In the historical novel "Death Comes for the Archbishop," Willa Cather depicts Padre Antonio Jose Martinez as an unscrupulous, backward, rogue priest, and Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy as a civilizing, heroic, and monumental figure. Countering Cather's portrayal, de Aragon attempts to set the historical record straight.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong . . . but time and chance happenethto them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 With these words, the epitaph Padre Martinez chose for himself, the reader is drawn into a stirring and provocative biography recounted by a master storyteller. Fray Angelico Chavez, articulate and well-versed in New Mexicana, vividly records the life of the controversial Padre of Taos so that the reader gains full measure of his surroundings and of the times. Martinez was continually at the forefront of the public and political forums . . . a master of jurisprudence and canon law . . . a champion of the underdog. With the advent of Bishop Lamy, public attention became focused on these two dynamic personalities. Their philosophic differences ultimately led to Martinez' suspension and excommunication. Chavez was a curious and indefatigable researcher and he used these talents well while delving into the facts and legends surrounding Padre Martinez most poignant and colorful life-drama . . . a personality to be reckoned with, whether as hero or villain, or both. Readers will, at once, share with Chavez his absorption in this man and, also wonder . . . how such a phenomenon could have sprouted and bloomed under the most adverse circumstances of time and place.

In 1903 Pedro Sanchez published his "Memorias, or Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martinez." This rare book, written in Spanish, is hailed by historians and others as an important and unique contribution to the literary history of New Mexico and the American Southwest. Sanchez was a student of this famous folk hero priest and the book beautifully illustrates the respect and admiration the people held for Padre Martinez. The priest is shown as dedicated to the Church and the people who looked up to him as a champion of social justice, equal rights, the downtrodden and the oppressed. Pedro Sanchez himself, as a product of Padre Martinez's coeducational school in Taos, New Mexico, credits his mentor for his success in his career and life as did many of his other students. This Spanish and English edition features an introduction by Myra Ellen Jenkins, Ph.D., a former New Mexico state historian. Ray John de Aragón, a leading scholar on Padre Martinez and the authority on his life and work, translated the original Spanish text of the Sanchez book into English. De Aragón has a Masters in American Studies and has been a keynote speaker at public and historical conferences on Padre Martinez whom he has researched extensively. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is the author of "Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy," "The Legend of La Llorona," and "Brothers of the Light, The Penitentes of New Mexico," all from Sunstone Press.

Noted scholar, student of New Mexican culture, and teacher Father Tom Steele has tracked down all the existing manuscript sermons of Jean Baptiste Lamy (1814-88), the first bishop of Santa Fe and the model for the title character of Willa Cather's novel Death Comes for the Archbishop. Lamy has been the subject of devotion, rumor, and attack for over a hundred years. In this new book Steele selects important and characteristic sermons and uses them to decipher the real Lamy, public and private. This book builds on previous scholarly work about Lamy, including Paul Horgan's Lamy of Santa Fe, and presents new information and insight based on Lamy's own writings. A fully searchable CD-ROM (for both PC and MAC) of Lamy's complete sermons in English and Spanish is also available.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History (1976). The extraordinary biography of a pioneer hero of the frontier Southwest from the author of Great River. Originally published in 1975, this Pulitzer Prize for History–winning biography chronicles the life of Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy (1814–1888), New Mexico’s first resident bishop and the most influential, reform-minded Catholic official in the region during the late 1800s. Lamy’s accomplishments, including the endowing of hospitals, orphanages, and English-language schools and colleges, formed the foundation of modern-day Santa Fe and often brought him into conflict with corrupt local priests. His life story, also the subject of Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, describes a pivotal period in the American Southwest, as Spanish and Mexican rule gave way to much greater influence from the United States and Europe. Historian and consummate stylist Paul Horgan has given us a chronicle filled with hardy, often extraordinary adventure, and sustained by Lamy’s magnificent strength of character. “Lamy of Santa Fe stands as a beacon in American biography.” —James M. Day, author of Paul Horgan “Lamy of Santa Fe is a classic work. Not only is the research exemplary but so is the narrative artistry, the work of history as art.” —Robert Gish, author of Nueva Granada: Paul Horgan and the Modern Southwest “Historians, and general readers as well, seeking vivid portrayal of the Southwest’s political, social and cultural traditions will find [this book] rewarding . . . the historical and literary heritage of Americans in general will be the richer for Mr. Horgan’s painstaking effort.” —Southwestern Historical Quarterly