After brief stints teaching at Cambridge University and in Mexico City, in 1962 Prof. Eduardo Mayone Dias came to California to teach at the Monterey Defense Language Institute. From there he moved to UCLA where he enjoyed a long and distinguished career as Professor of Portuguese. He has been recognized for many years as one of the most significant figures among the Portuguese communities of California. Our interview spanned two days in September of 2008 and covered, however briefly, the major events of his life, from childhood on. As he remarked on the second day, only a week or two earlier he had been interviewed in his home by RTP (Portuguese Radio and Television); but, as with similar interviews, its range was rather circumscribed. This interview, on the other hand, had been quite unique; and it was particularly moving for him to look back on his formative years.