Flores is editor, publisher
Growing up in an era in which stories were passed down orally between generations, Dr. Manuel Flores wanted to retell the stories he heard as a child and later passed down to his children from the Wild Horse Desert.
“In 2021, I am the story-teller. Generation-to-generation the stories are told and continue. New ones emerge as each year passes by and some have lasting power that become almost like heirlooms of our memories. They are ingrained in the circuits of our brains like a spring shower that wets the dry earth and becomes part of the soil that will bring life to vegetation and the world around us,” an excerpt from the forward of Cuentos Tejanos, Flores’ newly published book of essays, about the Wild Horse Desert of Texas reads.
Flores’ book took almost 12 years to complete. It includes multiple articles and essays from the book previously published in other newspapers, magazines and journals that Flores, and the invited authors, have written over the span of the last decade. Compiling the materials and putting them together in a book took about a year, with Flores being both the editor and publisher.
“I wanted to fashion it after a Mexican novella,” Flores said. “The stories are related but also have separate plots from each other. I thought that would be interesting to the readers to keep the reading flow going.”
Instead of having chapters throughout book, Flores decided to take a different and unique approach. Reminded by his childhood spent watching novellas, he decided to call each essay/article an episode. Cuentos Tejanos consist of 38 episodes, that can each stand alone.
American Tejano historian Ramiro “RJ” Molina was one of the many people to contribute to the creation of Cuentos Tejanos. Many of the articles and essays in the book were written and co-written by Molina.
After knowing Flores for years, it was no surprise he asked Molina to help with his book.
“I’ve known Manuel for as long as I can remember; he was my baseball coach as a kid,” Molina said. “I felt extremely honored when Dr. Flores asked if I’d like to publish some pieces of my writings in his book.”
Molina is a current board member for the Jim Hogg County Independent School District and is also a columnist for the Flour Bluff Sun and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, writing articles on Texas History.
Among the other invited authors for Cuentos Tejanos is Rosa Canales Pérez. After graduating from Texas A&I University, she began teaching in the Rio Grande Valley. After retirement, Pérez and her husband started the musical group, Rumbo al Anacua. She now writes poetry, music and articles in her spare time.
Pérez and Flores have been friends for many decades. Pérez submitted her essay on the University of Texas professor and renowned folklorist, Americo Paredes.
“Dr. Flores has always been a supporter of the [music] part of my life and I wanted to show him the same support,” Pérez said. “Of course, when he asked if I’d like to publish my Americo Paredes essay in Cuentos Tejanos, I said yes.”
After many years of collecting the essays from a variety of writers and hard work put into its creation, the publication of Cuentos Tejanos happened this past April.
The writings of this book contain some of the vast history of the Wild Horse Desert.
With the release of this book, Flores hopes to keep these stories alive for many more generations to come.