Celebrities
in Zihuatanejo from Timothy Leary to Britney
Spears
The
first celebrities that visited Zihuatanejo
date back more than four hundred years
ago when it was the favorite retreat
of Tarascan kings,
one of whom "built a stonewall
breakwater in the shallow cove so his
daughters could swim in a sheltered
lagoon" (1). With the passage of
time, the stonewall has grown into an
active coral reef that offers great
snorkeling.
Fast forward to the early 20th century,
when the American author famous for
his Westerns, Zane Grey,
wrote his 1925 book, "Tales of
Fishing Virgin Seas," inspired
in Zihuatanejo, where he caught a year
earlier a 135-lb. sailfish that was
then a world record catch. The author,
enamored with the place, wrote on the
back cover of his book: "Zihuatanejo
has more authentic South Seas atmosphere
than the South Sea islands themselves."
Around 1963, Timothy Leary,
an icon of 1960 counterculture, dismissed
from Harvard for experimenting with
psychedelic drugs, established in Zihuatanejo
the "Mexican Freedom Center",
where he and his followers aimed to
give continuity to his life project
of "Turn on, tune in, drop out".
Five years later, Owen Lee,
a member of Capt. Jacques Cousteau's
diving staff, got hooked by the magic
of Zihua-- "In 1968, he sailed
into Zihuatanejo Bay aboard an old wooden
sailboat. He has lived here and loved
it ever since" according to the
back cover of his 1996 guidebook, entitled
"Owen´s English Language Guide".
Lee owns the Las Gatas Beach Club.
In 2005, Daniel Kennedy
released "The Cooking School at
Z," subtitled "a novel of
romance and food in Mexico." Reviewing
the book editor Catherine Krantz said
it "reminds us why we love Zihuatanejo,
the beauty of the place and the people
here." Kennedy says his best-selling
bookstore is the international airport
in Sacramento, "where people want
a novel for a long plane ride to shift
them into a vacation frame of mind."
(2)
A short time later, Canadian snowbird
Elizabeth Ashe released
"The Jade Pendant," totally
set in Zihua. Ashe says she feels "Zihuatanejo
is the most romantic and inspiring place
on earth, particularly for women, and
it will always hold a special place
in my heart no matter where my future
takes me." (2)
A
moonlit beach in Zihua is the ideal
place for love, as it was the place
chosen by Mark Burnett,
producer of hit shows such as Survivor
and The Apprentice,
to get down on his knees in 2006 and
propose to TV actress Roma Downey.
(3)
Last
year it was Britney Spears´
turn to enjoy Zihuatanejo. The Princess
of Pop Music, her beau, the actor and
musician, Jason Schwartzman
and her two sons, Sean and Jayden relaxed
and enjoyed a few days under a splendorous
sun.
Tom
Morley, renowned yoga instructor
to film celebrities such as Oscar winners
Reese Witherspoon and
Helen Hunt has also
chosen Zihuatanejo to offer his health
and healing therapies.(4)
Sources:
(1)NYT Travel Section, Sunday, May 19,
2002
(2) Michel
Janicot, a writer who lives in Grass
Valley, CA in www.adip.info/2005_2006/jan/01-history.html
(3) www.starblogs.net/archives/2006/11/index-p2.html
(4) www.travelixtapazihuatanejo.com/libraries/uploaded/general/file/press/BP10_en.pdf
