An article published by: South American journalist makes home in Havelock By: Tom Boné Ted Cordova had it all. A lifetime career as a journalist had placed him in the world’s hotspots as history was being made. He was a published author, who had traveled extensively, spoke a number of foreign languages, and interviewed world-famous celebrities. His career had taken him to the top of his profession in the South American newspaper industry. Then, a stroke last year nearly killed him. After two weeks in a comma, he began the long road towards recovery. That road led to Havelock. Cordova, a Bolivian, needed advanced physical therapy. His sister-in-law, an American citizen, provided the opportunity. “She told me that there are some good hospitals in this area,” Cordova said. “That kind of physical therapy was not available to me in the heart of South America, so she invited me here.” Cordova, his wife Mary, son Isvar,15 and daughter Fiona, 7, moved to Havelock to help start recovery. “We came with the few savings I had from my forty years of journalism,” he said. “And we had to spend practically everything, because we couldn’t fit into the social system.” At 64, Cordova presents a first impression of a handicapped man in a wheelchair, but it only takes a few minutes of conversation to realize the appearance is deceiving. The man in the wheelchair is still the same globe-trotting journalist, with a new attitude, and new base of operations. His mind, once the source of his daily livelihood, is now the catalyst for his day to day existence. “It was a bad stroke,” he acknowledged, “But I think so far I’ve had a good recovery.” Part of that recovery has come from his reliance on writing as therapy. While his wife stays busy as a Spanish teacher at Annunciation Catholic School, he works from his home, once again as a journalist. “I’m what you call free-lance now,” he described, “You might say self-employed.” In his formative years as a writer for South American newspapers, he covered the Vietnam War and other conflicts. The evacuation of Saigon, 25 years ago this week, put Cordova on the North Vietnamese angle of the story. Assigned to the Hong Kong Bureau of an Argentine newspaper, he was one of a group of journalists invited to North Vietnam. Argentina was neutral in the conflict, and as a result, Cordova and other South American journalists were invited to Hanoi to cover the last days of the war. “We realized it was for propaganda purposes,” he recalled, “It was not really a capture. The Americans decided to leave.” Cordova still remembers the mood of the times. “It was quiet in Hanoi,” he said. I saw no celebrations or victory rallies.” “I went to Saigon too,” he said, “But I went as a journalist covering the North Vietnamese troops as they marched in.” “I was also there for almost all of the Israeli-Arab wars,” he remembered, “And I covered the beginning of the Cuban revolution.” He helped gather the news as the government of Chile was overthrown. Somehow, his career as a reporter was constantly taking him to those parts of the world that were in the midst of major changes, often violent, always complex. In those years he learned to communicate in foreign languages (including Portuguese, French, Italian, English and German). He has developed theories on foreign economic and social trends that will soon be the subject of his next book. “I call it ‘The New World Disorder,’ ” he said. “And it is based on some of the things President George Bush has said.” Cordova takes issue with some “new world order” theories, and he has collected enough material to write his book. As a free-lance journalist he is now covering the American beat for clients in South America. His daily routine includes extensive research via the Internet, as well as watching nationwide all-news TV broadcasts. He writes his articles and posts them with his South American clients in Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela through the Internet. “Thanks to the new electronic revolution, I can be a correspondent again,” he said. Soon he’ll have his own web-site, which he describes as a bilingual project, with an emphasis on American news, as well as coverage of another one of his passions, soccer. The site will be run from his Havelock home. Admittedly, his typing style has been forced to change. He now accomplishes the task with his right hand only, sitting in his wheelchair, applying his thoughts on a laptop computer. His readers see only the final product, not the effort it takes to put thoughts into print, or on the Internet. He admits it may not be as glamourous as when he interviewed the likes of President John F. Kennedy, or First Lady Roslynn Carter. But he is sure that “it is the craft, the work,” that inspires him to continue. “I work every day to do as well as I can,” he said. “When I write, I really feel that I exist—- then, I have no problems.”   e-mail Tom Boné   [ Back to Home ]