Daniel Santiagoe

Writing as Daniel Santiago, Daniel Lewis James was an American novelist and journalist. He was born in 1911 and died in 1988, and he is especially remembered for fiction set around Mexican American life in California.

His books include Famous All Over Town, The Last Time I Saw Delores, and Farewell to the Fifth of July. Readers and critics have often noted the way his stories mix comedy, tenderness, and social observation, creating characters who feel lively and real.

Before and alongside his fiction, he also worked as a journalist and nonfiction writer. That background helped give his novels a strong sense of place and an easy, conversational style that still feels inviting today.