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Don Américo Paredes--Under Construction

ABOUT PAREDES:

Don Américo Paredes was a professor at UT in Austin. He was a native of Brownsville. With His Pistol in his Hand (Ballad of Gregorio Cortez) is his most popular work. It appeared in 1958.

A film was made starring Edward James Olmos, "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez", but Paredes reportedly walked out of the theater during the premier, in disgust.
Having seen the film, I suspect it had to do with the fact that Cortez was not portrayed as a charismatic man--courageous, yes; but Paredes's Cortez held his head high to the end. The one in the film is eventually saved by a white lawyer. I would've walked out too! It was a poor job of it.

Paredes also wrote other books, including George Washington Gomez, a novel about growing up in Brownsville and dealing with racism.

Paredes also wrote/edited the Spanish section of the Brownsville Herald, though he got no "byline". A character named "Pepe" is based on Paredes, as described by Hart Stillwell in Border City. (Stillwell worked as a reporter with Paredes.) More will be posted. In fact, if you have written on this author or have done research, you're welcome to e-mail info for inclusion here; include photos, etc.

Visit us again soon.

This is a temporary page and will be updtated soon.

Under Construction:

Email: aids_art@hotmail.com