“Dos Gringos” heads for El Paso (Uno Gringo, anyway,)

This week I will be in El Paso, Texas, my home town, to speak and sell and sign books at a number of places as part of the centenary of the Mexican Revolution there.  Talks are scheduled for the El Paso Museum of History, Barnes & Noble, and the Central Library. I hear all this is well advertised so I expect reasonably good audiences. I will be talking about the story behind my book, “Dos Gringos,” and about my father and grandfather’s part in all of that. I look forward to this as I have myself learned from giving the talks. I realize how much is into the story that comes from within. Underneath my father’s actual story, are known historical stories and some implied intuitive behavior. I am sometimes surprised at what is there, having come out from under the blankets of the past.

I will also be meeting old friends and making new ones. Coming “back home” after 50 years is a real experience. On my first trip back there three years ago I found so much had changed and so much was the same. This will be especially so in El Paso this time, rated the 2^nd safest city in America, and across the Rio Grande is Juarez, Mexico,  the most dangerous city in North America due to the drug cartels and the murders. So discussing the revolution of a hundred years ago within the present bloody atmosphere across the border will be interesting. I will have something for this space on that when I come back for sure.

Buy a copy of “Dos Gringos”  here.

Hooray for El Paso

 This summer, El Paso, Texas was named a 2010 All-America City.  The All-America City Award, given to ten communities each year by the National Civic League, is considered the “Nobel Prize” of city awards. El Paso is my hometown and the beginning and ending settings of my historical novel, “Dos Gringos,” set during the Mexican Revolution.

You wouldn’t guess that with Juarez, Mexico, a city of 1.7 million, and one of the deadliest cities in the world, that El Paso across the Rio Grande is the 2nd safest city in the United States for cities over 500,000 in population. (Honolulu is first safest.)

The violence in Juarez has been ongoing for nearly three years, with killings averaging between 200 and 300 a month, while crime in the City of El Paso continues to decrease. The 2nd safest city ranking is based on Uniformed Crime Report data compiled by CQ express numbers from 2008. El Paso’s 2009 numbers were lower than 2008, and 2010 numbers are currently lower than 2009. El Paso is a safe city, full of life and culture.

Buy a copy of “Dos Gringos”  here.

About Leadership

There is so much talk and teaching about “management” in these changing times. However, there is a difference between “management” and “leadership.” My own world experience has taught me that under good leadership, a good team manages to get the job done. Yesterday I visited the Milken Institute to hear a talk entitled “Defining Great Leadership” by Warren Bennis and Joel Kurtzman, both experienced and celebrated writers and speakers on this subject. It was a full house.

Bennis, in describing the start of his life-study of leadership related his experience during World War II as a fresh Lieutenant in a combat hardened infantry unit in France. His discussion rang a bell with me as that was so similar to my first leadership experience. In Korea in 1955 I was transferred from a non-combat assignment to a tank regiment on the front lines. Bennis and Kurtzman stressed one is only a leader when there are loyal followers and they both agreed the Army was the best training ground for this. When I was placed as a tank platoon leader, it was the “loyal followers” who trained me to be a leader. The sergeants, all veterans of chasing Rommel across Africa and Italy, showed me how to be part of the team, and lead.

Today, those companies with outstanding and responsible leadership, with the professional and social skills needed to inspire and harness creativity in the high-tech world, will be our heroes of this century.

Bennis’ book Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership and Kurtzman’s Common Purpose: How Great Leaders Get Organizations to Achieve the Extraordinary are available from Amazon and book stores.

Buy here  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”

Getting the Microstory of the Mexican Revolution

 I have been asked to join a panel discussion on October 30 at The El Paso Central Library, part of their celebration of the Mexican Revolution centenary. The host of the discussion will be David Dorado Romo and that is what this post is about. He is a very interesting man, author of “Ringside Seat to a Revolution: An Underground Cultural History of El Paso and Juarez, 1893-1923.”

The fascinating thing to me is Romo’s approach to uncover the underside of the Revolution, the characters who made a difference, but seldom make it into the history books. That is what I like to do and what my book, “Dos Gringos” does in its own way. And Rome focuses on El Paso, my hometown, and its critical role in the happenings in Mexico. I very much look forward to the meeting and the panel discussion.

 For more on the book and the author see http://www.sergiotroncoso.com/essays/eptimes/05-1113/index.htm and a youtube NPR interview  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGm61qvnAI0

Buy a copy of “Dos Gringos”  here.

Russian Corruption of Olympic Proportions

  The allegations of extreme corruption in the Russian 2014 Sochi Olympics have got everyone talking, but so far we hear of no corrective action being taken. The media is full of it. The Moscow Times, The Christian Science Monitor and the Novaya Gazeta have covered it well. This speaks of incredibly negative public relations for Russia amidst the world community.

Of course, corruption in the Olympies is not new. But after the efficient and relatively clean Olympics in Vancouver, the mishandling of such a visible international affair as the Winter Olympics forecasts a great loss of prestige for a nation trying to establish itself in as a world leader. As the Christian Science Monitor reported, the Transparency International’s annual corruption perceptions index currently ranks Russia No. 146 out of 180 countries, down from No. 82 a decade ago. A financially corrupt Sochi games will simply highlight that national sickness. And it colors the entire reputation of this honorable historic event. Not much is expected from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s publicized investigation into the affair.

Why would a country’s leadership allow or support such a demeaning thing to happen? The answers may be deep and hard to heal. To some, civil and moral disobedience is not the issue. Getting caught is the offense to avoid. We won’t know the fallout of this for some time. Heads may roll, but pockets will be filled. But, as the Russians often say, “Let’s hope for the best.”

The “Russian Soul” and Russian Business—a connection?

