Culture Clash: My Stories of Growing Up in Puerto Rico and New York

Born into a loving family in Puerto Rico stricken by poverty after World War II, five-year-old Jose Camacho was whisked from his homeland and dropped into an urban borough in a foreign nation. He spent the next decade split between the gritty, uncompromising streets of the Bronx and the warm safety of Caguas, leaving him feeling like a foreigner in both lands. These collected stories span his lifetime, from childhood to old age, in colorful detail and sometimes bawdy language, lacing together, in rich vocabulary, the startling contrast of clashing cultures that led to his dual identity.

Jose recounts how his grandfather rebuilt his fortune after the boy gave him a winning lottery number, earning Jose a horse that he rode in the Puerto Rican countryside. In sharp contrast to this idyllic life, he relates his challenging adolescence in the Bronx during an era of teenage gangs and how he navigated being a budding intellectual while maintaining connection to his tough community. His heartwarming stories of holidays and family activities enjoyed by Puerto Ricans in both lands define the shared bond that helped him find the balance between these mismatched societies.

Each vignette in this collection is a poignant personal reflection. A recollected dream, a fanciful description of an attack by a malevolent spirit, and confessional late-life reflections express Jose’s deep self-awareness. Although this is a memoir of one man, Culture Clash is also a chronicle of cultures, places, and times that no longer exist.

This collection of short stories of Jose Camacho's life in Puerto Rico and New York City reflects his lifelong love of writing as well as his appreciation for his bicultural upbringing. His wit, charm, and passion for language shine through each of these windows into his unique life experiences.Jose was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, in 1940, and moved to the Bronx with his family in 1945. He graduated from City College of New York with a degree in English and a minor in Spanish, and later earned an MSW (master of social work). Jose used his skills and humanity to make a difference in the lives of the populations he served; he was a caseworker for the New York City Department of Social Services, a counselor for the New York State Drug Abuse Control Commission, and a counselor at two New York State correctional facilities. Jose was married for more than fifty years to his beloved wife, Sharon, with whom he raised two sons in Westchester County, New York. He was proud of their personal and professional successes, and had the pleasure of watching his two grandchildren grow and achieve academic and creative achievements. Jose died of complications from COVID in February 2021.