“We are a fear-based society,” said Walton. Tony also sees deeper into the struggles facing his farmer parents and three older brothers, back from World War II, and learns to embrace Ultima’s homespun morality, even if it sometimes conflicts with his religion.Īpart from the story’s power, what most touched Walton about the book was its emphasis on valuing the natural world and holding fast to one’s family and community. In the months that follow, Tony bonds with the older woman, whose spiritual powers arouse fear and suspicion among other villagers. Its main character, Antonio “Tony” Marez, is almost 7 the summer when Ultima, an elderly curandera, or traditional Mexican healer, comes to live with his family. What she discovered was a sort of Mexican American “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Walton, an eco-entrepreneur and philanthropist, also had to overcome a nearly lethal bout of pneumonia.Īlthough “Bless Me, Ultima” is nominally a children’s or young adult book, Walton first read it as a wife and mother, in the late 1980s, at a female friend’s urging. Walton, son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, in a 2005 plane crash. It includes her then-3-year-old son’s battle with Stage 4 cancer and the death of her husband, John T. The story of how Walton, a Hollywood outsider, set up a company for the sole purpose of producing this one film contains nearly as many dramatic twists as the book itself. But the novel gradually won out over the scolds and the censors. Over the years, a handful of school districts have banned the book because it deals with themes of witchcraft and contains snatches of strong language. And a time of standing up for identity and culture.” “There was art coming out, and music and literature all over the place,” Anaya said.

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