It’s not King Tut’s tomb because it’s Mexico and not Egypt, but BJ Advertising Art retiree Mike Williams (BJ 1968-2012) and wife Jane Williams are dancing their way through the Teotihuacan, considered the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas.

Mike, who has traipsed through Ecuador often with his wife Jane, has a different viewpoint:

“Actually our guide insisted the structures at Teotihuacan were not pyramids, but platforms -- temples -- and not burial sites. So really the Egyptian pose is off the mark.

“If you're looking for a true pyramid in Mexico you need to go to Cholula, near Puebla, where the structure is 400 meters on a side (largest in Egypt is 266 meters a side).

“The Cholula pyramid is honeycombed with passages, and the guide there asked if any of us were claustrophobic to the point we couldn't negotiate 800+ meters of tunnels.

“If you're looking for an impressive Cheops-version pyramid there you'll be disappointed. It has been extensively eroded (and quarried), has trees growing on it and a Catholic church on top.”

Teotihuacan, 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds,  the Avenue of the Dead.

With 125,000 people at its zenith, Teotihuacan once was the sixth largest city in the world during its 100 BC to 7^th century AD existence.

It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico.

Mike and Jane have spent months in Ecuador,  including a trek up the Andes Mountains, and recently toured the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 

Mike and Jane, married 36 years, have two sons, independent trucker Nathan Williams and chemical engineer Trevor Williams.

Mike retired from Ol’ Blue Walls in 2012 after 44 years, including coming under John Grimm’s wing in 1976.

Mark started in Advertising part-time in 1968 after bugging Ben James for a job during visits home from a freshman year at Ohio State. Retail Ad Manager Jim Muckley hired Mike full-time in 1971 in the Ad Services department. 

Mike’s sister, BJ information technology retiree Linda Williams Torson, is married to Akron-Summit County Metroparks retiree Tim Torson. Linda was with the Beacon Journal for 42 years.

Another sister, former clinical dietician Cindy Williams Chima, worked in the BJ classified phone room in the 1970s and writes fiction novels for young adults.

Linda started in the Beacon Journal classified phone room in the summer before her senior year in high school (1969). She was 16.  Helen Becton, manager in the phone room, hired Linda's twin Cindy at the same time.

Mike’s earlier quest was collecting every issue of Tower Topics, the BJ in-house employee newsletter, and digitizing them.

The Williams and Tom Moore families have been close friends for decades, beginning with Tom’s newsroom career at the BJ.