Remembering Billy Goldsmith at Hospice San Miguel
By Lee Carter

To all who knew him, Billy Goldsmith inevitably left his mark and legacy. January 6, 2008 will mark the fourth anniversary of his death Rarely a day goes by when some part of Billy’s infinite wisdom, love of gardens, Sunday parties, design expertise, or his unceasing wit doesn’t affect me.

An unexpected legacy of Billy’s life is the establishment of the first hospice in Mexico that provides care and comfort to the dying according to International Standards of Care. Hospice San Miguel serves all people—Mexicans and members of the foreign community—regardless of ability to pay. I am hoping that we, his friends and surrogate family, will come together in Billy’s honor to establish the Billy Goldsmith Patient Assistance Program.

Donated funds would be restricted to the following purpose: “to help patients and families pay for medications to alleviate pain and suffering, to provide them with durable medical equipment and supplies, and a doctor who specializes in palliative medicine so that their last days can be as comfortable and fulfilling as possible.”

The minimum amount to fund this program is US$20,000. To date, over US$13,000 has been raised in memory of Billy (US$8,000 of which has been designated for patient assistance. I hope and believe that through our generosity we can far exceed the “minimum” needed for naming the fund in Billy’s honor.

Hospice San Miguel is a nonprofit, grassroots agency whose existence depends almost totally on generous donations from its supporters. It is largely a volunteer organization—over 4,000 volunteer hours have been given to its establishment and operations thus far. The annual operating budget for 2008 is US$87,000, exclusive of patient assistance programs. The estimated annual need for patient assistance funding is US$50,000. “Volunteer dollars” donated by dedicated volunteers and professionals allow us to serve an average of eight patients daily. We now are serving five persons and their families, 80 percent of whom are Mexican and in need of financial help.

I like to remember Billy in his healthier days, yet I wistfully recall his good nature and tireless pursuit of fun and art in his last days. I can’t count how many last parties he organized and attended. I also cannot forget how many of his friends came to help, to form a makeshift hospice for Billy and to attend to his needs in the last months of his life. Through these unselfish deeds, Billy achieved a dignified death.

Hospice San Miguel is an officially recognized and legal Asociación Civil (nonprofit agency) in Mexico. US tax-deductible checks must be written to the San Miguel Community Foundation with Hospice San Miguel, A.C., noted on the memo line. Mexican peso checks may be written to Hospice San Miguel, A.C. Please also note that your donation is for the Billy Goldsmith Patient Assistance Fund. Your IRS tax receipt will be mailed to you.

Send your check from the United States to: Hospice San Miguel Goldsmith Fund, Box #218A, 220 North Zapata Hwy, Suite 11A, Laredo, TX 78043. Send your check from San Miguel via La Conexión, Box #218A at Aldama 3, San Miguel de Allende.

Lee Carter has lived in Mexico for 21 years and worked as a designer and exporter of Mexican handicrafts for 20 years. In February 2007, he took an extended leave of absence from his company to help establish Hospice San Miguel.

Annual international chili cook-off invites cooks and vendors
By Mary Jones

Chili Cook-off Entries 200 pesos until Jan 12, 250 pesos after Longhorn Smokehouse Calle Nueva 8, behind Espino’s (415) 109-8795

San Miguel’s second annual chili cook-off, scheduled for January 26 at the Hotel Real de Minas, is now open for entries by cooks and vendors. Eight cook-off champions from Texas have already signed on for the international competition.

One of Texas’ best known singers, Thomas Michael Riley, will be on hand to provide entertainment and a troupe from Dolores Hidalgo will perform on dancing horses in the hotel’s bullring adjacent to the cook-off area.

The inaugural cook-off earlier this year drew 500 people. With a greatly expanded program, chairperson Mary Jones is expecting a crowd of well over 1,000 next month. Proceeds will benefit the Centro de Crecimiento, an organization that offers rehabilitation, education and training for children with disabilities.

There will be two chili cook-off competitions. One will be for locals who will be able to cook their entries at home. The other will be for international competitors who will have to prepare their chili on site. Locals can enter the international category at no extra cost, but will have to comply with tougher rules. The winner will be invited to enter the world championships at Terlingua, Texas, next November. Separate competitions will be held to determine best beans, margaritas and crazy hats.

The spacious grounds of Hotel Real de Minas will also sport up to 50 tents for vendors selling jewelry, clothes, rugs, hot dogs and other items. Fee for vendors is 250 pesos until January 1 and 300 pesos thereafter.

Entry fee for locals entering the chili cook-off will be 200 pesos until January 12. After that, the fee will rise to 250 pesos. Pick up and return entry forms and fees to Keith Thompson at the Longhorn Smokehouse. The address is calle Nueva 8, telephone: 044 (415) 109-8795.

Additional information is available from Mary Jones at 152-0426, email: mfjonesco4@yahoo.com. 

Harleys, tents and Marilyn Monroe: Five SMA bars
By Kennedy Poyser

This article first appeared in Atención, July 6, 2007.

San Miguel offers solace to the thirsty wanderer in dim cantinas and hotel plazas, Irish pubs and French bistros. The devoted imbiber has favorite venues, but the adventurous one expands the repertoire with the new or unusual. Consider the following five; each has features not found elsewhere.

