anonymity that america forces on all of its people, both groups fought the country's wish for that homogenaity. they both retained both their irishness and puerto ricaness. both sides spoke of the ancestral home as if it was the land of milk and honey. this stance was staunchly held to, even though the deprivations endured by many had forced them to leave their island homes, yet inflexiblely they remained branded in their hearts, each year marching in pageants of ethnic excess. that's the first part. and the second part: the second part has to do with having in front of you a very odd-looking sort of leprechaunish -- latino leprechaun. as a matter of fact, in my novel that margaret spoke about, about jazz, in it, billy farrell, who is one of a very large number of characters, is a jazz pianist and before he begins playing a black leprechaun appears to him, mr. mcginniss so you can assume it's the ghost of mr. mcginniss. as margaret said, in 1949 we came to the south bronx, which was an irish neighborhood, mostly. i was sort of a spaced-out kid, destined obviously to be a poet. i was this big a