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 nuclear facilities. As a geologist in the 1980s, he pioneered groundbreaking policies to protect America’s groundwater from leaking storage tanks and spending decades shaping environmental policy at the Department of Energy. This self-described “disruptive boomer” defies stereotypes – when he’s not working to save the planet, he’s winning cooking awards, writing award winning books, playing guitar and mandolin, or leading Scout troops on 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. By combining 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 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” children’s book series.
Writing Journey – Reference – About the Author
When my journey on the Camino de Santiago lead me to a small-town senior center writing group, I discovered an unexpected treasure trove of stories spanning nearly 2,000 years of collective human experience, challenging my own demons about writing while preserving the raw, powerful voices of a generation telling their final tales.”
In the summer of 2016, a transformative pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago with my teenage son awakens my long-suppressed desire to write, despite growing up under the shadow of my father’s discouragement. Seeking guidance, I stumbled into a writing group at the Chintimini Senior Center in Corvallis, Oregon, expecting simple feedback on my Camino memoir. Instead, I found myself the youngest member of an extraordinary literary sanctuary.
Over ten months, as an accidental chronicler, I became immersed in the rich tapestry of stories shared by my fellow writers, aged up to 94 years old. Their narratives span from the deeply personal to the historically profound – tales of war and peace, love and loss, faith and doubt, all told with the unvarnished wisdom that only decades of life experience can provide. From a nonagenarian whose prose flows like Mozart to veterans recounting battlefield memories, these members of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomer era offered an intimate window into the American experience that risked being lost to time. What begins as my quest to tell my own story evolved into a mission to preserve this chorus of voices – some elegant, some raw, all authentic – that together weave a tapestry of nearly two millennia of collective human experience. Through their weekly meetings, I discovered not just the craft of writing, but the profound importance of bearing witness to these final chapters being written by a generation whose stories might otherwise fade into silence.
My meta-narrative 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 senior center in Oregon.
