Is This My Life? San Miguel and Beyond, Cynthia’s fourth book and the second in her San Miguel series, Inexplicable Mexico Contemplated, was published in 2022. In it, Cynthia tells of her life as an almost full-time residente permanente, starting in 2013, having sold her home in Philadelphia. She presents anecdotes about experiences and situations--both wildly humorous and deeply emotional--that happened to her, told in her relaxed, intimate, conversational style, brimming with luscious details, and shares her treasured photos of those events.
The “Beyond” part encompasses short, small-group adventures to such diverse places as the southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala; Uruapan, the second-largest city in the state of Michoacán; and an eco-journey to the state of Hidalgo in central Mexico, north of Mexico City.
Cynthia’s third book, A Lifetime to Get Here: San Miguel de Allende, published in 2020, kicked off the SMA series. It chronicles her early days as a visitor to San Miguel 2009-2012, taken from her almost-daily blogs about that experience. These stories are punctuated by Cynthia’s own evocative photos of that time.
Cynthia’s love for Mexico and all things Mexican, and San Miguel especially, shines through all of her stories and personal photos, whether she is complaining about minor difficulties, breathlessly telling a gripping story, or laughing at herself over the linguistic or cultural errors that she makes. You, too, will come to love San Miguel and Mexico when you read these delightful books.
Ice Cream & Pretzels, Cynthia’s second book, published in 2018, tells of growing up with her two younger sisters as the daughters of physicians in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this memoir in 17 short stories and a poem, Cynthia concentrates primarily on her childhood years in the 1940s and ’50s, her parents’ lives and their relationship, family dynamics, and a look back on some life-changing experiences. Vintage personal photographs of the characters and locations add texture to the narratives.
Her first book, An Orchid Sari: The Personal Diary of an American Mom in 1960s India, published in 2017, recounted her nine-week trip to London and India in 1968-69 with her Indian husband and their two-year-old son. Treasured slides from that trip were rescued and digitized to find their rightful place in this recounting of an amazing family escapade.
Cynthia received her B.A. degree in English from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1965.
After a stint as a full-time mother, Cynthia spent her working life entirely with non-profits in Philadelphia. She worked for her neighborhood organizing group and at an alternative school, and served as the administrative assistant to the president for publications at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia for many years. In that role, she was editor of the quarterly alumni/ae journal, served as managing editor of two other journals, and oversaw the creation of materials for the Admissions Office and for lecture, music, and preaching series. In addition, she supervised the support staff at the seminary.
After retirement, Cynthia spent 14 years as a volunteer teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Philadelphia.
In her earlier years in SMA, Cynthia served with several non-profits which benefit the less-fortunate there: Mujeres en Cambio (a scholarship program for girls); Libros para Todos (an organization to promote the love of reading); and Ojalá Niños (an after-school program with an emphasis on creativity).
For well over 10 years, she has taken Spanish grammar and conversation classes. Before COVID, she assisted Mexicans taking English classes with pronunciation and vocabulary development.