Lorenzo and Don Clemente

by Annette N. Lasater

A children’s true story of the love and friendship between a young boy and an old man. Although neither spoke the other’s language, they shared their love and adventures together on the family’s ranch, Santa Cruz, in northern Mexico. They would go on wonderful horseback rides together to their favorite ponds to see the fish, trails to looks for animals and animal tracks and to find other treasures. When they found an animal or treasure, Lorenzo would tell Don Clemente the name in English and his friend would say the name in Spanish. They laughed and loved sharing time together.

When they returned to the cowboys’ camp house and unsaddled the horses, Don Clemente would make fresh hot flour tortillas for Lorenzo to take to his mother and sister. As they enjoyed the tortillas, Lorenzo would recount to them all the animals and treasures they saw.

Wonderfully detailed ink sketches by Ronald Thomason, a much-awarded artist and the 1974 Texas State Artist, bring the story to life.