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About the Author
Carlos L. Arce, author, speaker and publisher was born in New York City and raised in 
San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the mid sixties his parents moved the family back to New York City and the eighteen year old began to pursue a degree in Sociology at Saint Bonaventure University in Olean, New York. His academic studies were interrupted by the Viet Nam War, where he served as a non-commissioned officer with the Army Special Forces.
Service in Viet Nam was a major turning point in his life. He endured wounding in combat, hospitalization for field injuries, and long term treatment of malaria. For his service he was awarded eleven decorations including the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, The Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Upon completing his military service, he returned to his alma mater, completed his degree in Sociology and pursued graduate training in Criminal Justice. He began a twelve-year career in New York City government service as a teacher and counselor inside the prisons of Riker’s Island. He worked directly with hundreds of inmates in the New York City House of Detention for Men, where he created new service programs and provided individual assistance to prisoners. He later served as criminal justice consultant to the Mayor’s Office.
His next work experience brought him to the New York City Department of City Planning. He was elected District Manager by a board of fifty community leaders in one of the twelve planning districts of Bronx County, with a population of over one hundred thousand residents. He was also elected Chairman of the District Managers Association of Bronx County, with a population of one and a half million people.
He remained working in this South Bronx neighborhood, one of the poorest and most neglected areas of the nation, until President Jimmy Carter’s surprise visit. The President stood within a few city blocks from his office to condemn the conditions in the area as inhumane, tragic and an American shame. The President promised a new government initiative for the area and ordered the creation of the South Bronx Development Office.
In the wake of the President’s visit, he left his position as Planning District Manager and Chairman of the Bronx County District Managers Association, to accept his appointment as Deputy Director of the newly created South Bronx Development Office. In that position he designed and coordinated the community input process in the development of the area’s Master Redevelopment Plan presented to the White House. He resigned from his position, as substantive work in the South Bronx Development Office ended following the electoral defeat of President Jimmy Carter.
From his positions in government service, he moved to the private sector. He first served as Executive Director of a large agro-industrial project and later as President and CEO of a state-wide educational computer service company in Puerto Rico, which ushered in a state of the art computer education process in the K-12 school system. For the next twelve years, he trained thousands of school teachers, created new lines of educational software and worked with school administrators to find new ways to improve the learning experience of students.
For the past six years, he has practiced real estate in South Florida. This has provided him with a first hand look at the national dilemma of illegal immigration.
Throughout his life he has been looking for an opportunity to bring all of his experiences into works of literary fiction. For years now, he has pursued his passion for writing. Mirror to a Nation is his first novel.