Anaya, trailblazer of Chicano literature, dead at 82

Rudolfo Anaya, a writer who helped launch the 1970s Chicano Literature Movement with his novel “Bless Me, Ultima,” a book celebrated by Latinos, has died at 82.

Anaya’s niece, Belinda Henry, said the celebrated author died June 28 at his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home after suffering from a long illness.

Literary critics say Anaya’s World War II-era novel about a young Mexican American boy’s relationship with an older curandera, or healer, influenced a generation of Latino writers because of its imagery and cultural references that were rare at the time of its 1972 publication.

In a 2013 interview on C-SPAN, Anaya said the idea for the novel came after he had a vision of a woman at the doorway of a room where he was writing.

“She said, ‘You’ll never get it right unless you put me in it,’ ” Anaya said. “I said, ‘Who are you?’ She said, ‘Ultima’ … and there it was.”

The book’s release coincided with the growth of the militant Chicano movement that stressed cultural pride over assimilation. It also came as Mexican American college students were demanding more literature by Latino authors.

From activist circles to community centers, the novel was shared along with Tomas Rivera’s novel “… and the Earth Did Not Devour Him” and later the poetry of Lorna Dee Cervantes.

“I was completely transported the first time I picked up ‘Bless Me, Ultima,’ ” said novelist and poet Rigoberto Gonzalez, who was mentored by Anaya. “He was somehow able to capture the backdrop of our community and make us proud.”

Anaya would go on to write several novels. He used his fame to start a creative writing program at the University of New Mexico and opened a retreat in Jemez Spring, New Mexico, for aspiring Latino writers.

In September 2016, Anaya was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.

Rudolfo Anaya