Readers’ Forum

José Mojica, one of the founding cultural fathers
(The second part of “Impromptu moments,” from Atención, October 10)
By Lou Christine
October 17, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

José Mojica was born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, in 1896. At an early age, following his father’s death his mother moved him to Mexico City. The youngster possessed a golden voice and made early use of it. San Miguel’s own native son, Pedro Vargas, first took notice.

Vargas, whose own voice was deemed a national treasure, bolstered the ranks of Mexico’s frontline tenors, renowned for belting out a riveting rendition of “Ave Maria” that often moves believers to tears. Vargas took Mojica under his wing, ensuring that Mojica attended the national music conservatory. After stand-out performances in the production of Barber of Seville and a stint at Teatro Ideal, a slew of opportunities presented themselves. Beause Mojica’s radiant voice could hit towering notes, his career skyrocketed.

The tenor remained close to his mother. She first recognized his gift and jump-started his talent, nudging him into influential circles. Soon enough he was performing at New York City’s Metropolitan. Enrico Caruso befriended Mojica and made him an admired protégé.

Mojica, young, with movie-star looks and proficiently bilingual, was rapidly achieving operatic stardom. His voice was a tour de force.

Mojica relocated out west in Santa Monica, a beachside community. Never forgetting his mother, he resettled Señora away from Mexico City in a setting more apropos for the mother of an up-and-coming superstar. Perhaps because of his affiliation with Pedro Vargas, Mojica elected to build a villa in San Miguel, aptly naming it in honor of his adopted American city: Villa Santa Monica. It stands today as a local hotel with its name still intact.

Mojica went on to star in about a dozen B-grade films from 1930–34, the majority in English, with him portraying a swashbuckling leading man. The most notable was One Mad Kiss. The tenor-turned-actor could handle a horse, throw a right cross and romance a girl; he did away with the bad guys and got the girl, but for some reason, perhaps a quirk stemming from disinterested audiences, or perhaps just lame material, Mojica wasn’t embraced by the adoring public. The Cagneys, Gables, Bogarts, Waynes and Tom Mixes were the talk of the silver screen. Mojica wasn’t.

Still popular in his home country, Mojica with home-field advantage turned to Mexican-made films for additional fame and fortune. He starred in the Spanish-speaking Captain Adventura in 1939. Regardless of reviews, there was no need for anxiety; Mojica had a solid singing career to fall back on. He composed “Only Once,” a well-received bolero dedicated to famed Mexican composer Agustín Lara.

Mojica’s mother was a major influence in his life. When she passed in 1942, he became incredibly distraught. Her death crippled him, made him unable to perceive himself as a performer, star, or as prominent or privileged.

Stranger yet, Mojica went through a metamorphosis and embraced a religious vocation. In little more time than it takes a flamenco dancer to render a clap, Mojica rid himself of personal riches then sequestered himself in a Franciscan seminary.

During 1942, most young men in the free world were going infantry or airborne to fight Hitler and Tojo. Stirling Dickinson caught the spirit, enlisted and went naval intelligence. Mojica went missionary.

Come 1947, the then ex-tenor, ex-movie star, ex-celeb, a one-time glitzy spoke in Hollywood and Mexico City circles, took his holy vows, ordained as Fray José Francisco de Guadelupe. In the name of Jesus Christ he invaded Peru as a sandal-footed, front-line missionary. He was impoverished. He felt free.

In 1959, Mojica founded Casa Hogar Don Bosco for orphans in San Miguel, assisted by Dominicas de María nuns. The first refuge he founded was Santuario Guadalupano Mexiquito, located on Salida a Dolores. At first the facility housed both boys and girls, but the sisters noticed that it was necessary to separate boys from girls and the girls were moved to a donated house at Sollano 14. As time passed, more girls arrived at the house, so an American lady donated another house in Colonia Santa Julia, where the younger girls were moved. Currently, the three casas hogares in San Miguel are managed by Dominicas de María nuns; 39 girls between infancy and 12 years of age live at Santa Julia, 25 girls aged 12 to 18 live in the house on Sollano and 19 boys reside at the shelter in Mexiquito.

