmother Rafaela Macías
Papi con Jose Lezama Lima...Fijense en el pelo de papi. Era competamente 'wild' y no le importaba para nada lo que pensara la gente
My cousin Marylin Ichaso and Alberto Morató -Dec 21 1958 -Havana - They were both wonderful and so witty. We loved them very much.
My aunt Fela Ichaso de Alfonso was my role model in many matters. She loved beautiful things and always left a trail of Miss Dior as she walked. Her bedroom also smelled of Miss Dior and her house at Havana's Country Club neighborhood had murals painted by Portocarrero and one of the first huge paintings Mijares ever did. She was very bright and rebellious, like all the Ichaso sisters. She would buy me copies of her favorite books and tell me great stories about her life, etc. --so ever since I was a little girl we were very close. She died in Miami, still very young --so I could not share with her so many important things that later happened in my life!
My brother Leon took this picture before my wedding. It was a 'hippy style' one, with Beatles music, flowers on my hair and only 14 people present.
My grandfather Justo, my aunt Graciela and papi at age 3 with a Prince Valiant haircut
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My father in the Great Wall of China, 1967, with Cuban novelist Onelio Jorge Cardoso. The day he returned from this trip -his plane was diverted to Algiers instead of Gander, Newfounland, where he was going to defect- he applied for a permit to leave Cuba for good. He was sent to a 'work camp' for a year before he was allowed to leave for México.
Leon explains to Papi a camera shot while filming in Santo Domingo
Mari with Nefertiti in Berlin museum. Orlando took this photo with his new Leica
My grandmother Rafaela Macias with my cousins Marilyn Ichaso, Johnny Turro and Purita Fernandez Ichaso
Leon and papi in Cuba. Notice my father's khaki pants tucked into boots. He was probably on his way to some excursion to the countryside, although Leon was very elegant, but probably wearing what he called his 'producer´s shoes' that he insisted in wearing. Just like some papi owned, with a thick sole with ridges.
Mami, MC (1 year old) and myself
MC surprises Mami with one of her delicious home made birthday cakes. Mariano is standing behind her.
Beautiful mami- She died in her sleep on Dec 17th 2007- Try to read her recent obituary, which is part of the Blog Archive. We miss her every minute of our lives, but she left such wonderful memories that they more than fill the void she has left us with,
Papi con Leon y conmigo en el zoologico
Leon, blond and cute at age 2
With mami and Tati (my aunt Alicia) at age 4 --wearing the Mexican skirt, albeit with a blouse under it. - (the blog 'Semi Desnuda a los 4 años' explains this better) I loved her enthusiasm for everything in life. A youthful ´joie de vivre´ I inherited from her, since I am curious about absolutely everything in life and always want to know more!
My grandfather Justo and my aunt Martha Rodriguez Santos. She was beautiful and had a passion for cats! I was in awe of her --and all the men who met her fell madly in love! She was alluring and very Maria-Felix-style.