Authors

This website features short biographies of the many, many authors and artists associated with Lake Chapala. It mainly focuses on authors and artists who lived or worked in the area from 1900 to 1980, and who are no longer with us.

This index lists authors’ biographies currently (as of 21 November 2023) on this site (this companion page lists artists). This list continues to grow, so watch this space!

Mysteries / other:

• 25 novels set largely or entirely at Lake Chapala
• Did the “well-known writer” Max Poyntz (1918-1999) ever write his proposed trilogy?
• Did Ernest Hemingway ever visit Lake Chapala?
• Mary Duff Stirling (Lady Twysden) [Hemingway connection]
• Did Bet Lamoureux (1909-1989) ever complete the book she was writing in Ajijic?
• Did Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) ever visit Lake Chapala?
• The West Mexican Society for Advanced Study (1971-1974)
• Post-1970 writing about the Ajijic retirement community
• The origin of the popular Mexican saying about “Dust on my Heart”
• A Christmas Potpourri of Lake Chapala Links
• Canadian artists and authors associated with Lake Chapala
• Writers associated with Hotel Ribera Castellanos
• Chapala: Ciudad Señorial e Insigne (review)
• Serenata de Chapala (1939) – earliest play related to Lake Chapala?

Authors:

• Verna Aardema (1911-2000)
• Diego José Abad (1727-1779)
• Jesús Acal Ilisaliturri (1856-1902)
• Zara Alexeyewa, aka La Rusa (1896-1989)
• Luis Arceo Preciado (1926-2018)
• Leanne Averbach
• Leonora Baccante (ca 1905-?)
• Bernardo de Balbuena – earliest known poetic reference to Lake Chapala
• George Ballou (1927 -?1986)
• George Carpenter Barker (1912-1958)
• Honorato Barrera Buenrostro (1870-1952)
• Elizabeth Bartlett (1911-1994)
• Eileen Bassing (1918-1977)
  • “Where’s Annie?”, novel by Eileen Bassing set in Ajijic
• Robert Bassing (1926-)
• Dorothy Bastien (1906-1985)
• Ralph Leon Beals (1901-1985)
• Sybille Bedford (1911-2006)
• Charles Beebe (1877-1962)
• Betty Bell (?-?)
• Barbara Bickmore (1927-2015)
• Earle Birney (1904-1995)
• Robert Jere Black (1892-1953)
• Charles Bogert (1908-1992)
• Vance Bourjaily (1922-2010)
• Paul Bowles (1910-1999), writer and composer
• Mildred Boyd (1921-2010)
• John Brandi, painter and poet
• Bruce Buckingham (pen name of Dane Chandos – detective stories)
  • Bruce Buckingham’s “Three Bad Nights” (Dane Chandos)
  • Bruce Buckingham’s “Boiled Alive” (Dane Chandos)
• Witter Bynner (1881-1968)
  • The Luis Barragan-Witter Bynner house in Chapala
• Francisco Cabrera (?-1965)
• Arthur Brooke Caden (ca 1871-1906)
• Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985)
• Ruben M. Campos (1871-1945)
  • Claudio Oronoz and Lake Chapala
  • Lake Chapala in 1899
• Fred Walker Carmichael (1924-2009)
• Thomas Carmichael (ca 1920-1972)
• William English Carson (1870-1940)
• Martín Casillas (born 1941)
  • Confesiones de Maclovia
  • Las batallas del general
• Dane Chandos (pen name):
  • Nigel Millett
  • Peter Lilley
  • Anthony Stansfeld
• Louis Henry Charbonneau (1924-2017)
• Elliot Chess (ca 1898-1962)
• Pema Chödrön (1936-)
• Garland Franklin Clifton (1922-2013)
• Georgia Cogswell – see George Rae Marsh
• Barbara Compton (1902-1999)
  • Barbara Compton’s novel “To The Isthmus”
• Joseph Cottler (1899-1996)
• Helen Creighton (1899-1989)
• Ellis Credle Townsend (1902-1998)
• Frieda Hauswirth Das (1886-1974)
• Antonio de Alba (1900-1958)
  • How history progresses: Antonio de Alba and “Chapala”
• Vitold de Szyszlo (1881-1965)
• Gina Dessart Hildreth (1912-1979)
• Charles A Dickinson (1910-1950)
• David Dodge (1910-1974), novelist and travel writer
  • David Dodge on Chapala and Ajijic in the late 1960s
• Bruce Douglas (1897-ca 1961)
• Jan Dunlap (1927-2018)
• Brian Boru Dunne (1878-1962)
• Henry F Edwards (1933-)
• Arnold Eiloart (1907-1981)
  • role in Peter Arnold
• Edgar Ellinger (1906-1974)
  
