His most well-known books are “Seasons by the Bay” and “Full Deck.”Oscar Peñaranda earned his B.A. in Literature and M.A. in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University where he taught for 12 years and became part of the struggle to establish Ethnic Studies in the schools.

He helped found the San Francisco Chapter of Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) and was its first president. A FANHS National Trustee and President of the East Bay Chapter, Oscar is a life-long advocate of Filipino American history and Filipino cultural heritage.

Oscar is one of the forces behind the San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival, now in its 5th year. He also was instrumental in last year’s first Filipino American Intetnational Book Festival, which showcased hundreds of publications and art forms of Filipino literary and art figures all over the world.

Students at James Logan High School in Union City learned about Filipino American History from him, and his work continues at San Francisco State University, and in educating the general public about the Filipino American experience. Oscar has taught so many people who have moved across the country and become involved in their communities, that it isn’t unusual to hear that they have been his student. So it is with Mr. P.

Again, congratulations to Oscar Penaranda. Thank you for all you do for the Filipino community in the United States and abroad.

Note: Thank you to FANHS Assistant Secretary Baylan Megino and the Fil-Am Club Communications at Holy Name Pastoral Center in San Francisco for sharing information which was incorporated in this notice.