Site Map Amador Home Page
Dedicated to Peace & Equality — Southwest Independent Publisher est. 1986

AMADOR NEWS

December 2022, Salute to a Hero

Gilbert John author of Unbroken Spirit: my life before and after quadriplegia, has died at the age of 65. He had lived with quadriplegia since sustaining a spinal cord injury at the age of 17. Prior to that, Gilbert excelled as an athlete, artist, and manager of the family silversmithing business. In the years since, Gilbert continued to prove himself as a leader, learner, and creative artist. continue reading

"It is my understanding that a mind is the only element needed to do almost anything." —Gilbert John, from Unbroken Spirit

Author Appearances

Poet W.C. Aldridge talks with Kudabo Victory on Victory's Christian Author's Podcast.
Now Available on YouTube

....old books, new books, fantasy & true books....
Our local retail partner is Treasure House Books & Gifts
Amador Books on sale in Old Town Treasure House Books & Gifts has graciously provided space for an ongoing Amador Publishers display. If you are sightseeing in Albuquerque's delightful Old Town or visiting one of the nearby museums, make sure to drop in. You will not find lower prices on our overstock, even at this website. Treasure House has specials on our latest titles as well.

The store is located on the south side of Old Town Plaza across from the gazebo:
Treasure House Books & Gifts
2012 S Plaza St NW, Old Town, Albuquerque
(505) 242-7204
bookshop.org/shop/treasurehousebooks.

Congratulations to our 2022 Eric Hoffer Award Finalists!
Press Release 5/10/22
My Soul's Journey book cover
 
W.C. Aldridge for Poetry
2022 Finalists
Castle Lark cover
 
Claiborne O'Connor for Cover
2022 Finalists
Amador Books Awards & Honors List

Amador Publishers supports diversity — by being diverse!

Press Releases: 8/18/21 11/28/21

My Soul's Journey book cover

Worldwind Books Poetry Series

Here at Amador Publishers we celebrate Black History and Heritage all year long, because the history and culture of African Americans and American history and culture are one and the same. Poetry in W.C. Aldridge's new collection My Soul's Journey explores this premise, as her flair for honest reflection takes readers into her world with unapologetic transparency.

My Soul's Journey, collected poems by W.C. Aldridge
Release Date: August 25, 2021
Available Now!

Amador Publishers supports diversity — by being diverse!

Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

Unbroken Spirit
 book cover

Read Excerpts

Unbroken Spirit
My Life Before and After Quadriplegia
by Gilbert John

Between the ancient ways of the Dine' and boarding school rules, Gilbert John's youth straddled two cultures. When a tragic accident at age 17 thrusts him firmly into the white man's world, he continues his education and becomes a powerful advocate and role model for people with disabilities on and off the Navajo reservation. And despite taboos against such a project, he writes his autobiography.

Book of the Week! Albuquerque Sunday Journal 8/22/21

New E-book Release August 18, 2020
Undercurrents
New Mexico Stories Then and Now
by Adela Amador

Start reading for free at Smashwords:
Undercurrents at Smashwords

Available for pre-order now at these vendors:
Nook   Kobo   Apple Books

Here is a list of All Amador Ebooks with links.

Undercurrents e-book cover

Press Release 8/1/20

Message from the Editor (Updated August 6, 2020)
AMADOR IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Buy online and still support your local bookstore: bookshop.org/shop/treasurehousebooks
What a great alternative to Amazon!
The link above goes directly to the page for our beloved Treasure House Books & Gifts in Old Town, or search bookshop.org for a bookstore near you.

Visit the Treasure House Books & Gifts Website to buy directly from the store. They have autographed copies of many titles, plus exclusive Amador Specials. Phone in your order, or make an appointment to browse.

NEW!
The Ten Years
 book cover

www.esmarelda.com
Art and artifacts from across the Spiral.

The Ten Years: Double or Nothing
by Zelda Leah Gatuskin

Spiral Map of Time Trilogy Book 3

Here is the passionate, mind-blowing, music-and-dance-filled resolution to the time-crossed romance of time-traveling Gypsy dancer Esmarelda and intrepid Celtic fiddler George Drumm.

The Ten Years $24.95

The Two Magicians Book 2
The Time Dancer Book 1

New 2nd Printing Now Available!
Remember satire?

