By Norman Valenzuela

MY father, Art G. Valenzuela, packed a blue luggage, bought a one-way ticket, and headed to a radio station in Dagupan City in 1963.  It was the era of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and in its final months, the assassination of JFK in Dallas, Texas.

Dagupan at the time was mostly swamps and fishponds. The bustling city was known as the “land of milk and honey”. I was 6 months old and we lived in a nipa hut at the beach side frontage, close to my Papa’s workplace, because I was asthmatic. (I am the eldest son of his four children).

He started with 400 pesos in his wallet. In the early 70’s he put up an advertising agency (A G Valenzuela & Associates) at the second floor of the old Banco Pilipino building in downtown Dagupan. It was a business activity in Dagupan with a truly innovative creative mindset.

He served as radio station manager of several radio stations (DZDL, DWDW, to name a few). He also was the public relations officer for the then Pangasinan Governor Aguedo F Agbayani and a think tank team Leader of former Congressman Jose de Venecia Jr.

My dad had a very celebrated career. He also wrote for the Sunday Punch for a very long time. I recall our house was filled with weekly subscriptions of Sunday Punch from the early 1970’s up until Papa’s last days.

Now he has left his four children to carry on the baton. There’s a treasure trove of vintage pictures from Marcial S. Valenzuela – my grandfather’s photo collection that he planned on publishing – and his own photo collections that we will feature in this column in months ahead.

Greetings from Sydney Australia.

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