Obituaries
Activist and Educator Sal Castro Dead at 79
The Silver Lake resident is widely credited as helping spark the 1968 protests at local high schools instrumental in launching the Chicano rights movement.
Silver Lake resident Sal Castro, the teacher who helped spark protests at local high schools over educational inequalities, died Monday at 79.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Castro was diagnosed with stage 4 thyroid cancer about seven months ago.
According to his wife Charlotte Lerchenmuller, he died peacefully in his sleep.
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According to the Los Angeles Times, Castro was born in Boyle Heights and attended Los Angeles City College and Cal State University, Los Angeles.
The Times says Castro was a teacher at Lincoln Heights High School, when he helped instigate the protests over what he and others felt were inequalities at Los Angeles Unified School Districts with largely Latino populations.
Find out what's happening in Echo Park-Silver Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The so-called "blowouts" eventually spread to five campuses, including Echo Park's Belmont High School.
Castro was jailed and then fired by LASUD for his role in the protests, though he was eventually reinstated.
His story was told in the 2006 HBO movie "Walkout" directed by Edward James Olmos.
A service for Castro is expected to be scheduled shortly.
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