• Peter Elstob (1915-2002)
  • role in Peter Arnold
• Charles Embree (1874-1905)
• Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
• Salvador Escudero (1883-1946)
• Clayton Eshleman (1935-2021)
• Sam Eskin (1898-1974), ethnomusicologist
• William R. (“Bill”) Evans (1923-2001)
• Peter Everwine (1930-)
• Ixca Farias (1873-1947)
• Arthur Davison Ficke (1883-1945)
  • Ficke: “Mrs. Morton of Mexico” (novel)
• Frances Christine Fisher (1846-1920), aka Christian Reid
• Norman D Ford (1921-2009)
• Harry Alverson Franck (1881-1962)
• Joan Van Every Frost (1929-2012)
• Howard Fryer (1941-2013)
• Rodney Alexander Gallop (1901-1948)
• Gordon Gammack (1909-1974)
• Dorothy Garlock (1919-2018)
• Renée George (1924-2010)
• Clifford Gessler (1893-1979)
• Eduardo A Gibbon (1845-1897)
• Willa Gibbs (1917-1999)
• Jack Gilbert, poet (1925-2012)
• Owen Wallace Gillpatrick (1862-1925)
• Martin M. Goldsmith (1913-1994)
• Francisco González Rubalcaba (?-?)
• Luis Gonzaga Urbina  (1864-1934)“El Poema del lago” (“The Lake Poem”)
• Katharine (Katie) Goodridge Ingram (1938-)
• Elaine Gottlieb (1916-2004)
• Andrew Grayson (1919-1869)
  • “Ixotle”
• A. Gringo [pseudonym, possibly of Charles Manwell St Hill (1848-c 1908 ), NOT Arthur St. Hill]
• Juan Pablo Guzmán (1909-?)
  • “El gran Chapa”
• Oakley Hall (1920-2008)
• Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965)
• Michael Hargraves (1952-)
• Frederic Haskin (1873-1944)
• Frieda Hauswirth Das (1886-1974)
• Frank Herbert (1920-1986)
  • “A Thorn in the Bush”
• Chester P. Hewitt (1922 -1980)
• Gina Hildreth – see Gina Dessart (1912-1979)
• Donald William Hogan (1928-1971)
• Karen Horney (1885-1952)
• Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)
• Hugh Allyn Hunt (1931-2022)
• Robert (Bob) Hunt (1906-1964)
• Neill James (1895-1994)
• Willard “Spud” Johnson (1897-1968)
• Kate Karns (born 1921)
• Charles Kaufman (1904-1991)
  • “Fiesta in Manhattan”
• James Kelly (1912-1993)
• Lysander Kemp (1920-1992)
  • Jocotepec in the mid-1950s: “The Perils of Paradise”
• Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (1908-1992)
• Zoe Kernick (1915-2006)
  • Ajijic in 1950
• Rose Georgina Kingsley (1845-1925)
• Smith Kirkpatrick (1922-2008)
• Mabel F. Knight (1879-?)
• Dudley Kuzell (1896-1969)
• Elizabeth L. “Betty” Kuzell (1895-1986)
• Bet Lamoureux (1909-1989)
• Fred Lape (1900-1985)
• D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)
  • The centenary of D H Lawrence’s visit to Chapala in 1923
  • Lawrence: “The Plumed Serpent” (novel)
  • D. H. Lawrence’s four-day boat trip around Lake Chapala
  • Quinta Quetzalcoatl, the D. H. Lawrence house at Lake Chapala
• John Lee (1931-2013)
• Jim Levy (1940-)
• Arthur H. Lewis, (1906-1995)
• Peter Lilley [see also Dane Chandos]
• Rixford Lincoln (1872-1962)
• Manuel López Cotilla (1800-1861)
• José López Portillo y Rojas (1850-1923)
• Rafael López (1873-1943)
• Ross MacDonald [pen name of Kenneth Millar]
• Mary Starr MacNicol (ca 1916- ca 1970)
• Maria de Jesus Magallon Perez (1924–1957)
• Norman Mailer (1923-2007)
• Clarence Major (1936-)
• George Rae Marsh (Williams) (1925-1997)
  • Golden Obsession, a novel by Georgia Cogswell (aka George Rae Marsh)
• Willard “Butch” Marsh (1922-1970)
  • Week With No Friday (novel)
• Winifred Martin (1869-1961)
• Harold Walter Masson (1915-2011)
• Carol Shepherd McClain (b 1939)
• Samuel McCulloch (1921-1991)
• Jack McDonald (1899-1997)
• Ralph McGinnis (1894-1966)
  • Ralph J. McGinnis’s “Lotus Land”
• Clement Woodward Meighan (1925-1997)
• Aileen Olsen Melby (1921-2003)
• Kenneth Millar (1915-1983)
• Virginia Downs Miller (1914-2005)
• Nigel Millett [see also Dane Chandos]
• Barbara Moore (1934-2002)
• Richard Zdenko Moravec (1894-ca 1960)
• Álvaro Ochoa Serrano (1948-)
  
