Gloria was nearly killed in a bus accident in 1990; the doctors said she would not walk again. I remind her of this nearly every time she jogs past my house in Miami. She defies the odds daily, just by being herself. A Cuban-born immigrant who arrived in this country as a child, she has grown into Miami’s own hometown gal. She speaks her mind, no matter the price. She holds family and friends close to her heart. She is an amazing woman and a fabulous neighbor. I skateboarded over to her place, and we sat down for a chat. - Rosie

RO: When did you first come to Miami?

Gloria Estefan: In May of 1960. I was two-and-a-half years old.

RO: And you came with your parents?

GE: I came with my parents. But we got an apartment, and then my father went to the Bay of Pigs [the U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba] and he didn’t tell my mom. He left her a note because it was so secret. It was really rough to find a place. At that time there were some Cubans in Tampa – because there was a big tobacco industry there – but down here, forget it – there were none. There were signs: "No children. No pets. No Cubans."

RO: Really? Now, was it easy to leave Cuba, or did you have to sneak out?

GE: We didn’t have to sneak out then because it was really the last of the freedom flights. They let people out, but they wouldn’t let you take anything. At the airport they ripped up all my mother’s credentials, her university degree – everything.

RO: So it was you, your sister and your mom?

GE: No, my sister wasn’t born yet. It was just me, my mom and my dad, who was only here for a very short time. He went to the Bay of Pigs, and he was a political prisoner there for a couple of years. Then he came back when Kennedy did that exchange – he exchanged the political prisoners in Cuba for medicine and things – with Castro. The U.S. Army had offered him a chance to go in as an officer in the U.S. Army if he took intensive English courses. So he went first to Texas, and my sister was born there, in 1963.

RO: And how long did you live there?

GE: Only a year and a half, and then we came back to Miami. My dad went to another English course at Fort Benning, Georgia, and then we went to Texas again and to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Then he volunteered in Vietnam. And when he went to Vietnam, we came back here. So I was only gone three and a half years from Miami.

RO: So this ha always been home for you.

GE: Always.

RO: And when you were young and singing, was your father around?

GE: My dad was around. I used to sing for him. I would send him tapes to Vietnam. In fact, I still have some of those tapes. My mother found them the other day. And he would talk back, and we could hear what he was saying.

RO: Did they encourage you?

GE: My dad loved me singing. His whole family was musical. Both his other brothers sang and played guitar and wrote. His mother was a poet. And my mom also was musical. She was going to be Shirley Temple’s double. She won a contest in Cuba when she was a kid – she was the same age and had the curls and the whole spiel. Her mother wanted her to be a professional. But [my grandfather] said, "No child of mine is going to Hollywood."

RO: No kidding?

GE: But Grandma was a stage mother. She would bring people to listen to me sing, try to get me recording contracts. And my mom didn’t want anything to do with that.

RO: Had your mom wanted wanted to go to Hollywood?

GE: I think secretly she did. She had a doctorate in education, so she had her own kindergarten in Cuba and was a great teacher. She wanted me to go to college, and of course I was gonna go to college. And I think she was afraid that if I go sidetracked with that thing [performing], that somehow I wouldn’t become a professional. But she would have loved it, because she enjoys the spotlight.

RO: did you go to college?

GE: Of course. I had a double major – psych and communication – and a French minor.

RO: No kidding?

GE: Yeah, and I did it in three years.

RO: Where’d you go, University of Miami?

GE: Yeah, my alma mater. Go ‘Canes! I was gonna be a psychiatrist. But you know I have a theory we all go looking for self-help, and I found it so I didn’t continue! [laughs] But it’s been very useful, and it still fascinates me. The crowd psychology when you’re onstage is an amazing thing. Each night it’s different. You can be in the same city four nights, and it’s like four different people sitting out there.

RO: Did you ever feel pressure to move either to New York or L. A. for your career?

GE: No. Well, I mean, we spent a lot of time traveling back and forth between here and L. A., but I wouldn’t leave this place. This is my home.

RO: You are sort of like the mayor of Miami. Does it feel that way to you?

GE: Don’t include me in that group of people! The mayor of Miami. Hopefully we’ve got a halfway decent one now. When I came here – I don’t know how much you’ve explored into Miami, but the edge of town was 57^th Avenue. That was the boonies. Anything beyond that, you packed a lunch to go. So I feel we’ve grown along with this town, and we’ve been a part of its economy. To me the biggest thrill still is the view coming from Miami on the Mc Arthur Causeway. When you’re at the top of that hill, you have downtown on the right and then you have all these sailboats parked. And everything is so beautiful and peaceful. To me that’s one of the most spectacular views in the world. And it’s always different; water has its own personality.

RO: Do you feel in any way burdened by the prominence? Like with the whole Elián Gonzalez thing... you’re a singer, but you know, they call you because you are the voice of so many people here.

GE: You know, I had a brand-new album coming out when Elián happened. And nobody wanted to hear about my album, okay? And that hurt my album. Alma Caribeña was a Spanish-language album, and Cubans were being bashed everywhere in the world. And that was scary. But I couldn’t shy away from it, because I’m a Cuban and I’m living in the city. How could I not have an opinion?

RO: I always wonder, "Why do people care what I think?"

GE: Because you’re famous!

RO: I guess, but it still makes no sense to me.

GE: We’re all human beings, but people who have not experienced fame have this glamorous thing about it where they think that we’re some elite. In this country, really, celebrities are royalty. We are, in essence, what they think of as high society in other places – just because we’re known.

RO: Right. But you seen to be comfortable with the celebrity part.

GE: I love people. I really do love people. And I love to be able to connect with them. And sometimes there are moments when you’d prefer privacy, and that’s the most difficult part. And you’ve gotta take it. Whoever doesn’t realize that’s part of it better not get into this game.

