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Gregory Orfalea: "Journey to the Sun" | Talks at Google

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As in love with St. Francis as the current Pope Francis I, Father Junipero Serra left Spain at 36,in 1749, destined for the New World. The Franciscan priest's mandate was to travel to Mexico and later California, where Spain was counteracting Russian expansion, establishing a rest stop for Manilla Galleons to the Orient, and converting natives to Christianity. It was an undertaking that seemed impossible, given the vast distances, the challenges of an unforgiving landscape, and the danger posed by resistant native tribes. Yet, by the time he died, at 71, Serra had traveled 14,000 miles, baptized and confirmed more than 6,000 Indians, and founded nine of California's 21 missions. Twelve years in the making, Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra's Dream and the Founding of California is Gregory Orfalea's authoritative and incisive biography of a man whose story is as essential to the founding of our nation as the stories of Plymouth Rock and Jamestown

Serra was deeply passionate about bringing Christianity to the native people of California, even as he tried to protect them from the soldiers of the Spanish Crown. The names of the missions he founded will be familiar to any American—San Diego, San Gabriel, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, San Francisco—though many of us know little about the story behind them. Combining European and American history, religious scholarship, geography, and anthropology, Orfalea masterfully recounts the story and brings new information to our knowledge of a man whose massive cultural project not only created the blueprint for modern California, but changed the future of our nation. As the Hispanic influence on America increases, so will the power of Serra's story, one deeply woven with that of Native Americans in both inspiring and troubling ways.

About the Author: Gregory Orfalea was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and educated at Georgetown University and the University of Alaska. He is the author or editor of eight books, the most recent of which are The Man Who Guarded the Bomb (2010) and Angeleno Days (2009). The recipient of many awards for his writing, Orfalea's Angeleno Days won the 2010 Arab American Book Award and was named a Finalist for the PEN USA Award in Creative Nonfiction. He has taught at the Claremont Colleges, Georgetown University, and Westmont College.

Gregory's books can be found on Google Play:
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