{{Short description|Spanish-Italian American poet}} {{Infobox author | nationality = {{Cslist|American|Italian|Spanish}} | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * Colby College * Long Island University }} | period = 1982–2021 | occupation = {{hlist|Poet|writer|author|supervisor|actor}} | pseudonym = {{Cslist|Noel Rico|Neil Rico|Neil Ricco|Neil Raymond Rico}} | birth_place = North Bay Shore, New York, U.S. | movement = Nuyorican | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1953}} | awards = 1978 Creative Writing Fellowship from National Endowment for the Arts }} '''Neil Raymond Ricco''' (born 1953), formerly known as '''Noel Rico''', is a Spanish-Italian American poet and writer known for his works featured in publications by Nicolás Kanellos, Eileen Myles and Mike Marqusee. Ricco was an early member of the Nuyorican Poets Café and he appeared in the films ''A Life of Sin'' (1979) and ''Friend of the World'' (2020).
== Personal life == Ricco is from North Bay Shore, New York,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TiMsAQAAIAAJ |title=Puerto Del Sol |date=1992 |publisher=English Department of New Mexico State University |location=New Mexico |pages=269 |language=en}}</ref> growing up in the South Bronx until his family relocated to Brentwood, Long Island when he was 14. At the age of 23, he attended Long Island University and Colby College,<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Vidal |first=David |date=1976-05-14 |title='Nuyoricans' Express Pain and Joy in Poetry |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/14/archives/nuyoricans-express-pain-and-joy-in-poetry-nuyoricans-express-their.html |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2023-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901203124/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/14/archives/nuyoricans-express-pain-and-joy-in-poetry-nuyoricans-express-their.html |url-status=live }}</ref> earning a college degree.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Orr |first=Katie |date=2010-03-31 |title=San Diego Winter Homeless Shelter Closing |url=https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2010/03/31/san-diego-winter-homeless-shelter-closing |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=KPBS Public Media |language=en}}</ref> Ricco said he didn't embrace his American and Puerto Rican roots until he was living in Maine.<ref name=":6" />
Ricco lived in Hialeah, Florida in the early 1980s.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |date=1981 |title=Back Matter |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25743984 |journal=Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe |publisher=Texas A&M International University |volume=8 |issue=2/3 |page=191 |issn=0094-5366 |jstor=25743984]}}</ref> In 1997, he lived in Panama City, Panama as the spouse of a Foreign Service officer<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1997 |title=The Foreign Service Journal, February 1997 |url=https://afsa.org/sites/default/files/fsj-1997-02-february_0.pdf |journal=Foreign Service Journal |volume=74 |pages=7 |id={{Google Books|zIuQAAAAMAAJ}}}}</ref> before relocating to San Diego, California in 2000.<ref name=":7" /> He lived in Chula Vista, California in 2003<ref name=":1" /> but was homeless for several years<ref name=":3" /> before moving to downtown San Diego around 2012.<ref name=":4" />
Ricco sanctioned for the city to have permanent housing for the homeless in 2010, rather than the transitional shelters provided until people recover financially.<ref name=":3" /> In 2022, Ricco was one of seventy two residents who were ordered to vacate after city inspectors reported health and safety violations at the C Street Inn.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last1=Worth |first1=Gary |last2=Cook |last3=Megan |date=2022-07-27 |title=Hotel residents say future uncertain as they face eviction from building city says is unsafe |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/san-diego/story/2022-07-26/hotel-residents-say-future-uncertain-as-they-face-eviction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727020842/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/san-diego/story/2022-07-26/hotel-residents-say-future-uncertain-as-they-face-eviction |archive-date=2022-07-27 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |last=Ramirez |first=Jasmine |date=2022-07-25 |title=Downtown San Diego hotel to be vacated due to rodents, mold, other hazards |url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/downtown-san-diego-hotel-to-be-vacated-due-to-deplorable-conditions/509-acf69ef8-a6f0-4f95-86e7-4d8aa310393b |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=KFMB-TV |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Career == As a young writer, he went by the name '''Noel Rico'''.<ref name=":1" /> Ricco's work has been published in languages of Spanish, Irish and Italian<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=2003 |title=The Spanish Grandmother |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/201174220 |journal=Bilingual Review |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=282–283 |id={{ProQuest|201174220}} }}</ref> and he is influenced by Luis Lloréns Torres and Walt Whitman.