I have no doubt that every woman and man in this graduating class has an incredible work ethic - the kind of work ethic that people develop when they know that nothing will be handed to them.

I have never spoken at a graduation celebration before - unless you count my high school graduation, which took place before most of our graduates were born - but I understand the traditional role of such speeches is to send the graduates out into the world with assurances of the success that awaits them if they work hard. I was honored to be asked to be here on this special day to speak to you. His speech is entitled “THE STONE THAT WAS REJECTED.” Enjoy. (Nava is pictured above with Candace Chen, one of the graduating students and one of the organizers of the ceremony.) I was very moved by his speech and he graciously granted my request to reprint it here.

Nava recently shared with me the keynote remarks he gave at the Golden Gate University Multicultural Graduation Celebration on May 16, 2008. (Greenwood Press, 1993), and Brown Gumshoes: Detective Fiction and the Search for Chicano/a Identity, Ralph Rodriguez, ed. The novels are discussed in a number of critical and scholarly works including Contemporary Gay Novelists, Emmanuel Nelson, ed. His novels were published to great critical acclaim and include The Little Death, Goldenboy, How Town, The Hidden Law, The Death of Friends, The Burning Plain and Rag and Bone. While studying for the California Bar right out of law school, Nava started writing his first book which began his seven-volume mystery series featuring his openly gay protagonist, Henry Rios. Nava also happens to be the author of nine books. From there, he worked with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, a prestigious private appellate law firm, and then as a research attorney first with the California Court of Appeal and now with the California Supreme Court as a judicial staff attorney for Associate Justice Carlos Moreno. A Phi Beta Kappa from Colorado College, Nava went on to earn his law degree from Stanford University in 1981. As readers of La Bloga know, Michael Nava has excelled as both a writer and lawyer.

Rag and Bone by Michael Nava