Americo Paredes: In His Own Words, an Authorized Biography

Preface

v PreFAce The idea for this project was born in November 1998, after Américo Paredes had been honored with a tribute at the University of Texas at Brownsville. I had known of him since my high school days but I had not known him until I first interviewed him in September 1994. After the aforementioned tribute, I asked him if anyone was doing a book about his life. He replied that someone was writing about his works, but not about his life. Américo agreed to let me write his life story, but then died in May 1999, and I renegotiated with his sons Alan and Vince to continue the biography. Since then I have visited with them numerous times and they have generously agreed to be videotaped. The book is not an analysis of Paredes’ works nor is it an examination of his academic or political philosophy, although they are mentioned. It is about him—a young man with an energy and a burning ambition to write and to succeed, a mature scholar with a determination to change the status quo, and a professor emeritus relentless in his research and respected by those he had taught, those he had trained, and those he had touched. This฀page฀intentionally฀left฀blank. ...