by Nan Cuba
I am not an immigrant, member of the medical profession, historian, religious scholar, or anthropologist, so I relied on research to furnish credibility. For information about Czechs who settled in Texas, I used We’re Czechs by Robert L. Skrabanek; Czech Voices, Stories from Texas in the Amerikán Národní Kalendář, translated and edited by Clinton Machann and James W. Mendl, Jr.; and The Czech Texans by The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio.
For information about the medical profession, I read The Doctors Mayo by Helen Clapesattle; With Scalpel and Scope, A History of Scott and White by Dayton Kelley; and For the Good of Humanity, A Century of Surgery at Scott and White 1892-1992 by Patricia K. Benoit. Nugent, Texas, is modeled after my hometown, Temple, so I used Temple, Backtracking 100 Years by Martha Bowmer. I also used My Master, The Inside Story of Sam Houston and His Times by Jeff Hamilton, as told to Lenoir Hunt; Sexual Adjustment: A Guide for the Spinal Cord Injured by Martha Ferguson Gregory; and “Hers: Waterborne” by Suzanne E. Berger, from The New York Times Magazine.
Research on religions included The Existence of God by John Hick; Reason and Religion, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion by Rem B. Edwards; The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels; A History of God, The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong; The World’s Great Religions, Volume 1: Religions of the East by the editors of LIFE; and INANNA Lady of Largest Heart, Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess ENHEDUANNA by Betty De Shong Meador.
Research on indigenous people included The Indians of Texas, From Prehistoric to Modern Times by W.W. Newcomb, Jr.; Texas A&M University’s website, Center for the Study of the First Americans; Aztecs by Inga Clendennin; A Scattering of Jades, Stories, Poems, and Prayers of the Aztecs, edited by Dr. J.J. Knab and translated by Thelma D. Sullivan; Aztecs: Reign of Blood & Splendor by the editors of Time-Life Books; “Weaving the Aztec Cosmos: The Metaphysics of the 5th Era” at the Web site Mexicolore; and “Aztec Philosophy” at the Web site The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Thirty-five years ago, my husband, Don, said, “You ought to write a book,” and I laughed, but his words became a mantra. I thank him for that and for the evenings he listened to me reading excerpt after excerpt, forever encouraging. I thank my son, Don Jr., for being proud of his mother. I hug my daughter, Julia Nan, for reading every draft and offering her remarkably astute advice. I’m grateful to my parents, Julia Martha Barton Brindley and Hanes Brindley, for teaching me to ask questions and appreciate the nuance of words. I thank my surviving brothers, Hanes Jr., Glen and George Brindley, for being keepers of our family stories and for allowing me as a child to tag along. We, each in our own way, thank our lightening-rod brother, Paul, for jolting us into awareness.
Thank you to the editors of the following journals, where excerpts originally appeared: Columbia: A Magazine of Poetry & Prose, Quarterly West, Voices de la Luna, and VíAztlan: A Journal of Arts and Letters. Excerpts appearing in Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers and Artists, New Growth 2, Poets of The Lake, and Writers at The Lake are published with the permission of Trinity University Press, Corona Publishing, and Our Lady of the Lake University.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NAN CUBA is founder and executive director emeritus of Gemini Ink, a nonprofit literary center. She received a Fundación Valparaiso Residency Grant in Mojácar, Spain and is currently an associate professor of English at Our Lady of the Lake University. As an investigative journalist, she reported on the causes of extraordinary violence in publications such as LIFE, Third Coast, and D Magazine. Her creative work has appeared in Quarterly West,Columbia: A Magazine of Poetry & Prose, Harvard Review, storySouth, and Connotation Press, among others. She is coeditor of Art at Our Doorstep: San Antonio Writers & Artists (Trinity University Press).
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
BOOK CLLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
