¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Richard Rodriguez!

Born July 31, 1944.

He is a Mexican-American writer best known for his first book The Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. He is also one of the first Mexican-American writers I encountered who did not encourage me to view Mexican-Americans as a social problem. He is more than a little unpopular with the liberal left due to his criticism of bilingual education and affirmative action though I find his criticism of these policies to be more sympathetic towards their aims than the usual conservative rhetoric on these subjects. Then again, it is quite unlikely that his frequently expressed sympathy for homosexuals and illegal aliens endear him that much to cultural conservatives. ¡Qué lástima!

If nothing else, his own essays on gay rights and family values did more to make me question my own attitudes on these subjects than any other source I can currently think of. And I would like to think that is a good thing.