The Harvest (Author Biography)

Author Biography

Tomás Rivera was born on December 22, 1935, in Crystal City, Texas, the son of Mexican immigrants, Florencio M. and Josefa (Hernandez) Rivera, who were migrant workers. Rivera accompanied his family in the migrant labor stream that traveled from Texas to many parts of the Midwest. During that time, Rivera lived and worked in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Dakota, but his parents also ensured that he had sufficient time to attend school. He graduated from Southwest Texas State College (now Southwest Texas State University), with a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1958. After graduating, he became a teacher of English and Spanish in the public schools of San Antonio, Crystal City, and League City, Texas, from 1957 to 1965.

Continuing his education, Rivera was awarded a masters degree in education from Southwest Texas State College in 1964. This degree made him eligible for college teaching, and in 1965 he became an instructor in English, French, and Spanish at Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde, until 1966. In 1968, he became an instructor in Spanish at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and the following year, he received a doctorate in romance languages and literature from the University of Oklahoma. He immediately became associate professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, a position he held until 1971, when he became professor of Spanish at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

In 1971, Rivera published the novel for which he is best known, ... y no se lo tragó la tierra / ...And the Earth Did Not Part. It had already been awarded the Premio Quinto Sol in 1970. Rivera was also a poet, and he published Always and Other Poems (1973), as well as nonfiction essays in scholarly journals on topics such as Chicano literature. Some of Rivera’s works were published posthumously. These include the short story “The Harvest” (1989) and The Searchers: Collected Poetry (1990).

Rivera became associate dean of the college of multidisciplinary studies at the University of Texas, San Antonio, and later vice president for administration. He then became executive vice-president at the University of Texas at El Paso before accepting the position of Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside, in 1979.

Rivera’s administrative abilities earned him recognition and honors. He was a member of the board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1976 and the Board of Foreign Scholarships (which directs and administers the Fulbright program). He was also a member of the board of the National Chicano Council on Higher Education. In 1980, he served on the presidential commission that reported on the nation’s educational problems.

Rivera married Conceptiόn Garza, on November 27,1958. The couple had three children: Ileana, Irasema, and Florencio Javier.

Rivera was working on a second novel, The People’s Mansion, when he died of a heart attack in Fontana, California, on May 16, 1984.