Featured Interview With Chris Edwards & Rene Sepulveda
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Rene Sepulveda was born and raised in Alamogordo New Mexico and Chris Edwards was born in Southern Illinois and raised in Tennessee. Together the two have partnered on a series of books focused around fitness, sports history and healthy life balance. Rene has
Their most recent endeavor is a book series, beginning with book 1 of a 3 part series. The book series is titled Coach Robert Sepulveda, An Alamogordo Tiger Tale of the Historical Crossroads of Football, Track & Field and Cross Country In Building New Mexico Pride. The book series begins with the Alamogordo, New Mexico athletic program in 1916 and progresses through today. Book 1 of 3 is available now and covers 1916 to 1976. Book 2 1977 to 1996 will be released on August 15th, 2020
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Chris began writing in 2018 but have wanted to for years. The collaboration with Rene began in 2020.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
We like a lot of the Ken Burns documentaries and Ron Chernow who writes historical biographies.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
For 2 years, Rene Sepulveda dedicated his life, by returning to Alamogordo, to remember his mother, who died too early, and to honor his dad and the history of Alamogordo sports. Rene took on the task to catalog the history. After spending countless hours with newspaper clippings, mounds of boxes of photos; he realized there is a historically significant story that should be told. He then reached out to his special friend, Chris Edwards, to assist in bringing the story to life.
Chris came to New Mexico also researched, interviewed almost 100 people and reviewed 1000s of photos and agreed the story was bigger than just Coach Bob and Alamogordo. What follows is a 3 volume series book 1 released now that covers interscholastic high school sports and the politics around it as well as records and more from 1916 to present day.
The book is a comprehensive history that tells the stories of the many personalities from 1916 to 1996 that influenced New Mexico interscholastic sports in Track and Field, Cross Country, High School Football and beyond. Coach Bob Sepulveda had the longest consecutive State Track & Field Winning streak in the 90s of any New Mexico Coach. The book highlights the records and the stories of hundreds of athletes. The book series takes on the tough issues of the launch of national high school interscholastic sports standards, integration in the 50’s and 60’s, Title IX implementation and girls interscholastic championships, the politics around high school football and more. The book series contains the records of 100s of high school athletes, rich in dialog and interviews with athletes, coaches and community members. It tracks the successes and failures of some great athletes & coaches. The central characters in the book are Coach Bob and Marilyn Sepulveda paired with a variety of characters that played a role in the program success of the Alamogordo New Mexico Track and Field, Cross Country & Football programs. While the story is focused on a small town in New Mexico; it is national in scope; as many associated coaches and athletes had a national or international influence in athletics, politics and world events with the common theme of all being touched by the Alamogordo Track & Field, Cross Country or Football programs, Coach Bob Sepulveda and his legacy.
His story is one of hope and inspiration as is the story of his many athletes. “Coach Bob Sepulveda is just a good, hard-working coach and a good responsible person who cared about the kids in his charge. That for anyone who’s paying attention, is all the message that’s necessary”, per a Commentary by Rich Wright Assistant Sports Editor, The Albuquerque Journal.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
Chris Edwards & Rene Sepulveda Facebook Page
Chris Edwards & Rene Sepulveda Twitter Account
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