Some readers may feel that 2016 was a year that should be quickly dispatched into the distant memory banks.
Understandably, the nervousness that currently surrounds a world that appears to be embarking on a major political realignment has been reflected on the pages of this newspaper, and most others. Nonetheless, we have been pleased to publish a wide range of stories featuring personalities from all walks of life whose primary mission is to educate, invent, entertain and serve as positive role models for all of us.
Enjoy this selection of some of them.
Isaac Hernandez
Famed Guadalajara-born ballet dancer, a principal with the English National Ballet, fulfils a lifelong ambition by returning to his hometown with a plethora of international stars for a sell-out gala at the Auditorio Telmex. The 28-year-old also takes the stage for a duo with his younger brother Esteban, of the San Francisco Ballet.
Bob Golly
Eighty-one year-old part-time lakeside resident is among the plucky runners competing in Ajijic’s 20th anniversary rough and tumble Chupinaya mountain races in July. The in-shape runner attributes his fitness for taking on the 6.5-kilometer recreational route for the third time to keeping to a regular routine of modest exercise.
Danny Glover
U.S. actor flies into Guadalajara’s International Film Festival in March to promote “Mr. Pig,” a film about an irascible farmer and his long-suffering daughter who make a fateful road trip – with a porker in tow – from Southern California to Jalisco. Glover thanks Mexican director Diego Luna for the opportunity to be in such a “moving” film.
Elon Musk
At the International Astronautical Congress held in September at Expo Guadalajara, 3,000 attendees listen in awe as the famous business magnate, engineer and inventor outlines his plans to develop a transport system to take people to Mars and build a sustainable human colony of a million people on the airless planet.
Pope Francis
The pontiff’s six-day visit to Mexico in February draws huge enthusiastic crowds and wide international coverage. He uses the platform to reiterate concerns he has addressed often during his papacy. In homilies delivered in various locations across the country the pope speaks passionately about inequality, immigration, prisons and criminality.
Roberta Jacobson
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico finally takes up her post in June after a long congressional delay. She delights U.S. residents at lakeside by putting in a personal appearance at the Lake Chapala Society in September. Will the amiable career diplomat still be in her job after January 20? Only president-elect Donald Trump knows.
Placido Domingo
Famed Spanish tenor Placido Domingo picks up the baton to conduct the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra for the finals of his international opera competition, Operalia, held at the Degollado Theater in July. Domingo began his career at the Guadalajara theater half a century ago and is thrilled to return to a stage that holds many memories.
Michael Hogan
Guadalajara-based author and teacher launches his latest tome, “Abraham Lincoln and Mexico” – an informative and very readable analysis of the U.S. president’s relationship with Mexico over two decades in the mid 1800s. The highly-praised book evolved from a U.S. history class Hogan was teaching at the city’s American School.
Alejandro Gonzalez
For “The Revenant,” Mexican filmmaker becomes the first director to collect consecutive Academy Awards since 1950. Addressing the lack of diversity at this year’s event – no African Americans receive nominations in high-profile categories – he says it is time “to really liberate ourselves from all prejudice and this tribal thinking.”
Elena Poniatowski
Journalist and author is feted, not for the first time, at December’s Guadalajara International Book Fair. In her latest book, “Las Indomitas,” the 2013 winner of Spain’s prestigious Cervantes Prize pays tribute to many of the unheralded women who have fought bravely for feminist causes throughout this country’s male-dominated history.
Lorena Ochoa
Stellar Guadalajara-born golfer, who retired six years ago at age 28 to start a family, will be inducted into the 2017 World Golf Hall of Fame, it is announced. The two-time major winner was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive weeks from April 2007 to May 2010. “Thank you for this honor,”Ochoa tweets.
Efren Gonzalez
The Chapala municipal government bestows the popular Ajijic artist with its “Citizen of the Year” award. Gonzalez spends the year at a frantic pace, creating a series of public murals and other works, including the Muro de Muertos, a memorial wall comprising dozens of ceramic skulls on the exterior of the Ajijic primary school.