Hector M. Rodriguez
Author & Environmentalist
Hector M. Rodriguez has spent his life protecting and enhancing the Earth’s future, first as an Army terrain intelligence officer, then as an environmental warrior at some of America’s most sensitive energy facilities. As a young geologist in the 1980s, he pioneered groundbreaking policies to protect America’s groundwater from leaking storage tanks and spending decades shaping environmental policy and direction at the Department of Energy. This self-described “disruptive boomer” defies stereotypes – when he’s not working to save the planet and quell the use of plastics, he’s winning cooking awards, writing award winning books, playing guitar and mandolin, taking long distance bike trips, or leading young Scouts on life enhancing adventures.
Through his books and teaching, Rodriguez shares rare insights from his decades as both environmental insider and change agent. His vision weaves together ancient wisdom with modern sustainability, making him a powerful advocate for our planet’s future. Through his vibrant slant on speculative fiction he combines deep technical knowledge with an unwavering commitment to the next generation, he shows that the most effective environmental champions are those who can bridge the gap between progress and preservation. His books cover a mix of genre from a puzzle mystery, a gold rush murders story, and speculative philosophical stories of humanities earliest awareness. He is also to creator and author of the soon to be published “The Adventures of Bang and Clang” series about two rascally raccoons. Through their misphaps ad adventures the teach basic human values of truth, honesty, and respect.
Writing Journey – Reference – About the Author
His 2016 journey on the Camino de Santiago eventually lead him to a small-town senior center writing group, He discovered an unexpected treasure trove of stories spanning nearly 2,000 years of collective human experience, challenging his own demons about writing while preserving the raw, powerful voices of a generation telling their final tales of lives well lived.
The summer of 2016, proved transformative. The pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago with his teenage son awakened his long-suppressed desire to write down his story. Despite growing up under the shadow of his father’s discouragement. he sought guidance. He stumbled into a writing group at the Senior Center in Corvallis, Oregon, expecting simple feedback on his Camino memoir. Instead, he found himself the youngest member of an extraordinary literary sanctuary.
Over ten months, as an accidental chronicler, he became immersed in the rich tapestry of stories shared by remarkable writers lead by a Professor Emeritus whose life was a chronically of wild escapes across the globe. The eldest, a school teacher who never left the classroom util age 75, is now well int her 90’s and proffers her newly written stories weekly. She is as clear and focused as a crisp $100 bill. Their narratives span from deeply personal and historically profound tales of war and peace, love and loss, faith and doubt, grief and humor, all told with the unvarnished wisdom that only decades of life experience can provide.
From an octogenarian whose prose flows like a Mozart sonata, to s veteran recounting battlefield scars,, the members of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomer era offered an intimate window into the American experience that risked being lost to time. What began as a quest to tell his story evolved into a mission to preserve this chorus of voices – some elegant, some raw, all authentic. Together they weave a tapestry of nearly two millennia of collective human experience. Through their weekly meetings, offered a discovery in the craft of writing, and the profound importance and special opportunities of bearing witness to the final chapters being written by a generation whose stories might otherwise fade into silence.
Rodriguez’s meta-narrative of published books serves as both a personal redemption story and a vital act of cultural preservation, challenging readers to recognize the extraordinary stories living within ordinary lives, and the wisdom waiting to be shared in unexpected places like a small-town in Oregon.
