Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is your full name?
A: My full name is Gregorio Cruz Pedroza Arcos. I was named Gregorio after my father. In the Mexican tradition the second name is the name of the Saint on whose feast day one is born hence, my middle name is Cruz because I was born on the day of the Holy Cross. Pedroza is my father's last name and Arcos is my mother's maiden name. Again, in our tradition we do not throw away any of our names for that is one way we honor our father and mother.

Q: Where did you learn your Spanish?
A: My four grandparents came from/through Mexico and settled in the San Antonio area in Texas. My grandfathers learned "field" English but my grandmothers never learned English. My parents improved their English as we the children learned English. I spoke predominantly Spanish until the seventh grade.

Q: Where did you study?
A: I graduated from Hondo High School then attained a BS degree in Chemistry at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. I did graduate work at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The assistant head of the chemistry department at Notre Dame became the head of the department at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia and I went with him and the grant money. I achieved my Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry in 1967.

Q: Are you married?
A: Yes. I married my high school sweetheart Lilly Elizondo. We have been married for forty years.

Q: Do you have any children?
A: We have been blessed with three beautiful children and eight wonderful grandchildren. Our oldest son is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School and is now a physician in San Antonio, Texas. Our second son is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and is a computer engineer for the IBM Corporation in Raleigh, North Carolina. Our daughter is a graduate of Elmira College and is a BSRN for the State University Hospital in Syracuse, New York.

Q: What brought you to New York State?
A: When I mustered out of the service, thirty years ago, I got a job with the IBM Corporation in Endicott New York. When I say New York people automatically think of New York City. No, we are five hours away west of the Catskill Mountains at the confluence of two great rivers. The area is semi-rural and it is beautiful.

Q: What branch of the service were you in?
A: At St. Mary's I was in the Army Artillery ROTC program. When I finished my graduate school I served two years in the Army during the Viet Nam war. I was fortunate in that I was assigned as a Captain to the Office of the Army Chief of Staff in the Pentagon for my entire time of duty. That is why I found myself in the Northeast.

Q: How long did you work for IBM?
A: I worked for IBM for twenty-five years. I was a manager for twenty-two years in Development, Quality and Manufacturing. Part of my responsibilities were to be a recruiter for engineers and a motivational speaker throughout the company. I also worked for IBM Mexico in Mexico City and in Guadalajara for three years.

Q: When and why did you retire?
A: Unfortunately I had a serious health setback twenty years ago. I continued to work despite my chronic pain for ten years but ten years ago I had to retire medically.

Q: What led you to become a storyteller?
A: I take no pain medication so part of my therapy and coping mechanism is to keep my mind occupied at all times. I really enjoyed my motivational speaking in which I used stories as anecdotal examples to bring home a point. I found that I liked writing the stories and that people liked my stories. So, six years ago I decided to dedicate more time to learning the art of storytelling.

Q: What kind of stories do you write?
A: I like creative non-fiction stories. I write them in a bilingual style blending Spanish and English. This allows me to share my cultural, ethnic and family experiences. I believe my stories not only entertain but they celebrate our diversity and draw strength from our differences.

Q: From what sources do you draw for your programs?
A: I design my programs for specific audiences. For children up to the fifth grade I have interactive stories, myths and legends and the children learn some Spanish words. For the middle school children I have a heritage program which makes them aware of our diversity and similarities. For high school students I either do stories from the Barrio program or a fun with alliteration program. In alliterative stories every word in the story begins with the same letter of the alphabet. I have a collection of over twenty of these stories. The programs for adults are my forte. I have a collection of stories from my Mexican-American culture and another collection from my work and visits in Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico. My survival/motivational stories are drawn from my experience as a cancer survivor and my coping with chronic pain.

Q: Where do you perform?
A: I perform in the Northeast for nine months and in the Southwest during the months of January, February and March. I like the diversity of venues and audiences, and I write the majority of the stories I tell. I have performed in schools at every level to include University level. I perform for libraries, churches, church retreats, museums, health support groups, prisons, senior citizens centers, parks and recreation departments, county health offices, corporate meetings, writers conferences and storytelling festivals. On the first Saturday of every month when I am in New York I am the featured storyteller at a coffeehouse.

