As Eye See It: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

By Bill Wilson

“The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur” —A.N. Whitehead, Introduction to Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is The Message” 

When McLuhan penned his seminal work in the sixties he envisioned a global village and now almost 50 years later we ARE living in that global village thanks to telecommunications advances. As philosopher Whitehead stated, many of society’s venerable institutions have been thrown into chaos. In my opinion: The internet all but killed print while at the same time it has fomented revolutions and sparked ways to communicate and to create.

As a newspaper dinosaur, we understand the changes in this news medium. We grew up with hot type and followed all the innovations that killed unions and caused the decline of print. Did Whitehead foresee the rise of artificial intelligence and will AI wreck societies?

Right now, you are holding in your hands and reading the miracle of print and a story of rebirth—Atención News was birthed again by the writers, editors, advertisers, and support staff.

Decades ago, my wife and I ventured into the mountains of central México in search of a retirement community.

With the help of journalist Carol Schmidt and her groundbreaking book “Falling in Love with San Miguel” we fell in love after our second three-week visit.

After the second visit, we ordered a mail subscription of Atención. We were delighted that it arrived in good condition and about two weeks late. Being a bibliophile and a daily journalist we loved it.  A few years afterwards and almost 3,000 miles later we were seated in the newsroom of Atención. We read copy, proofread, and submitted stories and photographs. We enjoyed working with editor Suzanne Ludekens and later Jesús Ibarra.

Over the years, we developed friends from the staff. The late Robert DeGast, the renowned Dutch American photographer/author, we helped in his photo safaris and proofed some of his books. We were a chase car for his hot air balloon team.

Atención, the Biblioteca and the Jardín are surely the heart of our expat community.  This column, As Eye See It, first appeared as commentary in US newspapers and then AM San Miguel Sunday, Atención, Insiders News and now Atención News.

It’s been a great ride and as I approach my eighth decade I am thankful for the team that Camie Fenton, our editor and publisher, has put together.

We will continue to report on our expat community and will rage against those who say print and newspaper are dead and that AI will replace journalists. Editors, writers, designers and newspaper staff and the artists, authors, and musicians after all are people (who love San Miguel and our collaborations.)

We will continue to report on people, places, and things in San Miguel. We have an editorial slogan in our weekly staff meetings—the stories either start or end in San Miguel. 

Rest In Peace

One of the pioneers in the San Miguel de Allende expat and artistic community, William Stirling Dickinson (1909-1998), has a new headstone. A collaboration of the San Miguel Orchid Club, The 24-Hour Association, the Wallschlager family (who purchased Stirling Dickinson's house) and the assistance of Inhumaciones López funeral home, made it possible.

"It all started with a tour of the cemetery with Susan Koen (also a member of the Orchid Club).   I noticed Stirling Dickinson’s grave as I entered and was surprised by how weathered and forgotten his grave looked. Plastic flowers were an attempt to adorn but not the way he should have been remembered,” San Miguel Orchid Club’s Don DeFeo explains. “The marker had deteriorated and the applied photo of him as a young man was unrecognizable. At our monthly orchid meeting, there was discussion of the adoption of his grave in light of his love for orchids.” The ceremony for the dedication of the new headstone took place July 25^th.

What’s Cookin’

Stay tuned to Atención News outlets  —print and electronic —for developments in the cooking classes by renowned chef and caterer Patsy DuBois.

The popular taco truck on Salida a Celaya near Boom Fitness (up a hill) has expanded. Tacos El Terco has added a Sushi truck and a pizza wagon. Affable chef Eddie has put together this collaboration. There’s also a store for foreign goodies.

¡Hasta el próximo mes!

Bill Wilson is a 20-year San Miguel resident, has a journalism, public and government affairs career spanning 50 years covering everything from the UN to Cub Scout news. He’s also a ham radio op, weather observer and first responder