It has been an extraordinary week for my cherished amigos Tony and Gwen Burton, visiting lakeside from their home in Canada for the first time in quite a few years. They have been welcomed here with open arms and warm hearts by long-time friends and strangers alike, experiencing multiple triumphs and one major heartbreak during their stay.

As many readers already know, Tony is a geographer by profession who is recognized as the Chapala region’s most accomplished historian. He has dedicated countless years to research on artists, writers and other prominent people connected to this area one way or another. His vast wealth of knowledge has been laid down for eternity in the publication of seven books about Mexico in general and this part of the country in particular, along with his chock-block Lakechapalaartists.com website.

His first public appearance was at the presentation of La Cosmopolita Chapala, a conference by Guadalajara architect Antonio Aceves, a friend and colleague in promoting the preservation of priceless cultural patrimony.

On Sunday, November 9, Tony was the featured speaker for Open Circle at the Lake Chapala Society, setting an all-time attendance record at the weekly lecture series. His talk focused on the foreign trailblazers of the 1940s who put Ajijic on the world map. And the audience lapped up every word with relish.

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