Ms. Max L Forbes

Max Forbes (1966- ) was born in London, England to immigrant parents from Jamaica. Her family which included 2 older sisters returned to the Caribbean in the chaotic 1970s. She taught for a year in Mexico and fell in love with the rich culture, food and the strong family ties there. On crossing the US for monthly shopping trips to McAllen, Texas she observed dejected looking undocumented people detained in the back of formal government trucks. This caught her interest immediately; these people were on the same hopeful journey in life that she was on, yet the outcomes were so very different.

At present, married with 3 adult children, teaching in multicultural classrooms and living close to farms cared for by Hispanic farmworkers, she cannot stop thinking about the detained undocumented people that she saw in Texas. "I Love Tomatoes," is the fictional story of a family determined to find a better life.