The Carlos Chadwick Mystery
a novel of college life and political terror
by Gene H. Bell-Villada

$24.00

The Carlos Chadwick Mystery
 book cover

Press Release 2/17/20

Finalist WINNER!  New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards 2017
Digital Face book cover DIGITAL FACE: stories
by Zelda Leah Gatuskin

in print and ebook
"Fantasy and reality blur in this science fiction collection, full of eerie, otherworldly moments." Foreword Reviews

All E-Editions   iBooks   Nook   Kobo

30 Years in Publishing
2016 marked Amador Publishers' 30th Anniversary.
Press Release 6/18/16
This independent press is sustained by your book purchases... hint, hint...
Browse Catalog / Order Online
Print & Mail Order Form
Complete Ebook Order Info

read The Future of Amador Publishers

Remembering Eva Krutein

   Eva Krutein, acclaimed musician and author, a WWII survivor and tireless champion for international understanding, died on May 6, 2016 at the age of 95. A private memorial was held for family and friends on July 16 in Laguna Woods, California.
   Eva and her husband Manfred (1917-2002) were avid members of the SERVAS organization, traveling the world and hosting international guests in order to learn about others and better understand their circumstances. The Kruteins had seen more corners of the planet than most, under dire conditions; but surviving WWII and providing for a growing family through two emigrations never dampened their enthusiasm for new adventures and new friends. A visit to New Mexico hosted by fellow SERVAS members, Amador Publishers founders Harry Willson and Adela Amador Willson, brought together the four peace activists in warm friendship and a long-running literary collaboration. The press published four Krutein titles. continue reading

Did you know...
  • Amador Publishers was founded in 1986 by Harry Willson and Adela Amador after a New York literary agent, in refusing to rep Harry's book, told him: "This is fresh and new and heartfelt, and the world needs it, and I'm not going to do it." (That book was A World for the Meek)
  • In 1989 Harry and Adela accepted my first novel for publication (The Time Dancer came out in 1991), and I was effectively apprenticed to them ever after.
  • In 2006 we formed Amador Publishers, LLC and I became a partner and managing editor of the press.
  • I took over the press in 2010 when Harry became very ill; both he and Adela are gone now, but their legacy lives on.
  • 4 out of the 4 titles we published between 2010 and 2013 were finalists in the NM-AZ Book Awards and 3 of them are First Place Winners. (I think our 2014 titles are going to make a good showing as well.)
  • Amador Publishers is completely independent; we have never been a subsidiary or imprint of any other press and we plan to keep it that way; our website is ad-free. Your book and ebook purchases keep us going. We also offer a variety of publishing options, editorial and book design services, and manuscript review.
    Zelda Gatuskin, Editor in Chief

Sunday, October 19, 2014, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice
AMADOR PUBLISHERS BOOK BASH
Books — Music — Refreshments — Poetry — and You!
CELEBRATING NEW TITLES FOR 2014:

ANOTHER SPRING
collected poems

by Robin Matthews
and
"THE HOLINESS OF THE REAL"
The Short Verse of Kenneth Rexroth

by Donald Gutierrez

Many thanks to those who came!   Photos   Poetic Tribute

In Memoriam: Michelle Miller Allen

Michelle Miller Allen died of complications from surgery on April 18, 2014 in Dunipace, Scotland, where she had made her home since 2005. She was 64. While she was known to her friends in New Mexico as a creative artist, author and editor, in Scotland she became an environmental campaigner who helped lead a revival of the River Carron. "She was described as a tireless community champion who loved the footpaths and green spaces in and around Denny and Falkirk, and worked hard to improve them for the benefit of all" (The Falkirk Herald, May 4 2014). Naturally she applied her literary skills to the task, editing the New Leaf News for the Community Green Initiative, the organization she helped to found.

Michelle was a self-described "army brat." Born in North Carolina, she traveled extensively in her childhood. She attended school in New Orleans, and eventually settled in New Mexico, where she worked as a paralegal while earning a Masters degree in Theater from UNM. Her poetry, short fiction and articles appeared in various literary and arts magazines in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and online. Her plays were produced at venues throughout New Mexico, and her book of fiction, Hunger in the First Person Singular (Amador Publishers, 1992), won the New Mexico Press Women's Best Book Zia Award. Miller Allen was the mastermind and lead editor of Amador's anthology, Christmas Blues, Behind the Holiday Mask (1995). Her novel Journey from the Keep of Bones, was awarded First Runner Up for Best Visionary Fiction, 2003 by the National Coalition of Visionary Resources. In 2007, she published the posthumous memoir of Elizabeth McBride, Last of the Nice Girls. She was in the process of completing two mystery novels.

Michelle had made her home in Jemez Springs for a number of years. She moved to Scotland following the death of her husband, Rick Allen, but continued to operate her production company, Green Phoenix Productions, an effort dedicated to "encourag[ing] creative people to keep creating in order to counteract the destructive forces on the planet."

Wherever Michelle landed, she brought people together, energized and inspired. She has left her mark on the hearts on many on both sides of the Atlantic. At the Amador Book Bash on October 19, 2014, Zelda Leah Gatuskin, now editor in chief of Amador Publishers, will offer a tribute to her friend and "literary big sister," who helped to establish a national and international reputation for our homegrown press.

