The Bearcats

About the Book

      War brings together groups of men and women who, under different circumstances, would never meet. They form symbiotic friendships. Some last as long as a single frame in a film, there one moment, gone the next: dead or critically wounded.

      Others are shaped by a 50 ton drop forge hammer. Three or four pounding blows, and an intricate part of a team is shaped, much like a clutch finger, a tie rod or a shifting lever. A few take a long time to shape and form.

      And just when they do, it's time to say goodbye. 

About the Author

            He was born in Port Arthur, Texas. When he was a toddler, his parents moved to Mexico, where they bought a cattle ranch. When he was fifteen, he ran away from his wealthy environment and thus began an adventurous life as a migrant worker.

            Tired of that work, he finally settled down in Lansing, Michigan, where he worked as a tool and die repairman. He wrote a die repair manual and helped redesign dies. He was also a member of the Local 724 Bargaining Team. In 1951, he was drafted, went to radio school at Camp Gordon, Georgia and did field training with the 82^nd Airborne at Fort Bragg. In 1952, he was sent to Korea and served with the 7^th Division 31^st Infantry Regiment HQ HQ Radio Squad.

            Upon his return from the war, he married and had children. Unfortunately, divorce shook up what was once solid ground.

            He went to college, earned an AA from Lansing Community College and BA and MA from Michigan State University. He taught literature at LCC for a while, was editor and co-founder of a bilingual (Spanish/English) newspaper: El Renacimiento.

            In 1979, his father died and he was asked to manage the estate. He learned a lot about farming, but mostly about himself.

            In 1991, he returned to the U.S. and settled in San Antonio, Texas, where he taught literature at Our Lady of the Lake University, and The Alamo Community Colleges.

            His family values are strong and he remains in constant contact with his children and grandchildren, with whom he shares an unconditional love. He is spiritually religious and patriotic, without the fundamentalist and political dogma. He likes to call himself “The Cultivated Proletarian” who can handle Niccolo Machiavelli, Dante Alighieri, Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare in one hand, and a labor contract and civil rights fight in the other.