NVM Gonzalez’s ‘Romblon’

By his account NVM Gonzalez’s parents moved to Mindoro when he was four, left behind to live with his grandparents in Romblon. Much has been written about NVM’s Mindoro but hardly about his Romblon—the setting of his iconic story “The Bread of Salt” and a ghost story in “Confessions of a Dawn Person” included in his collection A Grammar of Dreams (1997).

My father was principal of Romblon High School in the late 20s. As a violinist and cellist in a small town Papa must have nurtured young Nestor in the art of violin playing; he would see Nestor again as principal of Mindoro High School in Calapan where Nestor was to finish his secondary education in the early 30s. I remember a picture in the family album showing Papa with several youngsters with violins. Papa identified one of them as NVM, then editor of This Week magazine. Papa could have been portrayed albeit in passing as Mr. Antonino who remarked on the dexterity of Nestor’s fingers or as Mr. Custodio in charge of the school orchestra.