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/transculturalpsy0000unse |title=Transcultural psychiatry : an Hispanic perspective |publisher=Spanish Speaking Mental Health Research Center |year=1977 |location=Los Angeles |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1976, Ricco was part of the Nuyorican Poets Café community with Miguel Algarín and Luis Guzmán.<ref name=":9">{{Cite AV media |title=Video: The early days of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe: Part II |date=1976 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/2v6wwx7r |work=New York University |access-date=2023-09-29 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Algarin |first1=Miguel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzNXZN5BBckC |title=Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe |last2=Holman |first2=Bob |year=1994 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8050-3257-4 |language=en |author-link=Miguel Algarín |via=Google Books}}</ref> Ricco later worked for the United States Foreign Service.<ref name=":3" />
Ricco's works have been included in ''Puerto del Sol'', ''Hawaii Pacific Review'', ''Greenfield Review'', ''Long Shot Magazine'', ''Mag City'', ''Contact/II'', ''Y'Bird Reader'', and ''Revista Chicano-Riqueña''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> Several of his works were published in ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'' by Nicolás Kanellos<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CiBvAAAAMAAJ |title=A Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology |publisher=Revista Chicano-Riqueña |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-934770-18-7 |editor-last=Kanellos |editor-first=Nicolás |editor-link=Nicolás Kanellos |location=University of Texas |pages=98–103 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> and ''Hispanics in the United States: An Anthology of Creative Literature'' by Francisco Jiménez.<ref name=":1" /> He was awarded Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1978.<ref name=":8" /> Ricco's poems "January In Motion" and "The Bronx 1979" are for Miguel Piñero.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/kpfafolionov77paci |title=KPFA Folio |publisher=Pacifica Foundation |others=Pacifica Radio Archives |year=1977 |volume=28 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=19 |via=Internet Archive |issue=11}}</ref>
In 1985, "Another Poem for Garcia Lorca" was published in ''Carreras. Casos en la comunidad''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pérez-Erdélyi |first=Mireya |url=http://archive.org/details/carrerascasosenl0000pere |title=Carreras. Casos en la comunidad |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co. |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-395-35277-9 |location=Boston |pages=73–75 |language=ES |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> His poem "Excerpt from the South Bronx" appeared in ''Dodeca'' and ''Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> "The First Place" was featured with "The Bronx, 1979" in ''New York, An Anthology'' by Mike Marqusee<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Marqusee |first1=Mike |url=http://archive.org/details/newyorkanthology00marq |title=New York, an anthology |last2=Harris |first2=Bill |date=1985 |publisher=Boston : Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-54709-3 |pages=94, 164 |author-link=Mike Marqusee |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and with "The Lower East Side" and "Excerpt from the South Bronx II" in ''The Floating Borderlands''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/floatingborderla0000unse |title=The floating borderlands : twenty-five years of U.S. Hispanic literature |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-295-97746-1 |location=Seattle |pages=132–134 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
After moving to San Diego, Ricco had to find other work when publishers like Simon & Schuster were declining deals for a book contract. While supervisor of Heritage Security Service at the Comerica Bank building on August 14, 2002, Ricco suffered a concussion after tripping upon exiting an elevator. The elevator had stopped a foot below the floor level and Ricco accused Otis Elevator Company for not maintaining the building's elevators. The situation created opposing tension between Heritage, Ricco and the building's contract.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Deegan |first=Joe |date=2004-11-11 |title=The Worst 30 Days Of My Life |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2004/nov/11/worst-30-days-my-life/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=San Diego Reader.com |language=en}}</ref>
Ricco's 2015 works ''Damsels in Distress'', ''Bailey Among The Angels'' and ''The Rican Eye Detective Agency'' were edited and published by Michael C. Burgess.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ricco |first=Neil Raymond |title=Damsels in Distress |date=November 21, 2015 |publisher=Byronik |editor-last=Burgess |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael C. Burgess (editor) |asin=B018DBXEB4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ricco |first=Neil Raymond |title=Bailey Among The Angels |publisher=Byronik |year=2015 |editor-last=Burgess |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael C. Burgess (editor) |location=San Diego, California |language=en |asin=B01A2NGDBE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ricco |first=Neil Raymond |title=The Rican Eye Detective Agency |publisher=Byronik |year=2015 |editor-last=Burgess |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael C. Burgess |location=San Diego, California |language=en |asin=B019R5RYKC}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1976 |''The Nuyorican Poets'' |Himself |<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":5" /> |- |1979 |''A Life of Sin'' | |Also known as ''Isabel la Negra''<ref name=":8" /> |- |2020 |''Friend of the World'' |Ignacio |<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neil Raymond Ricco - Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/neil_raymond_ricco |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=Rotten Tomatoes |language=en}}</ref> |}
