Liz Spikol

I met Jackson Black, aka Skarr the Conqueror, in March 2023 at the Mighty Writers writing workshop I run at Covenant House on Thursday nights. Jackson has a strong presence. He’s tall and fit with a sharp jaw. He carries himself a bit like a soldier — not unfriendly, but guarded. Until his jaw loosens as he breaks into a very wide and very deep smile. Then he seems more like a bashful movie star on the cover of a magazine. Until he talks about his battles to survive his childhood.

A note from Maureen: As an organization committed to the needs of the Latino community, we wanted to ensure that this episode, which details one man’s journey from Venezuela to the U.S., is accessible to a Spanish-speaking audience. While we are not (yet) able to produce a fully bilingual podcast, we have made Spanish-language audio and transcript available. We hope to share more stories that are completely accessible to Spanish speakers in the future.

On paper, Maureen Boland and Pat Cooper might seem like unlikely friends. They come from very different backgrounds and have had totally disparate life experiences. Maureen was Pat’s high school teacher years ago. But as deeply curious people, interested in complex matters of the heart and mind, they’ve found many threads of connection between them.