RO: How has it been for your kids? Did Nayib [Gloria’s 21-year-old son] find it hard having famous parents?

GE: Well, he loves being the center of attention. He didn’t have a problem with that side of it. The part that’s tough for him was just being a normal kid. For example, some kid who looks like him – because there’s a lot of kids in this town who look like him – would get into a restaurant, order something, give Nayib’s name and walk off and not pay the bill. Then someone calls us and says, "Nayib was here and didn’t pay the bill." And I know he wasn’t there because we weren’t even in town. Then, in school and in place like that, people can be tough because he’s a famous kid. And he’s got two parents who are well-known in Miami. I mean, what kind of pressure is that? The best thing that’s happened for him is that he’s living in London now.

RO: Oh, I thought he was in L. A.

GE: He was in L. A. for two and a half years. He did his film-school-thing, and then he got offered a really good job in London. Eventually he’ll come back, but I think it’s wonderful – because he can be himself there.

RO: It seems as if Emily [Gloria’s seven-year-old daughter] doesn’t like the attention that comes with being famous.

GE: She doesn’t. When she was little she was in her carriage, and she had one of those carriages with a top, and people would come up and she’d slam it down like a turtle. And one day there was actually a tug of war between her and some woman who was trying to open the thing. And Emily’s holding it down, and she’s a strong little thing. She’s more like I was – I was very shy. And she doesn’t like to be the center of attention. Just like me. I love more the behind-the-scenes work and the studio work.

RO: Are you doing a lot of the producing stuff, or is that mostly Emilio [Gloria’s husband]?

GE: Emilio’s doing a lot of the producing stuff.

RO: You’re not involved in that when you find a new kid like Shakira?

GE: Well, for example, at the beginning I did a lot of the translations for Shakira. Remember she came on your show and sang "Inevitable," which I wrote for her. And then I started helping her along, and she started doing her own writing. I was like, "This is good. Do it, do it!" She’s a great artist. But now I’m writing a screenplay, and...

RO: You are? Based on what?

GE: I don’t want to jinx it. I’ll let you know before anybody.

RO: And is it for a studio, or are you writing it yourself?

GE: No, we’re writing it ourselves. We’re optioning it, and hopefully it will be my first starring role, and we’re going to produce it.

RO: How did you like acting with Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart?

GE: I loved it. She is the nicest person. We spent most of the time talking about our kids – ‘cause her son had just left for college, and my son had just left for L. A.

RO: Did you find the acting easy?

GE: I was ready, because I had studied for quite a while. And I realized that basically you have to let go, become someone else and enjoy it. And she made it so easy for me.

RO: First time I ever flew in first class, she was next to me in the aisle.

GE: "Scuse me, ma’am, could you give me some tips?"

RO: Well, that’s what I wanted to say to her. And she didn’t order the food, so I didn’t order the food, because I thought, "I have to do what Meryl Streep does." I got off the plane and went to McDonald’s.

GE: [laughs] She was great. When we were in rehearsals, right before we started shooting – of course, my main scene was the first thing I ever shot, talk about a baptism by fire...

RO: On the playground?

GE: Yeah, on the bench with her. Okay? So I sit down, I go, you know, "Meryl, if there’s anything you want to tell me in the way of pointers or whatever." And she goes, "Yeah, you too." And I’m like, "Oh, yeah! Oh, yes, of course. I’m gonna say, ‘Oh, Meryl, by the way...’"

RO: [both laugh] Oh, yeah! "Can you give me a line reading for that, Meryl? I didn’t really believe that one inflection at the end."

GE: Yes. Can you imagine? I had so much fun.

RO: Were you bored with all the waiting?

GE: Yeah – the waiting around. But you know what? I love the downtime ‘cause I don’t have downtime.

RO: You and Emilio are workaholics.

GE: Emilio works constantly, constantly. People think we’re together all the time, and on the contrary, you know, I see him little.

RO: He’s producing a lot of people.

GE: A lot of people. A lot of great stuff coming out from him this year.

RO: Do you think Miami’s growing in terms of that whole production and music scene? It seems to be the hub of all Latin music.

GE: It is. All the major companies are here. But Miami is a very strange place for an audience. It’s hard for even sports fans to be real hard-core sports fans because they compete with the weather.

RO: It’s so nice out, yeah.

GE: No matter what happens, there’s always something beautiful to see, just walking on the beach. So it’s not like if you’re holed up in some freezing climate where the only thing to do is to be a sports fan. It’s also a very fragmented community in terms of cultures. There’s not one cohesive culture here. You have pockets of a million ones, which make it a wonderful place – but at the same time, for music audiences, it’s very fleeting. You see clubs opening and closing. The differences of cultures also create a more difficult political climate. We’re always the butt of someone’s joke.

RO: I always fee bad too when people are like, "Those idiots in Florida!" I’m like, "I’m one of those idiots who voted in Florida!" [laughs] Shut up!"

GE: And it’s very easy to label people idiots, but what happened here happened in a million places, except that nobody heard about it! Because this was the deciding state. Did you see up north where some kid in college went and voted five times? And 50 of them did it! It happened in every state, but they weren’t the deciding states. So all of a sudden, all the attention was her once again. We had just recovered from the Elián thing.

RO: You think you’ll live here your whole life?

GE: I sure hope so. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d like to move to. I’m a Miamian. I really am.

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Ein spezieller Dank an Amanda Warnock. Du bist ein Engel! Vielen Dank, dass Du mir das Magazin geschickt hast! Du bist immer in meinen Gedanken und in meinem Herzen!!!

Special thanks to Amanda Warnock. You are an angel! Many thanks that you have sent me the magazine! You are always in my thoughts and in my heart!!!

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