1.0The Texas Observerhttps://www.texasobserver.orgGregg Barrioshttps://www.texasobserver.org/author/gregg-barrios/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="BFRz6LN2bK"><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/2161-afterword-confessions-of-a-counterculture-past/">Afterword</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.texasobserver.org/2161-afterword-confessions-of-a-counterculture-past/embed/#?secret=BFRz6LN2bK" width="600" height="338" title="“Afterword” — The Texas Observer" data-secret="BFRz6LN2bK" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,l){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(l.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(!(t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o<n.length;o++)n[o].style.display="none";for(o=0;o<i.length;o++)if(r=i[o],e.source!==r.contentWindow);else{if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(s=parseInt(t.value,10)))s=1e3;else if(~~s<200)s=200;r.height=s}if("link"===t.message)if(s=l.createElement("a"),a=l.createElement("a"),s.href=r.getAttribute("src"),a.href=t.value,a.host===s.host)if(l.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(o);else{o=!0;for(var e,t,r,s=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),n=0;n<i.length;n++){if(!(r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute("data-secret")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+="#?secret="+r,t.setAttribute("data-secret",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:r},"*")}}}}(window,document); </script> Growing up in the south Texas town of Victoria in the 1950s, my future seemed bleaker than that of the teenagers in The Last Picture Show or the nameless young Mexican narrator in John Rechy’s City of Night. But the public library and the movies sustained me. Later, military service allowed me to physically escape. […]https://www.texasobserver.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/about-the-texas-observer.jpg740402