
All They Will Call You
Tim Z. Hernandez(Author)
University of Arizona Press
Published on 28. January 2017
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-8165-3484-5 (ISBN)
Description
All They Will Call You is the harrowing account of "the worst airplane disaster in California's history," which claimed the lives of thirty-two passengers, including twenty-eight Mexican citizens-farmworkers who were being deported by the U.S. government. Outraged that media reports omitted only the names of the Mexican passengers, American folk icon Woody Guthrie penned a poem that went on to become one of the most important protest songs of the twentieth century, "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)." It was an attempt to restore the dignity of the anonymous lives whose unidentified remains were buried in an unmarked mass grave in California's Central Valley. For nearly seven decades, the song's message would be carried on by the greatest artists of our time, including Pete Seeger, Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez, yet the question posed in Guthrie's lyrics, "Who are these friends all scattered like dry leaves?" would remain unanswered-until now.
Combining years of painstaking investigative research and masterful storytelling, award-winning author Tim Z. Hernandez weaves a captivating narrative from testimony, historical records, and eyewitness accounts, reconstructing the incident and the lives behind the legendary song. This singularly original account pushes narrative boundaries, while challenging perceptions of what it means to be an immigrant in America, but more importantly, it renders intimate portraits of the individual souls who, despite social status, race, or nationality, shared a common fate one frigid morning in January 1948.
Combining years of painstaking investigative research and masterful storytelling, award-winning author Tim Z. Hernandez weaves a captivating narrative from testimony, historical records, and eyewitness accounts, reconstructing the incident and the lives behind the legendary song. This singularly original account pushes narrative boundaries, while challenging perceptions of what it means to be an immigrant in America, but more importantly, it renders intimate portraits of the individual souls who, despite social status, race, or nationality, shared a common fate one frigid morning in January 1948.
Reviews / Votes
This is an intelligent, empathic, and deeply moving work."-Hector Tobar, author of Deep Down Dark: The Untold Story of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free"Tim Z. Hernandez is the real thing. This epic, tragic story is finally being told, and it is in the best possible hands." -Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway
"All They Will Call You is a great historical piece of work, completing the mission that Woody Guthrie embarked on when he wrote his classic song long ago."-David Amram, author of Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac
"A scrupulous writer and researcher, Hernandez has changed the course of America's musical history, as well as it's immigration history."-Will Kaufman, author of Woody Guthrie, American Radical
"This story holds great historical significance as we continue to define ourselves as a nation. . . . Woody would be proud to know that his song played a part as a catalyst for this book, offering overdue closure to the lives of these workers."-Deana McCloud, Executive Director of the Woody Guthrie Center
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Tucson
United States
Illustrations
13 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
503 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8165-3484-5 (9780816534845)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tim Z. Hernandez was born and raised in California's San Joaquin Valley. An award-winning poet, novelist, and performer, he is the recipient of the American Book Award for poetry, the Colorado Book Award for poetry, the Premio Aztlan Prize for fiction, and the International Latino Book Award for historical fiction. His books and research have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, CNN, Public Radio International, and National Public Radio. Hernandez holds a BA from Naropa University and an MFA from Bennington College. Hernandez makes his home in El Paso, where he is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso's MFA Program in Creative Writing.