Miami Dade College North Campus professor Preston Allen, 46, suffered a stroke on Feb. 20. He is on medical leave for the remainder of the semester.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife is short and you always need to keep your loved ones close because you never know what can happen,\u201d said Allen\u2019s wife, Dawn Marache-Allen. \u201cThat is the lesson I have learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen has been hospitalized for three weeks at Memorial Regional Hospital in Broward County. He is out of the Intensive Care Unit and on a regular floor, according to Marache-Allen. His long term memory is excellent but his short term memory is a bit limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is anyone that is hopeful, it\u2019s Preston,\u201d Marache-Allen said. \u201cHe\u2019s total optimism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen teaches both English and creative writing at MDC, and also instructs creative writing at Florida International University, where he earned his masters in creative writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked with [Allen] in the English department for 15-20 years,\u201d said Geoffrey Philp a long time friend of Allen\u2019s and Chair of the College Prep Department at North Campus. \u201cPreston Allen is a person on so many levels that is too valuable to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen is known for his published novels and short story collections. He is the recipient of a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature and the Sonja H. Stone Prize in Fiction for his short story collection Churchboys and Other Sinners.<\/em> He also took part in the Miami Book Fair International this past November. He read his most recent novel Jesus Boy<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cPreston is a very unique person,\u201d Marache-Allen said. \u201cHe is somebody who\u2019s been written up in The<\/em> New York Times,<\/em> and won many literary awards but at the end of the day he just wants to be a great teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n When Allen\u2019s son Quinn Allen, 16, first heard the news, he was worried\u00a0his father\u2019s mind would not be the same. He enjoys the intellectual conversations they share.<\/p>\n Many others who have gotten to know Allen share his son\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was my first professor at FIU, and I think he was the first for a reason,\u201d said Astrid Atiles a former FIU student of Allen\u2019s in 2001 and a reading professor at MDC.\u201dHe taught me what I didn\u2019t know and I ended up graduating with honors.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen\u2019s colleagues are eager to see him back doing what he does best\u2014 molding young minds.<\/p>\n \u201cI am looking forward to a full 100 percent recovery and seeing him back at MDC,\u201d said North Campus Dean of Students Malou Harrison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Miami Dade College North Campus professor Preston Allen, 46, suffered a stroke on Feb. 20. He is on medical leave for the remainder of the semester. \u201cLife is short and you always need to keep your loved ones close because you never know what can happen,\u201d said Allen\u2019s wife, Dawn Marache-Allen. \u201cThat is the lesson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":321,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n