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Los Reyes de Albuquerque - Part 6

By Paul Ingles and Genevieve Russell

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kunm/local-kunm-874259.mp3

Los Reyes de Albuquerque - Part 6

Paul Ingles and Genevieve Russell

Albuquerque, NM – There's no disputing that the story of Los Reyes de Albuquerque and the Martinez Family has had its share of highs. They've made popular recordings, taken national tours, and opened for Jose Feliciano at the Hollywood Paladium. They've performed in New York City and at the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals in Washington, DC. They even appeared in the Robert Redford directed film, The Milagro Beanfield War, and have received many many awards and honors.

Along with all that, however, the family has withstood its share of heartache. Two of the Martinez family daughters, Doris and Debbie, lost their hearing in their 20's, then got it back decades later with cochlear implants. Then Debbie at 48 and her eldest sister Roberta at 56 lost their lives to cancer.

Now Roberto Martinez Sr. is drawing on the lessons of courage his daughters taught him as he faces his own health challenge. UNM Spanish professor and folklorist Enrique Lamadrid is the narrator.

Our series - Los Reyes de Albuquerque y la Familia de Martinez - is produced by Paul Ingles and Genevieve Russell with support from the New Mexico Humanities Council and the KUNM Independent Producers Fund.

To see photographs by Genevieve Russell, hear the entire series, and get more information on the family and the group, visit the website losreyesstory.org. An hour-long version of the program will air Sunday morning, 12/6 at 11 on KUNM.