JUST DISCOVERED ANOTHER FRIEND FROM MY YOUTH WHO BECAME ACCOMPLISHED AND YES, FAMOUS

Dr. Tony Zaveleta

Brownville rightfully takes pride in Dr. Tony Zavaleta, published author, educator, expert on all things border including curanderismo research.

David Bercot

Harlingen also produced a published author with an extensive bibliography, specializing in the history of Christianity prior to the Council of Nicaea in 325 Anno Domini, an international lecturer and a specialized attorney dealing primarily in land ownership issues involving, not only title search, but historical documents and proofs.

But, I'm not sure that many in H-town remember David.

I was perhaps 19 when Cameron County road construction supervisor and San Benito resident Doug Cornelius gave me a call.

"My wife and I met a young man who's just like you.  We want you to meet him," Mr. Cornelius said on the phone.

I did meet David.  

He was definitely interesting, someone like Tom Robinson, but wired more tightly perhaps.  He wanted to show me this and show me that just like Tom does.  He was totally enraptured with learning, study, words, ideas.

I could say this bright young man almost became part of the family, but that wouldn't be true.

He and my sister Sandy had one date, but David later insisted it wasn't really a "date," probably because of his fundamentalist religion's over-the-top rules on courtship and marriage.

David's religion of birth was anti-higher education, so it wasn't until David broke free from those shackles that he sought more learning, graduating from Stephen F. Austin summa cum laude, then obtaining his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree cum laude from Baylor University.

Next, David completed theological studies at the University of Cambridge and was ordained as an Anglican priest.

Bercot now considers himself an Anabaptist, a group he feels most represents the actual beliefs and practices of the early Christians.

We'll publish his bibliography below, but Bercot's most popular book is A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, a 704 page volume containing 7000 excerpts from the writings of the early Christians.

Another of his books, originally published in 1989, but now in its 3rd edition, is Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up?

• Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up (1989) ISBN 0-924722-00-2
• The Pilgrim Road (1991) ISBN 0-924722-03-7
• Common Sense (1992) ISBN 0-924722-06-1
• A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs (1998) ISBN 1-56563-357-1
• Let Me Die in Ireland (1999) ISBN 0-924722-08-8
• The Kingdom that Turned the World Upside Down (2003) ISBN 0-924722-17-7
• Plain Speaking: How to Preach and Teach Effectively (2007) ISBN 978-0-924722-19-6
• Will the Theologians Please Sit Down (2009) ISBN 978-0-924722-24-0
• In God We Don't Trust (2011) ISBN 978-0-924722-25-7
• Secrets of the Kingdom Life (2014) ISBN 978-0-924722-28-8