Check Out Rodolfo Alvarado’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodolfo Alvarado.  

Hi Rodolfo, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, the hometown of Buddy Holly. I am an eclectic writer, director, and producer who in his wildest dreams never thought he’d be living in Michigan. My journey here started in a trading post, a small mom-and-pop store, that my mother owned and operated. She sold and purchased used items of all sorts. Items like clothes, jewelry, books, magazines, cameras, and paintings. As a little boy, I’d rummage through those items, all the while wondering who’d owned them before they’d found their way into my hands. As I grew older, I wrote stories and drew illustrations about some of those items: a soldier’s uniform, a heart attached to a necklace, a camera with film still inside.

Creatively the trading post played a huge role in my development, but it also played a pivotal role in who I became as a person. Even before I started Kindergarten, my mother, Cruz, God rest her soul, would send me alone to serve a customer who’d wandered into the store. “Don’t let them leave without selling them something” were her only instructions. Looking back, I realize how that experience turned a little Mexican American boy into someone who was not afraid to talk to anyone regardless of who they were and what they looked like. There was nothing in the world like running up to my mother with a dollar in my hand and yelling, “I did it! I did it again! I sold something.” She’d let me keep the money as long as I deposited half of it in my savings account.

In West Texas, Lubbock is known as the “Hub of the Plains,” because it rests in the center of the smaller towns surrounding it. My mother’s trading post was also a hub. Behind the store lived the city’s Black population, to the left of the store’s front door lived the Anglo population and to the right of the front door lived the city’s Latino/x population. On any given day there were more than twenty-five shades of people who came into the store. I’d listen to them talk to each other; to my mother; listen to them share stories of heartache, triumph, and longing. They taught me about stories, but most of all they taught me how to accept and love people for who they were regardless of the shade of their skin.

The books and magazines broadened my world: James Baldwin, Rudolfo Anaya, Ernest Hemingway, I read them all before I was twelve. But it was the copies of National Geographic, Look, Time, and Newsweek that inspired and fed my love of learning, writing, and above all, research. To this day, there’s nothing more I love to do than to chase a topic down the proverbial rabbit hole until I’ve learned all there is to know about it.

Saturday afternoons in West Texas were the best. I’d sit in front of our black and white television and watch Michigan football. When I’d tell my stepfather, Dennis, that the Wolverines were my favorite, he’d grin and jokingly say, “They don’t let little Mexican boys go to Michigan.”

I arrived in Michigan in 1995 with my family after accepting a position at The Henry Ford. When I arrived, one of my first stops was going into the Michigan football stadium. From the top row I faced south, towards Texas, and whispered, “I made it, Dennis, I’m here.” Long since gone from this earth by then, I knew he was smiling and probably saying, “Way to go, Cowboy.” Cowboy was his nickname for me.

I was at The Henry Ford for approximately four years. I led the team that brought back the fire-damaged Henry Ford Birthplace in time for the 100th Celebration of the Quadricycle, Henry Ford’s first automobile. On the day of the event, I welcomed the Ford Family and handed the key to unlock the house’s front door to Sheila Ford Hemp; it was one of my greatest honors. Likewise, leading the completion of The Spirit of Ford, what was then an interactive space where students learned about the latest Ford Motor Company technologies, was another achievement for which I am extremely proud.

Before leaving The Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company, I wrote biographies on Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Edison’s book was published by Alpha Books in New York and the Ford book by The University of Michigan Press. They were followed by a book for the Diversity Series at Michigan State University titled, Mexican and Mexican Americans of Michigan. Afterward, inspired by Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit: An American Legend, wherein she mentioned famed race caller Joe Hernandez, I wrote his biography. A book that won the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award. A second book related to horse racing, The Garrett Gomez Story: A Jockey’s Journey from Addiction to Salvation, followed. It too was a finalist for The Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award. Sadly, Mr. Gomez passed away of a drug overdose four years after the book was released.

I’ve since had my work published by Arte Público Press, El Central of Detroit, The Latino Book Review, and The Americas Review, to name but a few. I hold a Fine Arts Ph.D. and a Masters in Playwriting from Texas Tech University and a MA in history from Eastern Michigan University where I was a Parks/King/Chavez Fellow and a University Fellow. I have taught at a number of universities on a part-time basis. Recently, I turned my attention to writing for the stage, screen, and podcasts. My scripts have been finalists for a number of awards and a couple have been optioned. Recently, a podcast based on a children’s book series I wrote titled, The Perla Garcia Mysteries, just completed its first season as a podcast and has been nominated for an international Latino Podcast Award. In the summer of 2022, a documentary I wrote about Anthony C. Acevedo, the first Mexican American to register as a concentration camp survivor, will start filming in California.

When I look back on my story, I think of that little boy who has come so far. Much of what I accomplished came after the passing of my mother and stepfather. Even so, I do what I do in their honor and in tribute to that little store that shaped my existence. The trading post has long been razed, but I’m happy to write that a bronze statue of Buddy Holly sits no more than a few yards from where that little store once stood, and although my heights will never surpass those of Buddy’s, I smile when I think of what a little Mexican American boy from West Texas has managed to accomplish in his life, so far.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Those lyrics, from John Lennon’s ode to his son, Sean, have shaped my life for as long as I can remember. Even though those words did not originate with John, his life and the tragic ending to his story, resonates in me every single day, especially since I became a husband and father.

