Standing at the podium, Victor Villaseñor looked at the group of educators amassed before him, and his mind flooded with childhood memories of humiliation and abuse at the hands of his teachers. He became enraged. With a pounding heart, he began to speak of these incidents. When he was through, to his great disbelief he received a standing ovation. Many in the audience could not contain their own tears. So begins the passionate, touching memoir of Victor Villaseñor. Highly gifted and imaginative as a child, Villaseñor coped with an untreated learning disability (he was finally diagnosed, at the age of forty-four, with extreme dyslexia) and the frustration of growing up Latino in an English-only American school in the 1940s. Despite teachers who beat him because he could not speak English, Villaseñor clung to his dream of one day becoming a writer. He is now considered one of the premier writers of our time.
The incredible story behind the writing and publication of Victor Villaseñor’s national bestseller Rain of Gold. It captures the difficult and courageous path the author followed to ensure that his family’s saga would be published as the authentic, true account it is. The real power of this book lies in the sacred relationship that Villaseñor has with his father, mother, and ancestors. In other words, Beyond Rain of Gold encompasses the magical messages that Villaseñor’s indigenous ancestors told him are universal themes common to native peoples everywhere on this planet . . . and at one time we were all indigenous. This is an exciting, raw, and honest work, with events occurring that transcend the boundaries of what we normally call reality. And like Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan trilogy, Beyond Rain of Gold explores altered states of consciousness, revealing the wisdom and magic inherent in everyday existence. This is a book that will make you see the world in an entirely different way, and which will stimulate your mind and emotions to create a New Earth way of thinking and being!
Growing up on his parents’ ranch in North San Diego County, Victor Villaseñor’s teenage years were marked by a painful quest to find a place for himself in a world he did not fit into. Discriminated due to his Mexican heritage, Victor questions the tenets of his faith and the restrictions it places on his own spirituality and sexuality. Ultimately, his search for identity takes him to Mexico to learn of his family’s roots, where he soon discovers that his heritage doesn’t determine his intelligence or success. Through this often humorous and poignant tale, Victor deftly undermines the macho stereotype so often associated with Latinos, while exposing the tender vulnerability and naïveté of a young man grappling with the roles foisted on him by the church and society. Victor’s youthful misadventures elicit sympathy, laughter, and tears as he attempts to divine the mysteries of the opposite sex in this powerful, revealing memoir. “The clarity that comes from Villaseñor’s personal and cultural experience is not matched in any of Steinbeck’s major works” (Los Angeles Times).
In the American Indian belief, it is said that we never really know who we are until we find our totem, and once we do, then everything falls into place, even in the midst of chaos. Lion Eyes is the exciting true story of Jan Milburn, who came face-to-face with his totem - and was transformed. As a love-deprived young child, he got lost in a snowstorm in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, and a huge mountain lion led him safely home... setting him on a course for a miraculous life. Acclaimed bestselling author Victor Villaseñor gives voice to Jan's thrilling tale, full of danger, clashes between light and darkness, romance and healing miracles. Against the backdrop of the '60s - a time of love and war, a time of turmoil and social upheaval, a time of young people's exuberant exploration while the establishment tried to hold on to the past - Jan Milburn chose an unusual calling... becoming the youngest minister ever ordained by the state of California. Jan's spiritual path, incredibly, led him from San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District of the '60s to Mexico, and into the darkness of the drug world. Hunted by a notorious assassin, he stared down death and encountered the very depths of depravity and violence - but ultimately awakened to his magical Spirit Guides and the Kingdom of God within each of us that transcends religion and 'of-the-body' limitations. It was at this time that Mireya, a beautiful young Indian girl, saw in Jan the noble heart of a lion and the vision of an eagle. Nothing could get in the way of her love and admiration for this man. It was written in the stars, she said. Eventually, Mireya and Jan married and were instrumental in helping to return more than two million acres of stolen land to the Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua, Mexico. Lion Eyes is a mystical, heartfelt, soul-inspiring love story of timeless relevance. It shows us that our global future lies not just in our politics and religious beliefs, but also in our unwavering love and our forgotten native wisdom that once we find our totem, everything falls into place, even amidst chaos . . . illustrated by one man's incredible life, which can become the norm for all of humanity!
In his critically acclaimed bestseller Rain of Gold, Victor Villase-or brought his mother's family vividly to life. In Wild Steps Of Heaven, he turns to his father's family, the Villase-ors. Against a vivid backdrop of love and war, magic and heroism, the author breathes life into his father's people--and in particular, the Villase-or women*Margarita, the indomitable matriarch who was swept away by Don Juan Jesus Villase-or on the eve of the Mexican revolution*their beautiful daughters, who find strength and endurance in their mother's faith, and searing passion amidst the turmoil of war. But it is little Juan, the youngest son, through whose eyes this tumultuous saga unfolds. Juan would learn from his brother Jose, a hero of the revolution, how to be a man; and from his beloved mother, how to live and love con gusto y amor. A story of madness and miracles, rage and redemption, In Wild Steps Of Heaven creates a riveting portrait of an extraordinary family and the country whose earth gave them roots.
From the bestselling author of Born to Run, a heartwarming story about training a rescue donkey to run one of the most challenging races in America, and, in the process, discovering the life-changing power of the human-animal connection. "A delight, full of heart and hijinks and humor." —John Grogan, author of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog When Christopher McDougall decided to adopt a donkey in dire straits, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. But with the help of his neighbors, Chris came up with a crazy idea. Burro racing, a unique type of competition in which humans and donkeys run side by side over mountains and through streams, would be exactly the challenge Sherman and Chris needed. In the course of Sherman’s training, Chris would enlist Amish running clubs, high-spirited goats, the service animal community, and two Sarah Palin–loving long-distance female truckers. Sherman’s heartwarming story of overcoming all odds to run one of the most unbelievable races in America shows the healing power of movement and the strength of the human-animal connection. Look for Christopher McDougall's new book, Born to Run 2, coming in December!
If we really want Peace and Harmony on the earth, let's take our U. S. celebration of Thanksgiving and go global with it, inviting all God's children to join us on one day a year giving thanks for all the good things we already have on Earth, and then feast and make merry with Peace and Harmony in our hearts and souls.
A father comforts his son at bedtime by singing the turtledove song his own mother once sang to him in hopes that the child will awake refreshed and secure in the knowledge that he is loved.
Takaki traces the economic and political history of Indians, African Americans, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, and Jewish people in America, with considerable attention given to instances and consequences of racism. The narrative is laced with short quotations, cameos of personal experiences, and excerpts from folk music and literature. Well-known occurrences, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the Trail of Tears, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Japanese internment are included. Students may be surprised by some of the revelations, but will recognize a constant thread of rampant racism. The author concludes with a summary of today's changing economic climate and offers Rodney King's challenge to all of us to try to get along. Readers will find this overview to be an accessible, cogent jumping-off place for American history and political science plus a guide to the myriad other sources identified in the notes.
Presents the true story of Juan Corona, a Mexican labor contractor, who was arrested in connection with twenty-five mutilated bodies that were discovered in Yuba City, California, and charged with the largest mass murder ever attributed to one man in the United States. Reprint.