• Gwendolen Overton (1874-1958)
  • Overton: “The White Rebozo”
• Blair Niles (1880-1959)
• Charles Bernard Nordhoff (1887-1947)
• Ramón Martínez Ocaranza (1915-1982)
• Gabino Ortiz Villaseñor (1819-1885)
• Hilda Marie Osterhout (c 1925-2016)
• Anthony Ostroff (1923-1978)
• Ross Parmenter
  • Driving from Chapala to Ajijic in 1946
  • Boat trip from Chapala to Ajijic in 1946
  • Irrigating the fields on Lake Chapala’s shoreline
  • Ajijic and its church, 1946
  • Fishing on Lake Chapala, 1946
• Elsie Crews Parsons (1875-1941)
• James Patterson (born 1947)
• Honorable Selina Maud Pauncefote (1862-1919)
• Ireneo Paz (1836-1924)
• Richard Wendell Phillips Jr. (1929-2010)
• William Bentz Plagemann (1913-1991)
• Ned Polsky (1928-2000)
• Al Purdy (1918-2000)
  • Al Purdy’s take on Lake Chapala in 1978-79
• Idella Purnell (1901-1982)
  • “The Idols Of San Juan Cosala” by Idella Purnell
• Joe Rayter – see Mary Fuller McChesney, artist
• Ellis E ‘Bill’ Reed (?-)
• H. Owen Reed (1910-2014)
• Gustav Regler (1898-1963)
• Jan Richman
• Ray Rigby (1916-1995)
• Victoriano Roa (?-?) (19th Century)
• José Ruben Romero (1890-1952)
• Ruth Ross-Merrimer (1925-2011)
• Ramón Rubín (1912-2000)
  • Rubín: “La Canoa Perdida”
• Jose Rafael Rubio (1879-1917)
• George Ryga (1932-1987)
  • George Ryga: connections to other Lakeside authors
  • “Portrait of Angelica”
• José Sánchez Villaseñor (1911-1961)
• Stephen Schneck (1933-1996)
• Sandra Scofield (?-)
  • A Chance to See Egypt
• George Seaton (1888-1944)
• Lorenzo Semple Jr. (1923-2014)
• Regina Shekerjian (1923-2000)
• Vida Hills Shepard (1885-1972)
• Arvid Shulenberger (1918-1964)
• John Sinclair (1902-1993)
• Ken Smedley
• Virginia Snow (1908-1959)
• Bob Somerlott (1928-2001)
• Bart Spicer, writer of detective and spy mysteries
• Emma-Lindsay Squier (1892-1941)
  • Emma-Lindsay Squier describes Chapala and Jocotepec in 1926
• Leo Stanley (1886-1976)
  • Jocotepec in 1937
  • San Luis Soyatlán and Tuxcueca in 1937
  • Chapala and searching for idols in 1937
• Anthony Stansfeld (1913-1998)
• Edna Mae Stark (1909-?)
• Frederick Starr (1858-1933)
• William Standish Stone (1905-1970)
• William Strange (1902-1983)
• Barbara Nolen Strong (1902-2002), editor children’s books
• Horace Sutton (1919-1991)
• Glendon Swarthout (1918-1992)
  • Glendon Swarthout’s short story “Ixion”
• Miles Swarthout (1946-2016)
• Edmond Szekely (1905-1979)
• José Juan Tablada (1871-1945)
• Esther Tapia de Castellanos (1842-1897)
• Robert Lewis Taylor (1912-1998)
• Thomas Philip Terry (1864-1945)
• Calvin Tomkins (1925-)
• Alexander Trocchi (1925-1984)
• John Upton (1917-2005)
  • A Sneak Peel into Author’s Notebook
• Luis Gonzaga Urbina (1864-1934)
  • “El Poema del lago” (“The Lake Poem”)
• Dale Van Every (1896-1976)
  • see also daughter Joan Van Every Frost
• Jack Vance (1916-2013)
• Christopher Veiel (1925-?)
• Enrique Villaseñor y de La Parra (1865-1934)
• Robert Penn Warren
• ruth weiss (1928-2020)
• Howard Wheeler (ca 1896-1968)
• Tennessee Williams – productive summer at Lake Chapala
• Hazel Wilson (1897-1992)
• William Winnie Jr. (1928-1988)
• Marie Robinson Wright (1853-1914)
• Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952)
• Al Young (1939-2021), poet and novelist
  • Al Young’s novel “Who is Angelina?”
• Bethel Young (?-?)
• Salomón Zepeda (1917-1985) 
  • “La Ondina de Chapala”

Comments, corrections or additional material related to any of the writers and artists featured in our series of mini-bios are welcomes. Please email us or use the comments feature at the bottom of individual posts.