The village of San Martin de las Flores huddles behind a series of clambering hills. Although linked to Guadalajara by a twisting, rocky road, the geographical remoteness of the community gives it a distinct cultural identity.

No, this is not about a movie sequel but a near miraculous tale and heartwarming rival to “Lassie Come Home.”

Batman is my black cat, rescued as an adolescent on a rainy night, his meows fit to make Genghis Khan weep. He followed me to my Guadalajara home, people-loving and intelligent cat that he is, perhaps thinking my black chihuahua resembled his mother.

In February, a group of mostly Guadalajara’s American School students and parents taking in the musical comedy “Honk!” sat up a little straighter whenever 18-year-old Maria Contreras, in her role as the Ugly Duckling’s mother, took the stage.

In 2011, British journalist Johann Hari was at the top of the journalistic pile. Sharp, brave and energetic, he was the Independent’s best-known columnist and named by The Daily Telegraph as one of the most influential left-wingers in Britain. Yet a series of plagiarism allegations turned his life upside down. He returned his prestigious 2008 George Orwell Prize and stepped away from the Independent. 

Anyone who has taken a bus in Guadalajara is familiar with the phenomenon: the wandering troubadours who jump aboard to sing songs of broken-hearted love in exchange for a few pesos.

When Len Laviolette was a mere eight years old, he and his brother were the objects of a saliva study at a university dental school.