About John A. Flores

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John A. Flores was born in the small town, at that time, of Del Rio, Texas which rested alongside the Rio Grande River separating Texas from Mexico.  At a very early age, his family moved to Shafter, California in a settlement called “La Colonia”.  Here, they joined the thousands of migrant workers that had traveled west to escape the “Dust Bowl” of the Midwest.

From this home base, his migrant family joined other families in traveling throughout California, Oregon and Idaho picking all types of vegetables, tree fruit, grapes and cotton sweating under the hot sun of summer and freezing on the cold, foggy and rainy days of winter.

Being surrounded by all the migrant Hispanic families, it was only natural that his first language was Spanish that he learned to speak, read and write before going to school and leaning a new language…….English!

This migration of going from crop to crop lasted until the Author reached 12 years of age when his family bought 20 acres of land in Madera, California.  For the first time in his life, John attended only one school instead of attending many schools, as he did when his family moved throughout the different states. working the agricultural fields and orchards.  After graduating from Madera High School, John went on to receive Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees from Fresno City College, and a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from California State University, Fresno.

The Author’s introduction to Dichos began when he would sit with his father as he sat around a campfire with other migrant men discussing the day activities and other news of interest.  Many times, the men’s conversation consisted of short comments that would draw laughter and other short comments from others with the same result.  This was the Author’s introduction to Dichos.  The Author would write down the Dichos not knowing what they really meant and then when he was alone with his father, his father would explain the meaning behind those few words.  Voltaire once wrote, I don’t have the time to write you a short letter so I’m writing you a long one!”

This is the intent of a Dicho.  In the speaking of a few words, the person stating the Dichowould share a thought that could take paragraphs and maybe pages to fully explain the meaning of those few works.

The Author began accumulating Dichos at a very early age and when the word got out that he was collecting them, the other migrant workers working alongside his family began contributing to his collection.  They would write their Dichos on pieces of paper and even the inside the match books!  After several years, he had a box full of pieces of paper and other materials that were used to write down a Dicho   For whatever reason, he carted this box around throughout his teen and adult years until finally his friends begin to ask him when he was going to put them all together and print them into a book!  To these friends, he gives many thanks for their constant insistence and reminders as well as his immediate family in helping organize and print his first of three books.

The Author has been fortunate in being able to travel around the world and visiting over 63 countries of which several were Spanish-Speaking such as Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Belize, Panama and other Central America countries.  These travels have helped in his accumulating over 7,000 Dichos during his lifetime.

The Author with the help of his immediate family selected approximately 1,200 Dichos from his vast collection and has written 3 books with approximately 400 Spanish Dichos in each book with translation in English, along with many humorous graphics that will make the reader laugh and reminisce, especially if you were brought up in a Spanish-Speaking family.  If not, the reader will find not only the humor of the Dicho, but also the message the Dicho is conveying.

The Author has been a main speaker, sharing his humorous graphic presentations to numerous educators and parents attending educational sponsored conferences in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley and Texas Rio Grande Valley, as well as businesses.  To this day, he continues to provide presentations to parents at various schools motivating and encouraging them to “give their children” an education so that they can have a better life in their future, through the use of his Dichos and humorous graphics.  The Author also has developed a coloring book with 20 of the most common Dichos for children to color as well as an 18” x 27” poster with 5 colorful Dichos that can be placed on a classroom wall for students to see on a daily basis.