The great Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes died yesterday. The author of The Old Gringo and The Death of Artemio Cruz, among many other novels and stories, is being remembered around the internet today. To those memories, we thought we’d add this 1992 interview Fuentes sat for with Lee Cullum for KERA’s Conversations series.

Vigorous and animated, Fuentes talks about growing up in Washington D.C., connecting with his Mexican roots in a movie theater, realizing how that identity alienated him from his classmates in the U.S., and falling for the Spanish language.  He also touches on Mexico’s culture of Catholicism and obsession with death, and the role of myth and dreams in his work. Enjoy!