When we arrived in Michigan, my wife and I had two children, a number that eventually grew by five, so seven altogether. They were, and remain a blessing, but it was after we announced the upcoming birth of our fourth child that my professional life crumbled after a co-worker remarked during an interview with a potential hire that I was a father of three with another one on the way. “You know those kinds of people, they love to make kids,” he remarked. Everyone on the hiring team’s jaws dropped. We couldn’t believe what this person had just said. What made matters worse was that an apology was not forthcoming until I pressed for it. The person remained in their position and so did I. I mean, I was still a relative newcomer to Michigan and I had to provide for my growing family so I let it go.

However, every time I was in a meeting with my colleagues, I wondered how many of them saw me as a compulsive baby-maker and nothing else. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I left that position and took up an extremely satisfying job; one that demanded high-end results, which I am proud to note, I delivered. Even so, the idea of how my co-workers saw me remained at the forefront of my mind. Even after I was offered a position as president of a division of the company where I was employed, I turned it down because I couldn’t bear the thought of how people saw me.

I was fortunate in that my wife is a highly educated individual with a passion, determination, and a gift in the job she holds. It was for that reason, and with her encouragement, that I left the corporate world and became a writer, a husband, a father, and a stay-at-home dad on a full-time basis. It is an unexpected outcome that was a result of life not going exactly as planned. Yet, I am glad that it happened, because like John and Sean, I spent those days with my family, instead of working seventy hours a week. I’ve also written a number of books, plays, screenplays, podcasts, documentaries, and biographies. Most importantly, in that time, I’ve learned to share this story of pain and heartache with others and to see myself as more than one of those kinds of people “who love to make kids.”

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Like my Fine Arts Ph.D. suggests, I am a Renaissance man. At the time I undertook my studies, I believe Texas Tech University was one of two universities in the country that offered the degree. You had to pick a specialization; mine was Theater Management and Directing. You took a certain number of credit hours in that field and then additional hours in philosophy, music, dance, and visual arts. That degree did not limit my interests. For my dissertation, I wrote the history of Latinx/o theater of Lubbock, Texas. This choice of topic had nothing to do with Theater management or directing but I managed to talk my dissertation committee into allowing me to undertake the research. The result of which traced the origins of Latinx/o theater in Lubbock to the Spanish Conquistadors.

This dissertation is a prime example of what I specialize in; it is reflected in my academic and creative work, as well as the work I do with others, and that is taking a kernel of an idea; something that stirs in me a passionate interest, and then learning all I can about it until it becomes fully realized. Sometimes that result manifests itself in a book. For example, my biography on Santa Anita Park race caller Joe Hernandez took six years to complete because it took me, in conjunction with his son, the late Father Frank Hernandez, a Jesuit priest, until that last year to discover where his father was born.

I’m reminded of my experience at The Spirit of Ford, the interactive science center that Ford Motor Company couldn’t seem to get on its feet. The deadline to open had passed; exhibits were not complete; the workforce was untrained and in need of guidance. The opportunity was right down my alley because it caused me to literally put both sides of my brain to work—the creative and the analytical—and work it did until the center was open. I left shortly thereafter to pursue my writing and as noted earlier, because of personal reasons. But the opening of The Spirit of Ford and my book on race caller, Joe Hernandez, are two of the accomplishments that stand right up there with others that I am most proud of.

What sets me apart from others? There are a couple of examples that I can point to: the first is that I never compete with others. I work with them in order to bring out the best in all of us. Secondly, what sets me apart from others is my drive and determination to be the best at whatever it is I am undertaking at the moment. Whether that be writing a book, a podcast, a screenplay or leading a project; I have to give it my all in order to enjoy a good night’s sleep. Otherwise, I’m up all night wondering what could I have done better?

What do you think about luck?
I don’t know if I call it luck, but ever since I was a little boy, there has always been someone there ready to encourage me to pursue my education and my dreams. Starting with my mother. She was a single mother who lived through a number of abusive relationships just so she could provide for me and my sisters. She urged us forward reminding us to do great things but to never forget where we came from.

There was my second-grade teacher, Mrs. James, at good ‘ol George R. Bean Elementary in Lubbock, and Mrs. Lee, a substitute teacher I had one day at Carol Thompson Junior High, also in Lubbock, they pulled me aside and told me I was an excellent student, that I should keep on that path so I could go to college.

There was Mr. Kyle at A.B.C. Boys Club in Lubbock, who, through pure happenstance, I saw before moving to Michigan. He was hosting a garage sale at his home and I passed by. I stopped and asked if he was Mr. Kyle. He said, yes. I thanked him for calling me into his office one winter day and telling me that if I worked hard enough, I could make something of myself. “Don’t ever let the color of your skin stop you. Believe that you can and you will.” I cried when I recalled those words to him and smiled when he grinned and said, “I knew you could do it.” My Outstanding Boy of the Year 1972 plaque from the A.B.C. Boys Club still hangs proudly in my workspace at home.

There are so many other examples that I could reference; names and faces I’ve never forgotten. I will add what my mother always used to say, “Sometimes luck will get you in the door, but hard work is the only thing that’ll keep you there.”

Pricing:

• The Perla Garcia Mysteries Podcast—free to stream!
• The Number on My Father’s Arm–Arte Publico Press–$11.95
• The Untold Story of Joe Hernandez: The Voice of Santa Anita–Caballo Press–$21.95
• Drawing Conclusions on Henry Ford–University of Michigan Press–$23.95
• Mexican and Mexican Americans in Michigan–Michigan State Press–$12.95

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.rodolfoalvarado.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rodolfoauthor
• Other: http://www.theperlagarciamysteries.com