Michelle's Author Page

TWO AMADOR TITLES ARE FINALISTS WINNERS!
IN THE 2013 NM-AZ BOOK AWARDS

press release

FROM FEAR TO LOVE by Harry Willson

FEELING THE UNTHINKABLE by Donald Gutierrez

Winners announced November 15, 2013. NM-AZ Book Awards

Now Available from Amador Publishers
Walking The Four Directions
Native Spirit in Poetry, Photography and Commentary
Circumference of Forever
Poetry in the Sufi Tradition

We are pleased to be able to assist the authors and publishers in distributing these titles.

In Memoriam: Donald Kenneth Gutierrez

Amador Publishers author Donald Gutierrez died on October 29, 2013 at the age of 81. Born March 10, 1932, in Oakland, Calif., to Alicia Ruiz Chamorro and J. Salvador Gutierrez, he lived most of his young life in San Francisco and the Bay Area. He received his B.A. in English Literature and M.L.S. at UC Berkeley in 1958. While there he met and soon married artist Marlene Zander. After a stint on the East Coast, where Don applied his librarian skills at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Library and later with Grosset and Dunlap publishers, the couple returned to California. Don earned his PhD from UCLA in 1964 and soon accepted a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The family, which by then also included two sons, moved to New Mexico for Don's new assignment as professor of English Literature at Western New Mexico University. Despite the demanding teaching loads, Don persevered in his creative drives, sustaining a brilliant career as a poet, literary critic, and essayist. After retiring to Albuquerque, he also emerged as a deeply committed champion of humanitarian causes and social justice, evidenced in his vast contributions in books, essays, articles, book reviews, papers translated into Spanish, lectures, public readings, and participation in many public protests. Don ultimately wrote seven books. The most recent, Feeling the Unthinkable: Essays on Social Justice, won the Political book category in the New Mexico-Arizona 2013 Book Awards. Don was an inspiring and compassionate man who will be sorely missed by his family and his many friends and colleagues, but his rich legacy endures. (with thanks to Lolita Gutierrez Brockington)

FEELING THE UNTHINKABLE and Donald Gutierrez Online
Video from KRWG
Don Gutierrez discusses his book.

Chapter 28 - "When Were You Last in Mexico?" Ethnic Identity and a 1950s Bus Trip Through the South posted at Somos en escrito The Latino literary online magazine, with thanks to Armando Rendón

PROJECT AZORIAN
February 12, 2010: CIA Declassifies History of the Glomar Explorer
Interested in a first-hand account of Project Azorian? We have it! The story of how naval engineer Manfred Krutein assisted the CIA in raising a sunken Soviet submarine from the ocean floor, including orchestrating the "Glomar Explorer" ocean mining cover story for this secret project is told with breathtaking immediacy in his diary entries, which are interspersed with wife Eva's chronicle in AMERIKA? AMERICA! From Immigration to Espionage by Eva and Manfred Krutein. (This memoir was vetted by the CIA.)

In Memoriam: Harry Willson
Press Release

March 10, 2010: It is with deep sorrow that I report the death of Amador Publishers founder Harry Willson at the age of 77. We will miss his wit, wisdom, generosity and unbounded love. He was my dear friend and mentor for more than twenty years. I can still hear him saying, "You're doing it, kiddo," by way of encouragement whenever I felt I had bitten off more than I could chew. He will be with me always in spirit, and with us all through his copious writings. I know I speak for all of Harry's friends, readers and admirers in sending deepest sympathies to Adela, Mary, Andy, Mark and the rest of Harry's family. The greatest honor we can do Harry is to read his words, mix 'em up with a little of our own grey matter, and let ourselves grow in our capacities to think, understand and love. Harry's writing meant the world to him, and it was his gift to the world. He has left a good deal of literary work behind, much of it unpublished, most of it as timely as the day it was written. Harry is gone but still giving. I will continue to publish an essay each month. Here is Harry's Essay for March. with a heavy heart, Zelda

Obituary
Harry Willson, 77, a resident of New Mexico since 1958, passed away March 9, 2010. He is survived by his beloved wife of 40 years, Adela Amador; a daughter, Mary Osgood and her husband, Bob; son, Andy and son, Mark and his wife, Margot Richardson; step-son, Orlando and step-son, Armando and his partner, Cammy Kinstedt; two sisters, Ann Willson Amidon and Susan Willson Harr and their families; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many dear, dear friends. The family would like to extend their thanks to the loving staff members at Lovelace Rehabilitation Hospital, Canyon Transitional Rehabilitation Center and Hospice of the Sandias for all your efforts to make Harry's last days as joy-filled and comfortable as possible. An Open House celebrating Harry's life was held at La Fonda del Bosque Restaurant at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Sunday, March 21st. The family asks that all tributes be in the form of donations to the Humanist Society of New Mexico.

Tributes from Harry's Readers
(and how to contribute your own)

Page Top How to Order Amador Home Page
Website design and content copyright © 2013- Amador Publishers, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Material copyrighted to others used with permission, not transferable.