Ferdie Pacheco loves to tell the many stories of his life.There's the colorful immigrant history he witnessed growing up in Tampa in the 1930s. The accounts of seeing operations as a child and beginning to paint early on, eventually partly paying for his education in medicine by contributing cartoons to magazines. The sagas of the Cuban immigrants he attended to as a private practice physician in Miami. The vivid Muhammad Ali yarns he peppers with facts from a 15-year stint as the great heavyweight's cornerman.
Pacheco repeats these subjects in oil on canvas, painting the stories the way he tells them best, imaginatively, with broad brushstrokes of bold color.
Fans of Pacheco's artwork and memoirs, most notably Ybor City Chronicles (University Press of Florida), have several opportunities this weekend to meet the good doctor, now retired from a late career in sports broadcasting.
Pacheco discusses his work at a reception outside the Pacheco Gallery in Centro Ybor at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29.
The following day, Mayor Pam Iorio honors Pacheco by declaring Friday, Jan. 30, "Ferdie Pacheco Day." Then at noon he speaks again at the Four Seasons Author Series, a luncheon sponsored by the Friends of the Library-Hillsborough.
Yep, there's a lot of love for the good doctor, a hometown boy who made good and never forgot where he came from.
Pacheco's visits to the gallery are known to draw a crowd, mainly fans of his memoirs looking to have him sign something. He's perfectly at home at the center of attention, as one might be having lived in the eye of Ali's media maelstroms. It seems he lives to express himself. And like the charming boxer with whom he's inexorably linked, Pacheco loves an audience.
And his wife, noted Flamenco artist Luisita Sevilla, has already heard all of his stories.
The reception at Centro Ybor is free and open to the public. For info about the luncheon and to register, call the Friends of the Library at 813-273-3616.
The Pacheco Gallery is located at 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Ybor City. Parking is available adjacent to the commercial complex in the Centro Ybor Parking Garage.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2004.