The Legacy of Américo Paredes

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Many people provided encouragement and assistance with this book, too many to list here in the acknowledgments. But special thanks are due to the following people. To Américo Paredes, who in spite of his age and failing health allowed me to interview him in the summer of 1996 to complement my library research. His generosity, sense of humor, and support I will always remember. To the Paredes family, my thanks for the photographs and permission to use them in the book. To Sergio Garza for his patience during the first stages of my research and writing, I am very grateful. To the members of my dissertation committee, Raymund A. Paredes, Efraín Kristal, Shirley Arora, Rafael Pérez-Torres, José R. Reyna, and Randal Johnson, for their guidance and encouragement with the preparation of my manuscript. A special thank you is extended to Toni M. Crowe, Robin Fisher, and the Graduate Division at UCLA for their assistance with a dissertation-year fellowship in 1998–99. This project is a reflection of their minimizing my distractions and teaching obligations. To my students at California State University, Domínguez Hills, for their support and inspiration , especially Lisette Arredondo, Rodrigo Valles, Cynthia Aldana , and Jason Hecht. My appreciation to Jerry D. Moore, professor of anthropology at CSUDH, for his reading of my final chapter and for his encouragement. To my father, Segundo López, for sharing with me his stories about life along the Lower Rio Grande region; to my mother, Odilia M. López, who reminded me quite often to complete the book; to Frederick Luis Aldama, Richard Bauman, Sandy Crooms, John McDowell, Severo Pérez, and John M. Schechter for their xvii consideration with e-mail responses and recommendations; to the people in Austin, Texas, especially to Margo Gutiérrez, Bill Hardesty , Michael Hironymous, Ann Lozano, Mónica Rivera, and Craig Schroer at the Nettie Lee Benson Collection Library; to José E. Limón and Frances Terry for sharing their time to assist me with my project, thank you so much; to Abel Amaya for the moments he shared with me about the times he spent with Américo at academic conferences; to Marcos Loya for his time, patience, and guidance in teaching me how to play the guitar and to perform Mexican folk songs in front of an audience; to Michael Chen for saving and transferring my notes, data, and bibliography from my old, malfunctioning computer; to Olga Nájera-Ramírez for her valuable suggestions and encouragement with the overall manuscript ; to Anne R. Gibbons for her careful reading and editing of the manuscript. And to Dalia Iñiguez for her patience y por los ánimos during the pressures that go into the investigation, writing, and rewriting of an “almost” completed manuscript. Muchísimas gracias a todos. xviii Acknowledgments The Legacy of Américo Paredes ...