As a graduate student at Cal State Fullerton, the Garden Grove resident rediscovered the long-lost case of Doss v. Bernal, the inspiring story of a Fullerton man of Mexican ancestry who won one of the first housing-segregation cases in American history. Fernandez's championing of the cause has led to the unearthing of documents pertaining to the case, the public testimony of the Bernal family, and a planned documentary. Nowadays, Fernandez helps out at the Santa Ana History Room to ensure that long-lost historical anecdotes get unearthed, and he is co-editing a book on the history of Mexican baseball leagues in Orange County that will be published next year. Not bad for a shy guy!