Recent columnist articles
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. ...
read more
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...
read more
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 Now collecting belongings has been replaced by collecting experiences, and collecting memories of past experiences.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
Mexican master ceramist Jorge Wilmot: the interval between before and after
"I am from Mexico, but it is like (being) from another country that no longer exists," says famed potter Juan Jorge Wilmot Mason.
Mexico lost a beloved artisan when he passed away on January 12, 2012. read more
Flirting in Spanish: What Mexico taught me about love, living and forgiveness
The story began in 1992 in San Miguel de Allende. Susan, in Mexico less than three months and having "decimated whatever savings I once had," supplemented her meagre but easy-earned modeling income by teaching English.
Carlos, the poor Mexican teenager, was indeed wise for his years; after her first class was over, he alone "remained, still seated at the second desk in the middle row, watching me." read more
Infernal Drums
"He found a cheap room at a dive called Hotel Milan in Old Town — the historic center of a coastal metropolis split into neatly demarcated districts of progress and poverty on a peninsula snaking up the coastline of Nayarit."
In Mazatlan he joins up with three New Zealanders, harmless jerks, introduces himself "and played at acting the chum." In San Blas — "on a spit of white land divided by estuaries, surrounded by jungle" — they buy some cheap dope, but the transaction turns out to be a set-up read more