==Published works==
=== As Noel Rico === # "ROBERTO: A STORY POEM." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 222–25. #* Eileen Myles, et al. ''Mag City'', no. 1, Jan. 1977, pp. 59–66. {{JSTOR|28040372}} # "NOTA AL PIE DE UNA PAGINA ACERCA DE LA CAIDA DE NUESTRA CULTURA." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 221–221. # "ANOTHER POEM FOR GARCÍA LORCA." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 220–21. # "POEM." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 222–222. # "HOY EN EL PARQUE CENTRAL." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1977, pp. 221–221. # "ON HEARING OF THE AILING JOHNNY WEISSMULLER." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 8, no. 2/3, 1981, pp. 185–86. # "THE PLAZA IN PONCE, 1979." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 8, no. 2/3, 1981, pp. 82–82. # "EXCERPT FROM THE SOUTH BRONX XX (The Assassination of John F. Kennedy)." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 8, no. 2/3, 1981, pp. 187–187. # "A HOT AUGUST NIGHT ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 9, no. 2, 1982, pp. 168–69. {{JSTOR|25743997}} # "The Lower East Side: After Having Witnessed a Man Beating Up a Woman Underneath a Balcony Overlooking Avenue C" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 98. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}} # "The Bronx, 1979" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 99. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}} # "It Is Only the Flowers" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 100. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}} # "Excerpt from the South Bronx I" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 101. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}} # "Excerpt from the South Bronx II" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 101. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}} # "The First Place" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 102. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}} # "A Late Afternoon" #* ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology'', University of Texas: Revista Chicano-Riqueña. 1982, pp. 103. {{ISBN|978-0-934770-18-7}}
=== As Neil Raymond Ricco === # "The Spanish Grandmother." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 27, no. 3, 2003, pp. 282–83. {{JSTOR|25745824}} # "La Coruña, Galicia." #* ''Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe'', vol. 27, no. 3, 2003, pp. 284–85. # "Damsels in Distress" 2015. {{ASIN|B018DBXEB4}} # "The Rican Eye Detective Agency" 2015. {{ASIN|B019R5RYKC}} # "Bailey Among The Angels" 2015. {{ASIN|B01A2NGDBE}} # "Not Tonight, My Love" 2019. {{ISBN|978-1-0904-2738-0}} # "A Killing in Hillcrest" 2020. {{ISBN|979-8-6443-2438-5}} # "King Virus: A Gangster's Tale" 2021. {{ASIN|B098PH552T}}
== Other works == * Sandra María Esteves' poem "For Noel Rico" was published in ''Decade of Hispanic Literature: An Anniversary Anthology''.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Umpierre |first=Luz María |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UxQJxgEACAAJ |title=Nuevas aproximaciones críticas a la literatura puertorriqueña contemporánea |publisher=Editorial Cultural |year=1983 |isbn=978-84-499-6844-0 |location=University of Michigan |pages=14, 122–130 |language=es |author-link=Luz María Umpierre}}</ref>
== References == <!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. --> {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name}} * [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14945305.Neil_Raymond_Ricco Neil Raymond Ricco] at Goodreads
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricco, Neil Raymond}} Category:Living people Category:1953 births Category:American poets of Italian descent Category:Poets from California Category:Poets from Maine Category:Poets from New York City Category:American male poets Category:Spanish-language American poets Category:Irish-language American poets Category:20th-century American poets Category:21st-century American poets Category:Writers from the Bronx Category:People from Long Island Category:Long Island University alumni Category:Colby College alumni Category:Writers from San Diego Category:Writers from Panama City Category:People from Chula Vista, California Category:United States Foreign Service personnel Category:Male actors from San Diego Category:20th-century Spanish poets Category:20th-century Italian poets Category:21st-century Italian poets Category:21st-century Spanish poets Category:Spanish male poets Category:Italian male poets Category:Writers from Florida Category:National Endowment for the Arts Fellows