About the Book
Fourth Quarter: Reflections of a Cranky Old Man is historian-public lecturer Carlos Cortés' poetic rumination on life as viewed from the perspective of a post-75-year-old who is traversing the fourth quarter of his life. Sometimes ironic, sometimes nostalgic, while continuously introspective, Fourth Quarter teases strands both from Cortes' personal experiences and from his responses to the always-surprising, occasionally-baffling world he has observed throughout more than eight decades."Fourth Quarter" is organized into four major sections. "Looking Back" contemplates revealing moments in Cortés life, from his days growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, through his experience in the U.S. Army to becoming a university professor. "Looking Out" focuses on the often-absurd world around us, including Cortés' contemporary encounters with baffling bureaucratic institutions, recalcitrant telephone menus, and unintentionally-instructive people with whom he has interacted throughout the human comedy of life."Looking In" examines the increasing personal challenges brought about by age, whether dealing with omnipresent tinnitus, preparing for a colonoscopy, or filling out medical directives. "Looking Ahead" expresses Cortés' hopes, concerns, and expectations of the future, as he contemplates such themes as retirement, mentoring, class reunions, and society's changing conceptions of "old."In addition to those four major sections, the collection contains an interlude entitled "Intergenerational Trilogy." In that section, Cortés muses about cross-generational relationships, whether this involves driving, cell phone-distracted pedestrians, family interactions, or restaurant conversations.The book concludes with "Overtime." In closing the collection, Cortés' ruminates on the possibility that he might actually complete his Fourth Quarter, which means contemplating life after 100.
About the Author: Dr. Carlos E. Cortés is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Riverside. Since 1990 he has served on the summer faculty of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, while he is also on the faculties of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication and the Federal Executive Institute and has served as a Smithsonian Institution public lecturer. A consultant to many government agencies, school systems, universities, mass media, private businesses, and other organizations, Cortés has lectured widely throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Australia on the implications of diversity for education, government, business, and media. He also lectures on cruise ships, where he speaks on such cross-cultural topics as gestures, the history of time, and cultural conceptions of space. Cortés has served as Scholar-in-Residence with Univision Communications and as Creative/Cultural Advisor for Nickelodeon's Peabody-award-winning children's television series, "Dora the Explorer," and its sequels, "Go, Diego, Go!" and "Dora and Friends: Into the City." For his Nickelodeon contributions he received the 2009 NAACP Image Award. He also travels the country performing his one-person autobiographical play, A Conversation with Alana: One Boy's Multicultural Rite of Passage. His recent books include The Children Are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity, The Making -- and Remaking -- of a Multiculturalist, and his memoir, Rose Hill: An Intermarriage before Its Time. He also edited the four-volume Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia and has completed his first novel, Scouts' Honor. Cortés' has received numerous honors, including honorary doctorates, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators' Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education Award, the California Association for Bilingual Education's Inspiration Award, the Distinguished California Humanist Award, the American Society for Training and Development's National Multicultural Trainer of the Year Award, and the California Council for the Social Studies' Hilda Taba Award. While at the University of California, Riverside, he received the campus' Distinguished Teaching Award, Faculty Public Service Award, and Emeritus Professor of the Year Award. In 2016, the City of Riverside, California, established the annual Carlos E. Cortés Award for community service that fosters inclusivity and diversity.