• Harrisburg Area Community College, presented to students and community as well as teacher workshops.
• Tarrant County Community College, Arlington, Texas. Presented at three campuses to English/Drama/ Hispanic Studies classes.
• Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas. Invited to present at Writers Conference four years in a row. Presented to Folklore writing classes.
• Southwest Texas Community College, Uvalde, Texas. Presented multi-day program to students, teachers, librarians and the community at large. (Two consecutive years).
• Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. Presented to two hundred and fifty employees for employee development day.
• State University of New York at Binghamton, New York. Presented to student body.
• New Mexico University in Las Cruces Presented at the Neuman Center

Q: At what Festivals have you performed?
A: My most recent Festivals are

• Telebration Storytelling Celebration, Binghamton, NY, three years
• First Night Festival, Binghamton, NY, three years
• Hispanic Storytelling Conference, Austin, TX, two years
• Latino Festival, Burlington, VT
• Hispanic Festival, Syracuse, NY
• Tejas Storytelling Festival, Denton, TX
• Border Book Festival, Las Cruces, NM
• Tejas Storytelling Festival San Antonio Conference
• Three Rivers Storytelling Festival, Pittsburgh, PA
• LAUGHS Storytelling Fest, Sterling, VA

Q: Have you told your stories on radio or TV?
A: I present on the Story Hour on WDOS in Oneonta, NY as well as on a story program designed for home schooled children on WHRW at SUNY Binghamton in Binghamton, NY. I contributed in a minor way to a radio program at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio and I did two half-hour programs on the Catholic TV Network for the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the Boston TV market as well as a call-in program on "Living with pain" and a program on missionary work for the San Antonio market.

Q: In what States and Countries have you performed?
A: Thus far I have performed as a storyteller or motivational speaker in the following locations:

• Brunssum, The Netherlands
• Barcelona, Spain
• Lima, Peru
• Bogota, Colombia
• San Juan, Aguas Buenas, Caguas and Mayguez, Puerto Rico
• Santo Domingo, Republica Dominicana
• Mexico City, Guadalajara, Mexico
• New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Maryland, West Virginia, Illinois, Florida, California and Texas.
• I have engagements planned in New Mexico, Virginia and Nevada.

Q: Are you affiliated with any professional organizations?
A: I am affiliated with and hone my skills in the following organizations:

• National Storytelling Membership Association, Jonesborough, Tennessee
• Susquehanna Storytellers, Binghamton, NY
  Oneonta Storytelling Center, Oneonta, NY
• Salt City Storytellers, Syracuse, NY
• San Antonio Storytellers Association, San Antonio, TX
• Tejas Storytelling Association, Dallas, TX
• Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, Texas
• Southern Tier Writers Guild, Binghamton, NY
• Write Now Writers Group, Candor, NY
• BOCES Arts-in-education program, Binghamton, NY
• VASA Storytellers, VA
• Board of Directors for the Literacy Volunteers of America

Q: Are you published and have you produced any cassette tapes?
A: I self-published two "poetry" chapbooks titled My Glow Days Inspirational Reflections on Pain, Perseverance and Hope and We We? Oui! A Collection of love Poems. A collection of short stories called Stories from the Heart/Cuentos con todo Corazon" has just been published and is very well received by teachers. We established a publishing company called Firekeeper publications.

I have also produced five cassette tapes:

• Stories from the Heart/Cuentos con todo Corazon
• Celebrating as Hard as We Work
• Winsome Winona and Other Alliterative stories
• Capirotada: Stories from My Barrio.
• Loving and Healing/Amando y Sanando

My stories have been published in The Concho River Review a literary journal published by the Angelo State Department of English; The Forum a journal published by the Southern Tier Writers Guild; an Anthology compiled by Barnes & Noble Bookstore; and the Heart to Heart a church newsletter with a story a month.

Q: Do your books and tapes sell well?
A: I sell my material mainly at my performances and thank God they have sold very well. I put all my profits into a fund and for the last four years I have been able to give modest scholarships to deserving students in Texas. My goal is to give more and bigger scholarships from the proceeds now that we have organized as a non-profit organization.