Mojica penned a critically acclaimed autobiography, I, Sinner, made into the feature film Yo Pecador in 1959, starring himself. Mojica also was instrumental in encouraging another Mexican/Hollywood actor, Humberto Almazán, to realize his own religious vocation then to follow his footsteps and join the Franciscans.

Mojica lived out the rest of his life in South America, doing yeoman’s work for his church and order. He appeared in a few films during the latter part of his life, playing himself. He was in bad health and had a bad heart, and an older woman cared for him during the last five years of his life. He died in Peru, in 1974, at the age of 78. He was penniless.

Lou Christine is a local writer and long-time contributor to Atención.

Letters


Editor,

In her letter to Atención of September 26, Marcela Andre López offered several excellent suggestions for replacing the revenue that some perceive has been lost by the welcomed cancellation of the Sanmiguelada. I would like to offer one more proposal: why not have a New Orleans style Mardi Gras with its attendant revelry—and all that jazz? Interested nonprofit organizations could each have their own Krewes and parades or they could participate in one pan-San Miguel event.

I am a native of New Orleans. I grew up with Mardi Gras. I’d be happy to help.


Mireille Rita Grovier
Mireillegrovier1@gmail.com 

Editor:

Last week, 15 colonia San Antonio residents met with Police Chief Trujillo concerning the escalating crime problem in San Miguel. Unlawful entries, robberies, vandalism and graffiti have increased significantly in the colonia. We prepared a list of 15 recent incidents to report, but discussed only one of them before Chief Trujillo began addressing the group of primarily Norteamericanos in English, outlining the challenges that he faces. His first “complaint” was that the laws in Mexico are “(unmentionable word).” He cited an instance of finally having apprehended and jailed a criminal, only to have him released five days later for abuse of his, the criminal’s, derechos humanos.

The Chief told how he fired 85 incompetent or corrupt officers when he took office, how he instituted a multi-stage screening process for applicants, culminating in a personal interview by him and finally a four-month training program. None of this existed prior to his tenure. He has gotten salary increases for the police but complains they are still woefully underpaid at 5,600 pesos a month; he would like salaries raised to 10,000 pesos. He doesn’t have enough resources to add more mounted police, nor neighborhood patrols. His department polices over 540 neighborhoods and, at any one shift, only 35 policemen are in the streets. I could go on and on about his presentation; I’m sure it’s all true.

The Chief asked for volunteers to teach new recruits enough English so they can take crime reports. Before the meeting was over, two attendees volunteered to work with the Director of Police Training. However, people who answer 066 calls and the police on the streets need that training, too. More importantly, Norteamericano residents need to learn the language of the land so they can report a crime in Spanish and give descriptions of the perpetrators.

The Chief urged citizens to be his “eyes and ears” and to report crimes to the Ministerio Publico. Unfortunately, the latter is an exercise in futility, requiring much of the victim’s time with no results.

This morning a neighbor told me that yesterday, in broad daylight, she found an intruder outside her kitchen widow. She had seen him hanging onto the top of her wall and looking into the neighbor’s yard before he approached her kitchen. She went right up to him (on the other side of the window), called the police and reported the break-in in Spanish while he stood there looking at her before fleeing. The police, the Federales and the State Troopers descended on her house in about five minutes, but no one went looking for the intruder until she demanded it.

The police then put a disk in her computer with photos of 468 known offenders. They even told her who they thought this particular intruder was and where he lived, but they couldn’t do anything.

Things will get worse before they get better. Remittances to Mexico from the US are down by 12 percent. Families here are hurting and jobs are scarce for young men left behind. Stealing is a way to bring in money. Laws here favor criminals, who brazenly enter homes when occupants are there, knowing they probably will get away with their crimes. The police force is understaffed and under-trained. Therefore, we have to make sure we lock our doors and windows, safeguard our property and take responsibility for our own and our neighbors’ security. We should engage neighbors in a Neighborhood Watch or Vecinos Vigilantes. The Mexican community has never relied on the police to protect it. It’s naïve of the foreign community to expect they will protect us.

Linda Sorin