Beginning of article  RAISED IN SACRAMENTO, California, the son
of immigrants from Mexico, essayist and journalist Richard
Rodriguez has always grappled fearlessly with the intricacies of
cultural identity--the clash and meld of race, religion, class,
and language. He is the author of three critically acclaimed
books: Hunger of Memory; Days of Obligation; and Brown: The Last
Discovery of America. He was an award-winning essayist for PBS's
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and is a contributing writer and
editor for New America Media and contributing editor of
Harper's. He spoke with Sojourners associate editor Julie Polter
in April, at Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Writing in
Grand Rapids, Michigan.   JULIE POLTER: You're working on a book
about the desert origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
What led you to this topic?    The other thing was that I'd
always felt an attraction to the desert. I've hiked through
deserts for much of my life and always had a secular curiosity
about them--their beauty