A debut novel at 91? Carlos Cortés of Riverside crafts whodunit

Carlos Cortés is as excited as any first-time novelist to make his debut. The difference in his case is that he’s no eager young writer. He’s 91.

It’s titled “Scouts’ Honor,” and Cortés, a retired UC Riverside professor of Latin American studies (and former consultant for Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer”), wrote it as a personal challenge.

“I had written poetry, plays, journalistic stuff, scholarly stuff,” Cortés says. “I wanted to write a damn novel!”

I attended a talk by Cortés last month at the Maloof Foundation in Alta Loma, in which he talked about his inspiration and read the first two chapters aloud.

With my bookmark already at Chapter 3, “Scouts’ Honor” kept me company on vacation in San Francisco. It’s not “Don Quixote,” but it’s pretty good.

Since my return, 88-year-old