July 2018

Editor’s Page By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez The Genesis Of An Historical Novel I imagine that almost everyone who has had a book published has been asked what the initial inspiration for the book had been. Not an easy question to answer, as many books subconsciously gestate for years before blooming forth into a palpable notion. Of

BENITO JUAREZ—The Man Who Appointed Himself President By Herbert W. Piekow   Benito Juárez was born March 21, 1806 a full-blooded Zapotec Indian from San Pablo Guelatao, where his parents had a small farm. At the age of thirteen he was sent to Oaxaca to the house of the Maza family. His sister worked as

Please Close Your Eyes! By Ana Rasgo   Have you ever made a driver so nervous that he asked you to close your eyes? I have. My husband is an accomplished driver. I am learning to be a calm and trusting passenger as I struggle with a controlling nature. When anxious I can annoy my

Querétaro—Muy Clasico! By Maggie Van Ostrand   Writing a newspaper column about the greatness of Mexico can earn the writer a good deal of mail running the gamut from “Do you know a good dentist in Morelia?” to “My wife and I would like to know where we should start looking to live in Mexico.”

A Good Death By Margaret Van Every   I’ve been thinking more about death lately. Three people I knew died in the same week, not to mention Philip Roth—as though there was a special incentive to take advantage of just that week. Two of the three died quickly before they even saw it coming, no

Profiling Tepehua By Moonyeen KingPresident of the Board for Tepehuamoonie1935@yahoo.com   In the Tepehua Peoples Clinic, we see a lot of cases that we cannot help that have to be referred to the hospitals in Guadalajara for specialized treatments. Tragic cases that have no happy endings. One such case came to us for financial help. 

History 101 Courtesy of Hank Shiver Thomas Paine   “History is to ascribe the American Revolution to Thomas Paine.” —John Adams (1776) “Tom Paine has almost no influence on present-day thinking in the United States because he is unknown to the average citizen. Perhaps I might say right here that this is a national loss and

Ramblings From The Ranch   Hundreds of dogs pass through the Ranch’s gates on their way to their forever homes. Each has a tale to tell and this is Jacko’s. A few years before Jacko came to The Ranch in September 2015, when he was about 3 year’s old, he had been found on the

Welcome to México! By Victoria Schmidt Things that crawl While contemplating our move to Mexico, there was one thing that gave both my husband and I pause. It wasn’t the “violence,” or learning the language… it was things that crawl. OK, grin if you will, but we’re from Minnesota. Land of 10,000 Lakes, and maybe

Bridge By The Lake By Ken Masson   In all walks of life successful people usually rely on some form of mentoring to help them on their way. Bridge is no exception – the more opportunities you have to play with (and against) experts, the better your chance of reaching a good level yourself. Many