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In Folk Saints of the Borderlands : Victims, Bandits, and Healers, Griffith introduces us to some unforgettable saints-in-the-making (or not). Meet: â¢Juan Soldado ("John Soldier") of Tijuana, miracle worker and unofficial patron saint and protector of illegal immigrants. But was the real Juan a martyr or a murderer? â¢Jesus Malverde, stagecoach robber and Robin Hood figure of nineteenth-century Sinaloa, Mexico, who has become the narcosanto, or saint of the drug dealers. â¢Pancho Villa, bandit, revolutionary general, and invader of New Mexico. Since his assassination in 1923 he has gained a reputation as a spiritual helper, but women who channel his spirit are advised to beware. Even in the afterlife he's a "groper." â¢El Nino Fidencio, a childlike, playful figure who loved to sing, dance and dress up, began his career as a healer at the age of eight The New York Times praises Griffith: "He writes of the beliefs and customs of people far different from himself with a gentle tone and spirit of restraint and simple decency."… (more)