Maximo Villaflor Soliven (September 4, 1929 – November 24, 2006) was a Filipino journalist and newspaper publisher. In a career spanning six decades, he founded the Philippine Star and served as its publisher until his death. Background Soliven was born on September 4, 1929, at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, Philippines. His father Benito, who died from aftereffects of the Bataan Death March and imprisonment in Capas, Tarlac during World War II, was elected to serve in the pre-war National Assembly. Soliven spent his undergraduate years at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he received the OZANAM award for writing. Soliven received a Master of Arts from Fordham University and Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced and International Studies. Soliven was proficient in Spanish, as it was one of the languages used by his Ilocano grandparents. Max was the eldest of ten children. His brothers and sisters were Guillermo, Regulo, Manuel, Mercedes, Teresa, Augusta, Victorio, Ethelinda, Benito. His youngest sister, Ethel Soliven Timbol, is also a journalist. She was a writer and Lifestyle Editor of the Manila Bulletin from 1964, retiring in 2007. Early life Max was asthmatic as a child, inspiring an early nickname from his siblings as "the guy who never sleeps, but talks at night." At the age of seven, Max was reciting poems and delivering speeches as he imitated his father. He wrote poetry at the age of thirteen and continued until he was twenty-one. When his father died at the age of 44, Max helped his mother, who was 30 years old at the time, support the family. At the age of 12, Max served as the role model and assumed the role of father figure to his younger siblings. He worked for the Jesuits as a messenger and errand boy using a second-hand bicycle he had saved up for. He also sold cigarettes and shined shoes in helping his mother support his nine siblings. While working these odd jobs, Max won academic medals as a scholar at the Ateneo de Manila University. Marriage While studying in New York City for university, Max got engaged to an American woman. One week before the wedding, the woman asked Max to consider her wish to live in the US. Max said, "No ifs or buts; my life is in the Philippines. I must serve my own country and that is where I need to be." When