Richard Parker (1964-2025) was an award-winning journalist and author who wrote about the American Southwest for the New York Times and other publications. In 2020 his commentary in the New York Times on the El Paso massacre was honored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. In 2019 NBC News named him to ?#NBCLatino20,? its list of the most influential Latinos in America. Parker's first book, Lone Star Nation: How Texas Will Transform America, took a fresh look at the history of the Lone Star State to reconsider its present and future. Raised in El Paso, the son of an American father and a Mexican mother, he lived in Texas.