The heroic life of labor and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez greatly influenced the political and creative thinking of famed Chicano novelist Rudolfo Anaya. After Chavez' death in 1992, Anaya wrote this poem eulogizing the man and his life's work. Echoing Shelley's elegy on the death of John Keats, the poem expresses the grief of la gente, but closes by calling all peoples together to continue the non-violent struggle for freedom and justice. The book--endorsed by the Cesar Chavez Foundation--includes an essay by Anaya detailing the effect that Chavez had on his own vision and a chronology of Chavez' life. Powerful super realistic illustrations by Gaspar Enriquez bring home the significance of Cesar Chavez to the American cultural landscape.

"Cesar Chavez' accomplishments in fighting for the rights of farm workers, civil rights, environmental justice, and non-violence stand next to two of the 20th century's greatest leaders--Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."--Carlos Santana

Rudolfo Anaya (his classic novel Bless Me, Ultima has 1,000,000-plus in print) has earned international acclaim for his skillful mingling of realism, fantasy and myth while exploring the experiences of Hispanics in the American Southwest. Besides being the author of numerous novels and children's books, Mr. Anaya has been called "the godfather of Chicano literature" and "un hijo del pueblo" for his work as an activist for the literature of his people and his region. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Artist Gaspar Enriquez is nationally known for his super-realistic, airbrush paintings of young men and women from the barrios of his hometown El Paso. Using the same technique, he collaged images of Cesar Chavez, farm workers, police, newspaper article, fields of grapes and icons of La Raza and Aztlan to create the ambiance of the life and times of this hero.