Category: Border Crossing
Dr. Johnny Long
To those who knew and loved him in La Antigua Guatemala, he was Johnny. It was the name coined by colleagues at Duke University School of Medicine when the name given him in 1920, Ernest Croft Long, did not easily roll off the tongue. He joined the Duke faculty in 1956, having graduated from the [...]
Arthur Tewes Kennedy II
1923-2011 Long before I knew Arthur Kennedy, who passed last month at 87, I benefited from his legacy. So have you, if you are among the millions who have traveled Guatemala’s stretch of the Pan American Highway. He was in charge of much of the construction of what remains the country’s principal artery, and its [...]
David L. Jickling
“What a fine, gentle, pleasant man he was,” recalls Luisa Wheeler of Doña Luisa’s on 4th calle, where David often enjoyed ice cream or morning coffee after checking his e-mail at a nearby internet service. Ken Veronda, another friend, added, “David leaves fond memories of his curiosity and a body of research and writings of [...]
Remembering Ambassador George R. Andrews
(1932-2010) one year later by Luke Slemeck In memory of my second father, loving husband of Helga, proud father of Christina and Courtenay, grandfather of Sebastien and friend of every dog and animal everywhere. A man who lived and enjoyed a rich, rewarding and fulfilling life that touched every continent on Earth. U.S. Ambassador George [...]
Dr. Lee Valenti 1928-2010
Dr. Lee Valenti, who like Huckleberry Finn fled from American consumerism’s attempts to “sivilize” her, has died in Panajachel. She was 82. The former literature professor left her job at New York’s Hoffstra University in 1975, after long involvement in anti-war, civil rights, and environmental movements. With her divorce complete and her children grown, she [...]
Brooks Buderus 1918-2010
A TOAST IN HONOR OF BROOKS Offered by Mark, Matt, David and Paul Thompson, Audrey’s sons (July 8, 2010) Brooks Buderus was a man of many loves, especially his love for his soul mate of over 40 years, his devoted wife—our mother, Audrey. Together they loved and lived life as a big adventure, an approach [...]
Gerald Edward Smith (1949-2010)
Jerry Smith, who passed last month at 61, always reminded me of people I knew in college who were manifestly brighter than I was, yet liked me anyway, and listened to my opinions, and brought out the best in others. Centuries from now, children will still be pondering the faces of their ancestors, immortalized by [...]
Marcía Sis García 1982-2010
There was a small shrine on the sidewalk a few weeks ago, consisting of a flickering candle in a tin can, a few flowers and a smiling photograph of Marcía with a large black plastic garbage bag made into a wreath and the typed notice of her recent passing.
Dr. John Cheatham
Dr. John Cheatham passed away Monday afternoon, Nov. 2. He succumbed to a heart attack while climbing Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, USA. Hiking was a favorite recreational pastime. He recently climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and had made multiple trips to the Grand Canyon. This year, he completed a 50-mile hike from the canyon’s [...]
Thomas Griffin
Tom Griffin, Lake Atitlán’s resident Elvis impersonator and yodeler, has died. The longtime resident of Santa Cruz la Laguna was 76. He was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. Lake Atitlán expats called him “Mississippi Tom” to distinguish him from another Texan, also named Tom, and because he settled in Mississippi in the sixties [...]
Patricia R. Cornell
Patricia Rainsford Cornell, 83, a resident of La Antigua Guatemala and Cape May Point, N.J., passed away on April 28 of cancer. Over the last 15 years, Pat lived much of the year in La Antigua, where she taught English to Guatemalans, volunteered at the library, and helped with many other activities. Pat grew up [...]
“Shirtless Jack” Clinton McGovern
Jack Clinton McGovern, 64, beloved teacher and movie lore expert, has lost his battle with cancer. The Tarzan novel he was writing remains unfinished. Around election time in the United States, people would tell him, “I know whom you are voting for!” Though Jack could not vote in 1960, he canvassed for his namesake, Jack [...]
Bruce Barclay
Humanitarian, entrepreneur, and one of the founders of Modern Panajachel Bruce Barclay, founder of a worker’s paradise in Panajachel, has died. The New Yorker of Jewish heritage was 60. After arriving in Panajachel in 1978, Barclay had a vision for the east bank of the San Francisco River, which bisects Panajachel. He purchased the upper [...]
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