Tom Miller has been writing about Latin America and the American Southwest for more than thirty years, bringing us extraordinary stories of ordinary people. His most recent title is HOW I LEARNED ENGLISH, with contributions from some 55 accomplished Latinos whose first language was Spanish and whose second (or third or fourth) language is English. The book (also published in Spanish as Como aprendí inglés) includes pieces by Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal, television host Cristina, Congressman José Serrano, and musician Paquito D’Rivera, as well as authors Elena Poniatowska, Ariel Dorfman, and Rubén Martínez. Ray Suarez of PBS has written the book’s Foreword, and Frank McCourt its Afterword.
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Miller’s highly acclaimed adventure books include The Panama Hat Trail about South America, On the Border, an account of his travels along the U.S.-Mexico frontier, Trading With the Enemy, which takes readers on his journeys through Cuba, and, about the American Southwest, Jack Ruby’s Kitchen Sink, which won the Lowell Thomas Award for Best Travel Book in 2001. Additionally, he has edited two compilations, Travelers’ Tales Cuba, and Writing on the Edge: A Borderlands Reader.

BIO

Miller, a veteran of the underground press of the 1960s, has appeared in Smithsonian, The New Yorker, LIFE, The New York Times, Natural History, and many other publications. He wrote the introduction to Best Travel Writing – 2005, and has led educational tours through Cuba for the National Geographic Society and other organizations. His collection of some eighty versions of “La Bamba” led to his Rhino Records release, “The Best of La Bamba.” His book On the Border has been optioned by Productvision for a theatrical film.

Miller was born and raised in Washington, D.C., attended college in Ohio, and since 1969 has lived in Arizona 65 miles north of the Mexican border. He has appeared on NBC, NPR, CNN, HBO, XM, and CSPAN, among other broadcast outlets, and was a major contributor to the four-volume Encyclopedia Latina.

Well-traveled through the Americas, Miller has taught writing workshops in four countries and his books have been published in Europe and Latin America as well as the United States. In recognition of his work the University of Arizona Library has acquired Miller’s archives and mounted a major exhibit of the author’s papers. He has been affiliated with that school’s Latin American Area Center since 1990, and makes his home in Tucson with his wife Regla Albarrán.