U of S Canada 150 Book Launch: A Hero for the Americas: The Legend of Gonzalo Guerrero

Canada 150 Events

Part of the U of S Canada 150 Book Series

The U of S Canada 150 Project is very pleased to host the launch of the book A Hero for the Americas: The Legend of Gonzalo Guerrero, by Robert Calder, U of S professor emeritus of English, published by University of Regina Press.

This book is the first comprehensive investigation of this controversial 16th-century figure who is today remembered all over the Yucatán as the symbolic father of millions of Mexican mestizos.

Everyone is welcome to attend. You can register online.

Introduction by U of S President Peter Stoicheff. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

About the author and the book: In 1989, U of S English professor Bob Calder won the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction for this book, a sequel to his 1972 work entitled W. Somerset Maugham and the Quest for Freedom. Calder was awarded the 2005 U of S Distinguished Researchers Award. 

A group of shipwrecked Spaniards washed onto the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1512, leading to first contact between the Spanish and the Maya. Two men survived the ordeal: Jerónimo de Aguilar, who became a translator for Hernán Cortés in his conquest of the Aztecs, and Gonzalo Guerrero, who, as legend has it, embraced the Mayan way of life and skillfully led the opposition to the Spanish take-over of the Yucatán.

Reviled in 16th-century Spain as an apostate and a traitor, Guerrero is today remembered all over the Yucatán with statues and images, and as the symbolic father of millions of Mexican mestizos. But like Robin Hood and King Arthur, Guerrero's story has become embellished by legend and myth. The product of 15 years of research by a Governor General's Award winner, A Hero for the Americas is the first comprehensive investigation of this controversial figure.

"The extraordinary tale of Gonzalo Guerrero, a Spaniard shipwrecked in Yucatan who went over to the Maya and helped them fight off his fellow conquistadors, has long cried out for a good retelling in English. In this lively and wellwritten book, Robert Calder steers deftly between history and myth, following the story through to its cultural implications today. A fascinating read.” Ronald Wright, author of Time Among the Maya and The Gold Eaters

Event Details

When:
Time:
04:30 PM - 06:00 PM
Location:
Convocation Hall, Peter MacKinnon Building