Writers from San Antonio

Josefina_Niggli

Josefina Niggli (1910–1983; birth name was Josephine) was a Mexican-born Anglo-American playwright and novelist. Writing about Mexican-American issues in the middle years of the century, before the rise of the Chicano movement, she was the first and, for a time, the only Mexican American writing in English on Mexican themes; her egalitarian views of gender, race and ethnicity were progressive for their time and helped lay the groundwork for such later Chicana feminists as Gloria Anzaldúa, Ana Castillo and Sandra Cisneros. Niggli is now recognized as "a literary voice from the middle ground between Mexican and Anglo heritage." Critic Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez has written that Niggli should be considered on a par with such widely praised Spanish-language contemporaries as Mariano Azuela, Martín Luis Guzmán and Nellie Campobello. She is thought to be the only Mexican-American woman to have a theatre named after her, the Niggli Studio Theater at Western Carolina University.

Byrd_Baylor

Byrd Baylor Schweitzer (March 28, 1924 – June 16, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and author of picture books for children. Four of her books have achieved Caldecott Honor status.

Walter_H._Breen

Walter Henry Breen Jr. (September 5, 1928 – April 27, 1993) was an American numismatist, writer, and convicted child sex offender as well as the husband of author Marion Zimmer Bradley. He was known among coin collectors for writing Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins. "Breen numbers", from his encyclopedia, are widely used to attribute varieties of coins. He was also known for activity in the science fiction fan community and for his writings in defense of pederasty as a NAMbLA activist.

Mildred_Vorpahl_Baass

Mildred Vorpahl Baass (April 15, 1917 – November 4, 2012) was an American poet. She served as the Poet Laureate of Texas from 1993 to 1995.Baass was born in San Antonio, Texas, on April 15, 1917, to Alfred H. Vorpahl Sr. and Ida M. Keller Vorpahl. She was widowed during her first marriage when her husband, Lt. A. M. Hutchison Jr. of the United States Army Air Forces, was shot down and declared killed in action during World War II. She married her second husband, Judge Alfred C. Baass, on May 9, 1946. Baass had two daughters, Carol Sowa and Nancy Baass.A resident of Victoria, Texas, Mildred Vorpahl Baass died on November 4, 2012, at the age of 95.

John_Silber

John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again served as President (Ad Interim); and, from 2003 until his death, he held the title of President Emeritus.In 1990, he won the Democratic gubernatorial primary to become one of two major-party candidates for governor of Massachusetts in the general election of 1990. He lost that election to the Republican William Weld, who won by 38,000 votes.After receiving his PhD from Yale, Silber became professor of philosophy and served as dean of the University of Texas's College of Arts and Sciences (1967–70). He had a liberal reputation in his days at Texas, though at Boston University he was best known as a conservative spokesman in academia.