Calexico: True Lives of the Borderlands

Contents

   Contents Foreword, by Ralph Lewin xi Preface: Why Calexico? xiii Acknowledgments xvii Introduction: Interviews and Borders xix Monday: “Where California and Mexico Meet!” i Chuck Bowden, journalist Barbara Worth, fictional ingenue Bonnie Peterson, waitress George Mainas, grower Maria Mainas, wife of grower Mainas Tuesday: Whither Calexico? Wither All of Us When It’s 100 in the Shade! 30 Jorge Castañeda, Mexican politician Jason Booth, border fence builder Frank Salazar, Calexico politician Angel Sandoval, student poet Dr. Ed Gould, Imperial Valley College president Rod McKuen, poet María Luís Grivanos, poet and Spanish-language instructor Elvia Machado, secretary Dr. Melani Guinn, humanities professor Vikki Carr, executive assistant Wednesday: Crossing the Border(s) 71 Carroll Buckley, radio station owner Norm Wuytens, Pioneers Museum curator viii contents Enrique Lozano, border patrolman Miguel Hernandez, border patrol recruiter Juan Torres, Anheuser-Busch Latino-marketing director Roxanne Pacheco, student debater Juan Felipe Herrera, poet Patrick Buchanan, Washington pundit Lou Dobbs, news commentator Geraldo Rivera, journalist Tom Tancredo, congressman Sergio Bendixen, pollster Adrian Martinez, TV game show producer Ecce Iei Mendoza Machado, Mexican consul general Juan Carlos Ramirez-Pimienta, Latino culture professor Tomás Torres, EPA border pollution expert John Hood, Caltrans graphic artist Thursday: Efficiency Is Security 130 Virginia Munger, pioneer The love letters of pioneers Chrystle and John Earl Roberts Jr., Calexico Chamber of Commerce president Mike Bradley, Sarnia, Ontario, mayor Farley Mowat, Canadian author Chris Guinn, former Border Patrol officer and Dr. Guinn’s husband Bret Kofford, former Imperial Valley News editor Lewis Pacheco, Calexico mayor Carmen Durazo, Calexico city council member Dr. Richard Gutierrez, Calexico politician Louie Wong, Calexico restaurateur Angel Zavala, salsa dance instructor Friday: You Can Make It Here 169 Gustavo Arellano, newspaper columnist Eloisa Tamez, activist border dweller Chad Foster, Eagle Pass, Texas, mayor Emily Rickers, Eagle Pass, Texas, lawyer Gustavo Yee, Calexico real estate development salesman Dana Hawk, former Holtville Carrot Queen Blanche Benavides, Imperial Valley Ministries evangelist John Convertino, drummer and leader of the band Calexico Contents ix Saturday: Going Home 195 Border patrolman Martino Epilogue: My Prescription: Swallow Hard and Say, “¡Bienvenidos!” 198 Afterword: Calexico at the Intersection of Life and Death, by Joseph Nevins 206 ...