Stand and Deliver Reunion Panel on Midnight's Edge YouTube Channel

Today at 10:00 AM Pacific/12:00 PM Central there was a cast reunion for the movie Stand and Deliver (1988) at the Midnight's Edge YouTube channel. The reunion was organized by Latino Slant and co-sponsored by The Daily Chela and Midnight's Edge. The reunion included Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Philips, and most of the actors who played students (Karla Montana was absent). The event helped raise money for the Latino Theatre Company in Los Angeles.

As might be expected, watching the reunion was emotional for me. Before the reunion took place they played a memorial video for my beloved Vanessa Marquez (who played Ana Delgado in the film), so I spent several minutes crying. In the superchat many also made donations in Vanessa's memory. The reunion itself was enjoyable to watch, as I expected it to be (in 2019 at the screening of Stand and Deliver at the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes I had seen a panel of the cast). Sadly, Patrick Baca was having technical difficulties and as a result didn't really get to take part much in the panel. That made me a bit sad, as Patrick is a great raconteur. At one point one of Lou Diamond Philips's cats decided to "meow." I was really hoping that maybe the kitty would make an appearance on screen, but they didn't. Anyway, I know that while Vanessa wasn't there physically, she was there in spirit.

I do have to point out that Paulie of Latino Slant did mispronounce my name. For those of you who are wondering "Towles" is pronounced with a long "o" (like "tolls") and in "Canote" the "o" is long and the "e" is silent.  Here I want to say that I didn't mind Paulie mispronouncing my name, as I am used to it. I felt lucky just to have been acknowledged!

I have embedded the video here if you want to watch it. You can also watch it at the Midnight's Edge YouTube channel.