Biography Chuy Ramirez Chuy Ramirez is an attorney who practices law in McAllen, Texas and is a partner in the firm Ramirez & Guerrero, LLP.  He was also a partner for twenty five years in the McAllen firm, Montalvo & Ramirez.  Leo Montalvo served as mayor of the City of McAllen for twenty five years and was the first Mexican American elected to that post. Ramirez’ practice focuses on commercial transactions and public finance.   As a bond attorney, he has represented most governmental units in South Texas in connection with their issuance of tax-exempt bonds.  He is currently corporate legal counsel for local Texas bank. He grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and is no stranger to the strawberry fields, to which he traveled over the years with his family and thousands of families from South Texas.  Ramirez attended Pan American University at Edinburg, Texas and is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.  At the law school, he served as Articles Editor for the International Law Journal and published a note entitled, “Altering the Policy of Neglect of Undocumented Immigration from South of the Border, Vol. 18 in 1983.  Strawberry Fields is his first fictional work. In law school, Ramirez was an active participant in the Chicano Law Students Association and edited Rio Rojo, a student publication.  He also served on the Legal Research Board. Before law school, Ramirez served in various positions including City Manager for the City of San Juan in South Texas and as an administrator for Texas Rural Legal Aid.  He also helped recruit area managers for the Dept. of Commerce (the U.S. Census Bureau) for the 1980 census. As a high school student at Pharr San Juan Alamo High School in South Texas, Ramirez was an activist, edited a movement newspaper and helped organize the Mexican American Youth Organization which pushed for an end to segregated schools and bilingual education.  He was also an active supporter of Cesar Chavez and his farmworkers movement during the California lettuce strike, and later Antonio Orendain’s Texas union, and edited the movement newspaper, El Portavoz.  As a college student during the early 1970s, Ramirez was a political organizer and assisted with numerous campaigns, most notably the campaigns of Los Tres, the first three elected Mexican Americans to city office in San Juan, Texas, his home town.  Ramirez was nineteen years old at the time. In 1972, he also helped organize the Raza Unida Party, a local third party in South Texas, for which former Texas state representative Alex Moreno served as the first standard bearer. Later, Ramirez served as treasurer for the Mexican American Democrats and an officer of the Texas Democratic Party.   He has never sought public office and has not been directly involved in politics since 1980 except for his assistance or contributions. Ramirez lives in San Juan, Texas with his wife of thirty eight years, Aida, who is a retired public school teacher.  He has two children: Jesus Ramirez, a property manager, and Mirta Espinola, a publicist.  He is the proud grandfather of four:  Chuy Ramirez III, Carla Ramirez, Victoria Ramirez and Isaiah Matthew Ramirez.