Died June 29, 2017,Aventura, Florida
College: Berkeley
It’s with great sorrow and regret that I inform you of Phil’s passing June 29th at Aventura Hospital, Aventura, Florida. A longtime resident of Palm Beach, after suffering a partially paralyzing stroke in 2004, he lived in assisted living in Aventura.
A noted socio-political writer, mostly in Spanish, a language, along with Portuguese, he majored in at Yale, Phil also was a well known critic of Jazz and Latin American Music.
He was a Member of the Spanish National Honor Society and earned an MA in Romance Languages in 1962 at Columbia. His thesis, José Vasconcelos and the Novel of the Mexican Revolution, remains the standard in the field. Previously, he had served in the US Navy as a Radarman with service in Europe, the Middle and the Caribbean.
Competent in numerous languages in addition to Spanish and Portuguese, he was able to write in different alphabets, even to the extent of creating his own Chinese and Japanese characters.
He had worked in advertising and investment banking but his real passions were Jazz and Latin American Music and writing on public affairs.
He was published frequently in the El Nuevo Herald newspaper, the Diario Las Américas and Descarga magazine.
Phil was an active member of Miami’s Unión de Colaboradores de Prensa, a group of concerned citizens addressing in the media the great questions of the day. In assisted living, he actually increased his writing activity.
Phil never married. He is survived by his identical twin brother Louis, ’59, sister-in-law Patricia, nieces Gigi and Allegra and five cousins and their families.
On July 10, in a Naval Ceremony, Phil’s ashes were placed at the South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, FL.
Sincerely,
Louis V. Riggio, ’59
(954)224-1773
louisriggio@gmail.com