Recent columnist articles
Mexican photographer Enrique Metinides: The man who saw too much
Exploring Enrique Metinides' images is to immerse yourself in those depths of humanity awash in raw emotion, as the 79-year-old photographer has captured some of the most poignant moments to unfold on ...
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Let the Water Hold Me Down
It is written with skill and with grace, and the old verities that are at the heart of being human are here: loss and grief, guilt and longing, loyalty and love.
Set in modern-day Mexico, it tells the story of Hank Singer and is also about his relationship with César Lobos de Madrid, whose "family was one of the oldest, wealthiest, and most politically connected in Chiapas, if not in all of Mexico."
Hank has arrived just a few weeks before the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, led by Subcomandante Marcos, who on January 1, 1994, declared war against the government and the military... read more
The Devil's Workshop
Feeling detached, perhaps defensively, from his plummeting body, Sands wonders, "How had the little people emerged from the painting over his buffet?
It was his Rafael Cantú masterpiece, The Last Supper, the prize of his collection. And they were the characters from the painting. He recognized the odd, ragged leather outfits.
Had he been murdered by these nightmare versions of Christ and the Apostles?" ... read more
The Theft of the Virgin
In The Theft of the Virgin, sixty paintings from the popular Vergruen Reference Collection of outstanding masterpieces of art — all forgeries — are on temporary display at the Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende... But are they all forgeries?
Paul Zacher, one of many talented artists in San Miguel de Allende, is our protagonist and for the most part our narrator.
Zacher suspects a scheme that is putting originals into the hands of very amoral and very wealthy collectors. read more
In a God's Eye
She helps her gardener with his English, takes pleasure in her garden, is fascinated by the old Mayan legends, grateful for the sacrifices of their gods, and holds sacred the food she receives.
A principle she lives by is this: "be thankful and say so regularly." She feels in her heart that this religious attitude is "much easier to grasp than the more intellectual, less sensory religions…." read more
Our Lady of the Rosary, beloved patroness of Talpa de Allende
Mexico's Frida Kahlo in Oaxaca Handicrafts
The Mexican state of Oaxaca is renowned for its handicrafts. From black pottery and handloomed Zapotec rugs to silverwork and alebrijes, the collector will find a wealth of beautiful handcrafted work. ...
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Reflections on el Dia de Las Madres: the mother of Mexican fiestas
The brassy blast of a trumpet rips me from the comforting embrace of Morpheus. As the familiar strains of Las Mañanitas register in the fuzzy workings of my brain, I roll over and open one eye to...
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Migration
Migration is his third book in a little over three years. Now collecting belongings has been replaced by collecting experiences, and collecting memories of past experiences.
I am reminded a bit of one of my dad's favorite tee-shirts, which reads: "The less you own, the more you have." read more
Ask an old gringo about Mexico education, politics and miracle cures
