1800’s California, still a Mexican Territory, saw the Gold Rush bring immigrants from all over the world. The Mexicans referred to them as Anglos. Tiburcio Vasquez was just a boy when he witnessed the legacy of violence and crime that this change would bring, shaping his destiny. He grew up in the dusty streets of Monterey, watching as foreigners encroached on his homeland, bringing with them greed, destruction, and injustice.He honed his skills as a horseman and marksman and took up arms as a bandit against those who sought to oppress his people, becoming a legend among the Mexican community. He was caught and escaped multiple times from San Quentin Prison. 

Rick Avery’s novel is a fictional account of his life from birth to his hanging at the age of thirty-nine. The Mexican community saw him as a Robin Hood character. To this day, there are monuments that bear his name.

He has also written an autobiography co-authored with Tom Bleecker, A Life a at Risk; a photography book about the homeless in Los Angeles, Sidewalks; a historical adventure about two pilots in a 1963 air race, The Challenge, of the Spirit of Sydney; a book about his career as a stuntmen in Hollywood, Too Old to Tell Lies; and one about the Master Boxers who compete into their seventies, Hardened Warriors.

Rick has a Bachelor of Arts degree, Summa Cum Laude from Southern New Hampshire University. He lives in Southern California with his wife and family.