Casa Popenoe Talks — Becoming Wilson Popenoe
This past Thursday Casa Popenoe, immortalised by Louis Adamic in his book “The House in Antigua”, treated several dozen guests to two talks about Wilson Popenoe and an exhibit of avocado paintings by Irma de Luján as part of The Avocado Festival.
The conference “Convirtiéndose en Wilson Popenoe: ¿cómo la expedición a Guatemala dio forma a su carrera y su legado?” by Ed Loyd followed the early life of Wilson Popenoe and showed how his expedition to Guatemala 100 years ago gave form and shape to his career and legacy. Next, Lori Unruh Snyder gave her talk “Wilson Popenoe, siguiendo los pasos de un agrónomo recolector de plantas.” where she narrated her own pursuit following the steps of Wilson Popenoe explorations through Latin America.
The stories described how the avocado from Antigua Guatemala spawned the Avocado industry in California and elsewhere. Below I share with you a small gallery of the conferences.
As part of The Avocado Festival, there will be a food tasting this Saturday where top chefs from Antigua Guatemala will show off their culinary creations based on the avocado. Stay tuned for photos and a description of this unique and ephemeral foodie event.
Now, in case you’re wondering about Casa Popenoe and the book it inspired in the 1930, here’s a review. By the way, Casa Popenoe is still open to tours with previous reservation. Soon I will have a mini series on Casa Popenoe, stay tuned!
The House in Antigua
Set in Colonial Antigua, Guatemala, this perhaps idealized and factually based tale is an easy read that makes an charming start to understanding the blended cultures to be found there. The house in the story is still there to be toured, maintained by the family, a surprise and a delight. It is window on a time, looking back centuries through the framework of the 1930s.
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