About Poncho

If you're wondering where "Poncho" comes from, it's the standard Mexican nickname for Alfonso, which is my middle name. Some folks prefer to call me Félix. That works, too.

As for where the person came from, I was born in 1950 in Laredo, Texas, into a family with roots in Mexico, Spain, the Canary Islands, South Texas, Virginia, France and Germany. I lived in Laredo until leaving for the U.S. Army in September 1968. In the Army, I joined the paratroops and worked in operations and infantry, including 15 months in what was then South Vietnam.

A high school dropout, I got my G.E.D. in the Army and later went to Laredo Junior College, McClellan County Community College in Waco, and the University of Texas at Austin. I have a B.A. in anthropology and an M.A. and a lot of doctoral course work in anthropology (folklore) from U.T. Austin.

I have lived in Reading, Pennsylvania, since 1980, where I have been a metro reporter for the Reading Eagle since April 2007.

In what one could call a varied career, I have run social service and educational programs, taught high school science and college social studies and writing, worked as a freelance advertising copy writer and Spanish translator, and served as editor and writer for trade and University publications, for the Eagle and for a Spanish-language newspaper also published by the Reading Eagle Company.

On the side, I wrote some plays that, happily, were well-received by the public. I largely put my creative writing efforts on hold while I devoted myself to my family and a career in journalism.

For a time, I wrote opinion/lifestyle columns for the Reading Eagle and the Allentown Morning Call, some of which are included on this site. I’m proud to say that I had a faithful and enthusiastic readership for my columns. With this Web site I’m restarting my life as a columnist.