JJ’s Bar is tucked into the Inquisitor’s building at Cuadrante 32, just two blocks south of the Jardin. Lara and Marie open about 4pm and stay until midnight or later (often much later on weekends or if the party is good). They are closed Tuesdays. Lara is not only a creative bartender who speaks English, he is also a strong chess player and nearly unbeatable in dominoes.

JJ’s is distinguished by being the nicest biker bar in the hemisphere. The owner is a “motorcycle enthusiast” whose vast collection of Harley Davidson memorabilia covers the walls of this almost-bohemian grotto. Some nights you might find six “hawgs” lined up out front; in Texas, you avoid such a place, unless you like a little mayhem with your beer.

JJ’s offers an adventure you can tell your friends about: “Saturday about midnight I wandered into this Mexican biker bar....” You’ll have fun, and pick up stories, since most of the patrons speak fairly good English.

La Palapa offers another unusual setting, possibly unique to San Miguel—a bar (and restaurant) in a permanent tent. The hours are short, 12–5pm, Monday through Saturday, but it’s a favorite with expats so it’s often busy.

Look for the Sol Cerveza tent in a fenced lot off Calle Nueva, a side street just north of Instituto Allende. Carla, the owner and social director, is bilingual. Right next door, in another tent, is the Longhorn Smokehouse. They’re open Tuesday through Saturday, also 12–5pm.

Cantina El Gato Negro is tucked between the two buildings at 10 and 12 Mesones, just up the street from the equestrian statue of Allende. From the outside, it looks much like other cantinas, but inside is a truly surprising collection of Marilyn Monroe photographs and memorabilia. Their provenance might be intriguing, since the bar has been there for nearly 80 years. This no-frills/no-English venue is open noon to midnight each day. Corona is only 10 pesos.

Revolution at Canal 48, just beyond the bridge, is open 6pm–1am, Tuesday through Sunday. Alicia and Carla are usually busy making generous flavored micheladas, the house specialty. English is in short supply, unless Alberto is there on Tuesdays. The 20-foot painting on the west wall is a visual treat, mixing Olmec imagery with more esoteric symbology. It looks like a mural, but is in fact a large oil painting on canvas, commissioned from a Korean artist in León.

Thirsty Monkey (South) opened April 4, 2007 at Calle Codo 32, a half block up from Espino’s. It’s a blend of San Miguel and New Orleans, but more Garden District than Bourbon Street. Happy hour is noon to 8pm; live music on Friday and Saturday nights (blues, jazz, Latin, reggae). José and Julio make you feel welcome, and they are very gracious about imperfect language skills, though I suspect their English is better than my Spanish. The northern branch of Thirsty Monkey is in McAllen, run by Bernal and Marie. Recipes for both came from Cajun country via grandmother.

Kennedy Poyser is alleged to have avoided gainful employment for 16 years by owning bookstores in Connecticut and Texas. 





Tributes to Phil Maher

This article first appeared in Atención, January 19, 2007.

Col. Philip J. Maher was the most dedicated public servant most of us ever met. He touched all of our lives in many ways. When we entered the hospital or the library, his work there was for us. Certainly, when we needed help from the US government Col. Maher was there as their representative, calming our fears and softening our frustrations. Few knew that he and Muriel spent his Christmas vacation visiting American prisoners in jails around the area, bringing them soap, razors and other small necessities. 

But it is as a man and a friend that we wish to pay tribute to Phil Maher. In his 37 years living in Mexico he touched the lives of so many, Americans and Mexicans alike. 

We will miss him as a friend who graced our home with Muriel at his side and entertained us at their home. 

Goodbye dear friend—you will not be forgotten.

Lee and Hy Asheroff



Getting the chance to interview “the Colonel,” San Miguel de Allende’s former US consular agent, this last time was challenging, to put it mildly. When word leaked out that a replacement had been found for Phil, nearly a year after his announcement that it was time to retire, I called his office and asked for an interview time. The response was immediate, and polite: Could I please come in at 1pm on the following Tuesday? This time was set because Colonel Maher felt things would be quiet around the office and we’d have time for a good talk.

No sooner had I turned my tape recorder on than the Colonel received an urgent phone call. Could I make it the next day? he asked. The next day, he tried to give me time, but it didn’t work out. When I seated myself in front of him in his private office with the large, ornate desk, he informed me: “I’ve had a bad hair day—can we reschedule?” This was no whim on his part. Not only had he been called away from his home early that morning to attend to some US expatriates who had been robbed and badly beaten, he was also now on his way to talk with the victim of a rape that had happened the night before.

The next time I visited Phil Maher in his office, it turned out that his retirement—for which a party in his honor had been scheduled the following weekend—was delayed for an indefinite amount of time. The approval process for his replacement had been slowed down, and Phil was going to have to stay in the job for a while longer. He hoped it wouldn’t be more than a couple of months.

It was quite a bit more than a couple of months. Finally, early the next spring, it seemed as if things were moving along. The Colonel had said, “Enough!” a month or so earlier and had left the job. A new consular agent was on the way in. I telephoned out to Phil and Muriel Maher’s house, and I was sitting across from him at a small desk within a couple of days.

The results of that interview were published in Atención in May 2006, and then again just recently, after his death.

Phil was a journalist’s dream. He listened carefully to the questions I asked him; he answered them directly and articulately and with great intelligence and humor. He had a store of wonderful stories to tell. He allowed his essence to show through—of a capable, giving, caring man who had devoted all of his life to service of others: his country, his family, his community. 

How lucky we of San Miguel are to have had this wonderful human being among us.

Eva Hunter