San Antonio, TX – May, 2025 — Author Gerald Rodriguez announces the upcoming release of his powerful memoir, La Tuna, a gritty, true-to-life account of crime, punishment, and personal reckoning set in the Texas-Mexico borderlands of the 1980s. The book will be officially released on May 20, 2025, and will be available in paperback, hardcover, eBook, and audiobook formats across leading platforms, including Amazon, Kindle, and Barnes & Noble.

La Tuna follows the harrowing journey of Rodriguez, a former restaurant owner whose financial downfall leads him into the dangerous world of marijuana smuggling. The narrative takes readers through a chaotic first drug run across the Rio Grande, a near brush with border patrol, and the crushing moment when Gerald is arrested and sentenced to 36 months in the federal prison of La Tuna, Texas.

More than just a memoir, La Tuna is a revealing look into a justice system riddled with overreach and the personal transformation that emerges from loss, memory, and redemption. Inspired by real events and penned during a period of memory loss brought on by a severe COVID infection, the book began as a collection of Post-it notes—fragments of a life rebuilt through writing.

“This book was written by accident,” Rodriguez shares. “During the pandemic, I was one of the first to get infected. After waking from ten days of deep sleep, I could barely remember my wife’s name. I began writing everything I could remember just to hold onto who I was—and somehow, that became this book.”

Rodriguez’s distinct voice, shaped by a lifetime of unexpected turns, humor, pain, and perseverance, speaks to readers 18 and older seeking stories that are honest, raw, and profoundly human. Through La Tuna, he captures the absurdities of life, the failures of justice, and the strength of personal redemption.

Quote from the Author:
“Life is but change. Without change, there is no growth. Your best is good enough. Love as much as you can from wherever you are. God loves you above and beyond words.”
For interviews, event bookings, or review copies, please contact Gerald Rodriguez at [email protected] or call (210) 367-7787.
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About the Author:
Gerald Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1956. A devoted husband and father of three, he never aspired to be a writer. But when life redirected his path—from business to incarceration to rediscovery—he found his voice. La Tuna marks his unforgettable literary debut.
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Media Inquiries
For interviews, review copies, or additional information, please contact:
Gerald Rodriguez
📧 Email: [email protected]
📞 Phone: (210) 367-7787
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Book Details
Title: La Tuna
Author: Gerald Rodriguez
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: May 2025
Publisher: The Authors Central
Available on: Amazon and other major book platforms