The Association of Friends of the Ways of Santiago of the Southeast of Caudete continues with its commemoration of the 10 Years of Hospitality of the “Santa Ana” Pilgrim Hostel.
The next activity will be the presentation of the book “Senda de Estrellas. Camino de Santiago, three Cathedrals”, by Octavio José Cosme López Lorente. This presentation will take place next Wednesday, October 19, at 8:00 p.m., in the Movie Theater of the Caudete Senior Center.
Octavio Jose Cosme Lopez Lorente
Octavio left school at the age of eleven to work in the family carpentry with his father. During this time, he combined work with his studies, which he did on night shift due to his work situation. In May 1968 he began to work as a bellhop at Banesto, where he rose through the years, and came to hold various positions as deputy director at banks in the neighboring towns of Petrer, Aspe and Elda. He took early retirement in 2011 and ended his professional career as head of Individual Risk in the Elche area.
Between 1970 and 1974 he was a sports correspondent in the delegation of the La Verdad newspaper in Murcia.
Since 1980 he actively collaborated in the Mountaineering program of Radio Elda entitled “En Marcha”.
From 1990 he was responsible for the sports area on the Local Television Channel TV4, until the end of its broadcast.
He has carried out various literary works, published in different local magazines of Fiestas Mayores and Alborada, as well as in the weekly “El Valle de Elda”.
In 2013 he won the local prize of the “Cuentamontes” Literary Contest, in Elda.
He has created thematic philatelic collections, entitled: «The man and the mountain», «Camino de Santiago – Three Cathedrals» and «Mother Earth – Mountain Goddess».
A lover of nature and mountains in general, he has trodden most of the paths in his surroundings and region, and has visited most of the most important mountain massifs in Spain.
He is a member of the Eldense Alpine Club, the Choir Santos Patronos de Elda and the City of Elda Lyric Group.
In 2012 he was one of the architects of establishing in the Eldense Alpine Club the Mountain Literary Contest “Bivouac de Cuento” and “Cuentacuentos en el monte”.
His love of the mountains has led him to organize various marches and mountaineering courses locally and in the rest of the Valencian Community.
His pilgrim resume is based on a first contact in 1999, when he completed the section from Pedrafita de O Cebreiro to Compostela. It had its continuity in 2003, starting from Frómista, and in 2004, from the city of León.
Later, in 2008, he completed the Camino Frances from Roncesvalles to Santiago in the company of his wife, and in 2010 he completed the section from Astorga in winter.
In 2016, the Aragonese Way finished starting from Canfranc and arrived in Santiago again along the French Way, joining at Puente La Reina.
He is a member of the network of Volunteer Hospitalers, where he has carried out his work in Bercianos del Camino in 2017 and Castilblanco de los Arroyos, on the Vía de la Plata during 2018.
“Way of Stars. Camino de Santiago, three Cathedrals»
Always follow, day and night, your own path of stars, the one that no one has ever stepped on. You will find your existence, your past, your present and your horizon will shine where the sun hides.
It is a book that talks about both Santiago Zebedeo and the Camino de Santiago, delving into the legends and stories that always merge, providing data on the eight experiences lived on the Camino de Santiago, six walking and the other two as a volunteer hospitalero.
It has been published by the Publisher Red circle. The reader will be immersed in a work with no specific audience and will also discover the history of a third of Spain. «It is a book that tells us about humanism, solidarity, spirituality, culture, monuments, nature, effort, friendship. It is for a large audience”, as the author himself defends.
The book also provides a partial reproduction of a philatelic collection called: «Camino de Santiago, tres Catedrales», by the author himself, a chronology of the most significant events of the Camino de Santiago and a Rutometer of the route, from Roncesvalles to Santiago of Compostela.
After this Jacobean literary presentation, the association will make one more presentation during the month of November, in order to end its activity on the occasion of the 10 Years of Hospitality of the “Santa Ana” Pilgrim Hosteland to bring the Camino de Santiago and the Jacobean culture closer to the citizens of Caudete and the region.