Virginia Recaséns Cueto is a writer, journalist, editor and translator whose passion is language—in particular, passion for her two native tongues: Spanish and English . A long-time resident of Florida, she works and publishes in both languages. Born in Havana, Cuba, Ms. Cueto immigrated as a child to the United States, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1972. She was educated in New Jersey and New York before continuing studies in Miami, Florida, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English summa cum laude , as well as a Certificate in Translation Studies (Spanish and English) from Florida International University in Miami. She also holds a Diploma Superior de Español Como Lengua Extranjera (Advanced Diploma - Spanish as a Foreign Language), granted through the Ministry of Education and Culture and the University of Salamanca, in Spain. Certified by the American Translators Association from Spanish into English, her extensive translation experience into both her native languages encompasses a broad scope of news, financial and feature articles, as well as legal, business and official documents, academic transcripts and diplomas, and literary translation. Five years as a translator and editor at Agencia EFE, Spain’s international news agency, provided a transition from translating to journalism, covering the growing U.S. Hispanic community of which she is a part. Her bilingual skills and expertise in the U.S. Hispanic community led to executive editorial positions at Hispanic Publishing Group, Televisa Publishing, The Washington Times/Tiempos del Mundo, and AARP, where for 17 years she served as Senior Executive Editor of the editorial group working in Spanish, as well as Senior Director of AARP Translation Services, which served the entire organization and handled translation into multiple languages, primarily Spanish but also Asian languages, French, Creole, Arabic and many more. An avid reader, Ms. Cueto has traveled throughout the United States, South America, Spain and France, where she also conducted genealogical research on French, Spanish, English and Irish branches of her family. She was profiled in This Day in the Life: Diaries from Women Across America , edited by Joni B. Cole, Rebecca Joffrey and B.K. Rakhra, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2005.