Raquel Lebredo was born in Camag�ey, Cuba. She attended school in Havana and later enrolled at the University of Havana, where she received a Ph.D. in Education in 1950. After living in Spain for a period of time, she moved in 1968 to the United States. Dr. Lebredo was awarded a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California, Riverside, in 1973. Since then she has taught Spanish at Claremont Graduate School, Crafton Hills College, the University of Redlands, and California Baptist College, and has authored several Spanish textbooks. She was honored as "Faculty Member of the Year" by the student body at California Baptist College, and in 1991 she received a YWCA "Women of Achievement"… award.
Francisco Mena-Ayll�n, a native of Madrid, Spain, received his Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California, Riverside in 1973. He has taught Spanish language and literature courses at the University of California, Riverside; Oberlin College; California State University; Chico State; the University of Redlands; and Crafton Hills College. In addition to authoring numerous Spanish textbooks in the United States, he has written a book about Federico Garc�a Lorca and published several volumes of his own poetry in Spain, Latin America, and the United States. His work has also been included in several anthologies of contemporary Spanish poets, and he is listed in Qui�n es qui�n en… las letras espa�olas, 1978 (Who's Who in Spanish Letters), as an important contributor to contemporary Spanish literature.