Thomas Ray Garcia is an author, professor, and entrepreneur from Pharr, Texas. He wrote the award-winning The River Runs: Stories and co-authored El Curso de la Raza: The Education of Aurelio Manuel Montemayor. He is the founder of the College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to increasing college enrollment and graduation rates in the Rio Grande Valley. Currently, he serves on the English faculty at South Texas College.