Editor's Message: Carlos Fuentes's Impact on Spanish Teachers and Professors

As 2012 draws to a close, it is appropriate to pay tribute to literary luminary and our learned and lettered compañero in the Spanish classroom—the late Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012). As devotees of Spanish language and culture, we will continue to enjoy his superb literature and refer to Fuentes's succinct cultural observations in our classes. Many of us still feel his presence in our classrooms because we use the respected film series El espejo enterrado (The Buried Mirror). To honor the passing of this consummate man of letters and a central figure in the discussion of mexicanidad, I invited Hispania Associate Editor Harry L. Rosser to pen a guest editorial on Fuentes in which he includes an intriguing discussion of the late author's overall contributions and his often overlooked impact on the teaching profession.

Harry L. Rosser is an Associate Professor of Latin American Literature at Boston College and is one of those indispensible colleagues that you meet at a session during the annual meeting of the AATSP. Having served a recent term on the AATSP Executive Council, he is a staple at the AATSP and has been a contributor to Hispania. Many of his publications focus on Mexican culture and literature. His impact in our field is broad because he is a well-known author and coauthor of instructional materials as well as literary criticism. I invite you to read his bio below and then continue on and enjoy his guest editorial, titled "Carlos Fuentes: Crossing Borders and into the Classroom."