A Gathering of Fugitives

by Diana Anhalt

Cultural Writing. "A fascinating exhumation of a little-known group of American communists-idealists, artists, spies and Hollywood types-who migrated to Mexican exile in the late 1940s and 1950s. Diana Anhalt tells their story-and her own-sympathetically but not uncritically"-Dr. Harvey Klehr. "Diane Anhalt's lively personal account introduces us to the heretofore unknown story of this struggling community.It's an important story-and Anhalt tells it well-reminding us of the personal costs that political repression can inflict upon its victims and their families"-Dr. Ellen W. Schrecker.

246 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

There's a song in Spanish: "No soy de aquí ni soy de allá..."--I'm not from here, I'm not from there..." I feel like that sometimes. Transplanted from New York to Mexico City when I was eight years old, I returned to my native country when I was 68. That was a little over two years ago and I'm still trying to adapt, to grow roots, and ironically, to feel at home in the country of my birth. But the one place where I have always felt at home is in the small space between my chair and my desk, in front of my computer. So nowadays I'm spending a lot of time there writing about the country I remember and the life I spent there.

I married young by todays standards--at 23-- although my mother-in-law told me I was lucky to have found her son. That I would have been 'quedada'--left behind. But she was right in my fortune in having found Mauricio. We had two kids, I worked part-time as a high school teacher, we traveled extensively, have had a wonder life together. For me, the publication of "Second Skin" is an exclamation point in a life that has been filled with exclamation points. I have been very fortunate.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the American communists who fled the US to move to Mexico in the 1950s. I would have preferred more story telling vs factual documentation. Especially around the unironic descriptions of these communists setting up businesses, being swindled in get-rich-quick schemes and pawning their gold cigarette lighters.