Aspen and El Rey De Patagonia

Duncan Cullman was abandoned on the steps of a church as an infant. No one knew exactly where he had come from, but a large American car had been seen speeding away. “My son, you came directly from God — El Dios,” his mother said, for she was Spanish, from some island in the Caribbean. She had gone to Cartagena, in Colombia, to marry Cullman’s father, but then they had returned to south Bogota. His mother also suggested that maybe he was “one of those gringos,” because his hair was blond and his eyes are blue. While he laughed at the idea, he grew up dreaming that he was destined to be like a king or one of those rich gringos and live in a big mansion with a large garden, many fine trees, and servants that he would treat well. In this compilation of poems and short stories, Cullman looks back at how he did become a king of sorts, achieving renowned status as a ski racer, spending time with John Denver in Aspen, Colorado, shortly before the singer’s death, and enjoying life to the fullest.