 I was asked by the respected Russia Profile magazine to consider if there is a connection between the legendary “Russian soul” and the chaotic world of Russian business today. My answer was absolutely yes!

My resulting article, “The Piety of Soil and Spirit” is featured in the summer special edition of Russia Profile, the most respected English language magazine published in Russia and offering the most comprehensive and concise view of business, economic, political and cultural trends and processes underway in today’s Russia. See http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=About  and on that page in the left “Special Edition” column click on “The Piety of Soil and Spirit.”—that’s my article. There are more articles, really good ones, on this or similar subjects.

I learned soon after coming to Russia to start a business back in 1992, that business in Russia is like business anywhere else—but different. I call it “the third side of the Russian coin.”  In the RP article I write that “Soul” is important to a Russian. It explains the unexplainable. It is that conscious or unconscious essence that makes a people identify who they are. For the Russian, it is the “sense” of being Russian, a deep piety of soil and spirit.

There is too much to say on this topic for a short post, but if you go to the Russia Profile website you will see all the articles on “the Russian Soul” and it is very good reading.  And of course, read my book “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia” for a “from the trenches” account of my many years in that fascinating and challenging land.

Buy the book here  “Walking on Ice, An American Businessman in Russia”

German Texans in the “Dos Gringos” Story

Beautiful Pauline in El Paso, Texas, is the love interest of Arthur, the immigrant Norwegian mechanical expert who in “Dos Gringos” risks his life to raise a few dollars to buy a wedding ring. He volunteers, with his Irish partner, in the midst of The Mexican Revolution, to fix a gold mine in that warring country. Pauline comes from a German Texas family.

The history of the German immigration into Texas is a fascinating story. They came during the mid 19^th century for various reasons, mainly to escape the wars between Germany and France, and to find a new life. They settled mainly as farmers and small businessmen in their settlements, mainly around San Antonio and Austin, which have later produced some notable leaders, like Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, of Fredericksburg, who led the U.S. Navy in the Pacific in World War II.  New Braunfels, Schulenburg,  Boerne, are a few of the many other German Texas towns.

The immigrants were of all faiths, but mainly Catholics and Lutherans. But there were also Jews and these German Texas Jews and their major El Paso hardware store figure largely in the “Dos Gringos” story.  

The Pauline Müller character is based on my mother who came from a line of Germans, originally from Alsace and the Rhine Valley, ranging back to the 1600s. Family names included Keller, Fest, Curlin, Bihl, and others.  In reading “Dos Gringos” you learn a little European/American immigration history, too.

Enjoy.

Buy a copy of “Dos Gringos”  here.

Would you like to have a personal reading? About “Dos Gringos?”

Last week I had my first “reading” of “Dos Gringos” for a living room full of intelligent people who had been told I had something to talk about. They apparently were not disappointed, but also I enjoyed the opportunity to share and to explain the thinking behind the story. For the reading from “Dos Gringos” I chose portions that underlined the vast differences between the main characters. I started by summarizing the chaotic world of 1916 beyond the Mexican Revolution.

 It would be hard to get two immigrants more unlike that of a Norwegian and an Irishman. So I underlined how those differences were overcome by the unfolding and threatening events. Then I mentioned Carlos, the Mexican boy who so identified with the ideals of the revolution and the developed bond between the boy and the Irishman. I also gave background on the under-story of the German attempts to keep America distracted and out of the war by selling guns to both sides in the Mexican war.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it and they bought many books, which I signed. The evening was enjoyable with yummy deserts and hot Mexican chocolate and good conversation. There were about thirty-five people there. I would be happy to do reading and book signings in other venues. The most convenient of course would be Southern California where I live.

Buy a copy of “Dos Gringos”  here.

Thrilling response~”Dos Gringos”

Not only is it a thrill to hold the book, my father’s tale, in my hand. But even more exciting, in a different way perhaps, is to see others laugh, smile, and read the first few pages of the book and come out with great comments. I took a few books to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books today.  I met old and new friends; authors, publishers, editors, and just friends. They look at the cover and the smile starts. they read the back cover and laugh at “A Norwegian and an Irishman meet in a Texas bar…”  Their expression gets serious as they read the first page or two, and then hand it back and say. “Hey, this is good, really good. I can’t wait to get a copy and read the whole thing.” Speaking engagements, book signings, etc., are starting to get scheduled.

Buy the book here.

The Next Book– “A Norwegian and an Irishman meet in a Texas bar…”

Based on a true story from The Mexican Revolution

In the middle of The Mexican Revolution, a penniless Norwegian and a drifting Irishman meet in an El Paso bar and are hired by a Pittsburg con-man to fix a gold mine in Mexico with parts which, they discover too late, purposely don’t fit. 

Arthur, the Norwegian, is focused on fixing the mine and needs the money to propose to his love in El Paso. Michael, the Irishman, is focused on the local women, is fresh from Ireland’s bloody Easter Uprising, and needs to redeem a painful guilt and find a new life.  They both are at gunpoint to perform or not perform. Their mutual distrust fades in the face of guns from the warring sides and they must work together to survive and escape back to Texas. 

 Complicating their mission is a mysterious black-suited man selling guns to both sides in the Mexican war, part of Germany’s intrigue to keep America out of World War I—and a German and Brit are there to spy on each other.  

I am so happy to be finally seeing this book “Dos Gringos” into print and will be on the market in May—for Cinco de Mayo. It really is my first story, told me by my septuagenarian father in a Phoenix Mexican restaurant, about his escapades in The Mexican Revolution. It was developed through a number of Hollywood screen-writing courses before I went to Russia for business in 1991 and where I wrote three other books, two yet to published. . Research for this story took me back to El Paso, Texas where I was born and reared. That alone was and is a fascinating experience.

 Coming soon!