Luis Leal: An Auto/Biography

Chapter One: Linares

Chapter One Linares Leal with his father, Luis Leal Ardines, about 1912. Family Background and Early Life MG: Don Luis, when and where were you born? LL: I was born on September 17, 1907, in Linares, Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. Linares is located southeast of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León. I was named after my father. When I returned in 1985 after many years to receive an homenaje [homecoming award] from city officials, I discovered that Linares had not changed very much over the years. In fact, it struck me that it had not changed at all. At the luncheon for me, I was seated next to the presidente municipal [mayor], who asked me, ‘‘Why did you leave Linares all those years ago?’’ I said, ‘‘Well, I left because I had to study and so I went to the United States. I had the intention of coming back, but I never did.’’ What I politely didn’t tell the mayor was that at that time nobody stayed in Linares. They all went someplace else. What is Linares like? What is its economy? The economy is mostly agriculture, especially oranges. Most of the oranges in Mexico are grown in this region around Linares and Montemorelos. It is a very productive agricultural region. There has also been some cattle raising . When the railroads entered this region during the period of Don Porfirio Dı́az’s rule [1877–1910], this expanded agricultural production. Is it an arid climate? Yes, it’s dry, but it’s not as hot as in Monterrey. Linares sits not far from the Sierra Madre Oriental, which means it is at a higher elevation than Monterrey and is cooler. It’s very fertile land and is similar to Southern California. Were your parents originally from Linares? My mother, Josefina Martı́nez, was born in a town called Galeana, which is up in the Sierras not too far from Linares. It’s a town made famous by the Leal, about 21⁄2 years old. exploits of General Mariano Escobedo, who was born there and later fought bravely with Benito Juárez against the French intervention in the 1860s. Escobedo received the sword of the French-imposed Emperor Maximilian after the capture of Maximilian. My mother’s family—the Martı́nez family —was distantly related to General Escobedo. I don’t know how far my mother’s family goes back. It was a ranching family. I know, unfortunately, less about my mother’s side of the family. On my father’s side, the Leal family can be traced back to the seventeenth century—specifically to 1636—when that family left the center of Mexico and settled in what came to be Linares. I have a land map of Linares from the eighteenth century that contains the names and locations of particular family homes. It indicates the existence of the Leal family. The family home was right in front of the marketplace—the parián—in the center of the town. The term parián is a word from the Philippines, and the market is referred to as el parián. Our home existed in this exact location—although periodically it was rebuilt. Unfortunately, today it only partially exists, or some of the walls do. When I visited in 1985, a very large theater had been constructed in this place, along with a furniture store. We had a very large home. It occupied an entire block. It was a typical Spanish-style house with an interior central patio surrounded by the various rooms and the kitchen. I had my own bedroom as a child. Much of our time was spent in and around the patio. Linares was a very small town. It had its central square with its church and marketplace. In the evenings families and young men and women would go to the central plaza. There the young men and women would participate in the serenata, which consisted of the young men walking around the plaza in a clockwise direction and the young women in a counterclockwise one. This tradition goes back to Spain and was a way for young people to socialize with each other but still be under the eyes of watchful parents or elders. Boys and girls never walked together unless they were engaged. I remember by around age fifteen walking with my male friends and looking and...