Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, “Let me get this straight– so what you’re telling me is that my chance of surviving all this (pandemic) is directly linked to the common sense of others? You’re kidding, right?” A daunting thought, but these circumstances do offer an opportunity to reassess the use of country’s resources as well as our personal goals. In our Cultural Watch, we’ll look at the scope and consequences of our growing “military, industrial, Congressional” complex. My latest Book Review will relate to that situation. Two of my reviews are in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter column “Million […]
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Book Review, Travel; To Timbuktu: A Journey Down the Niger
One of the reasons this book caught my attention is that I was working in Sierra Leone several years before Mark Jenkins started his trip down the Niger River in 1990. I traveled up-country on the border of Guinea with some missionary friends and have never forgotten the steady beat of drums in the darkness, a reminder of what a different world I’d just entered. Mark Jenkins, a travel fanatic and writer, sets out with three friends to attempt their first descent of the Niger River in kayaks, with the goal of reaching the legendary city of Timbuktu. The […]
Continue readingNewsletter July 2020 New Website Emerges from Global Pandemic
In this issue, we’re introducing the new Million Mile Walker website as well as reflecting on the devastating impact of Covid-19 on our collective health and economy, which was exacerbated by a declaration of our Commander in Chief that he’d send troops into our cities to deal with protestors if our Governors were too weak. The Culture Watch will include several articles on where we are today as a society and then we’ll have our Voice of the Day, a Special Surprise, the Calendar, and What Others are Saying? https://mailchi.mp/b1ff3a559ec1/a-gift-for-you-different-latitudes-1558934?e=b69257b7d8
Continue readingBook Review-Non Fiction; The Road Not Taken
This book is not only a biography of a pivotal, yet interestingly unknown figure but a work of history with diplomatic, political, and military implications which force us to rethink our understanding of recent American history. With the endless wars continuing in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, this seemed like a good time to read a book which puts the Vietnamese war into a new perspective. A war which, according to the author, 2.7 million American troops had passed through, (500,000 troops by 1967), the conflict claimed the lives of 58,000 Americans and 3.6 million Vietnamese and when we left, it […]
Continue readingNewsletter: April 2020
In this issue, I’ll share a special review of an article from the June issue of the Atlantic Monthly on how the coronavirus didn’t break America, but revealed what was already broken. Also, my article, which describes how transformative travel can be, has been published by both Literary Yard and the Peace Corps Worldwide. And our Culture Watch includes a revealing article from an investigative reporter that describes how a “Shadow Network” of talk radio and TV talking heads are able to not only change the filter of news, but the entire story. And, of course, our Voice of the […]
Continue readingNewsletter: March 2020
The ensuing coronavirus pandemic has caught most of our attention over the last few weeks, and possibly for the foreseeable future. As is the case with many authors, I’m used to “hunkering down” in my home office writing away, so this is not that big a deal. On the positive side, the pandemic has breached several myths, which needed to be exposed. First off, the “America First” and we can go it alone has failed miserably when international communication and cooperation can save lives. The impact of global travel is most evident in New York City, which is now the […]
Continue readingNewsletter: February 2020
Starting the year off right with a three-page feature article on our Guatemala immigration documentary in the February issue of Revue Magazine! The focus is the making of the film production and provides an overview of what the documentary is about, and why it’s timely, with a link to our website and the trailer of the film. http://www.revuemag.com/2020/02/guatemala-trouble-in-the-highlands-mark-d-walker/. Read the newsletter . . .
Continue readingNewsletter: January 2020
2019 has brought on many nuances in cross-border, immigration issues and philanthropy, which I’ve tried to stay on top of. A year ago, I teamed up with director and cinematographer, Hal Rifken, to produce a documentary titled after the essay you can read by clicking once and then again on the article, which is on page 82. https://issuu.com/revue/docs/revue_magazine_september_2019?fr=sOTIwODE4NzMw. After adding team members Alana DeJoseph and Tracy Cring, “Guatemala: Trouble in the Highlands” has a trailer and new website. The “Resource” center includes all of my articles on immigration as well as recommended readings to better understand the situation in Guatemala. […]
Continue readingNewsletter: December 2019
I just received a 30-year membership pin from the President of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) as a milestone to my commitment to my profession and the power of philanthropy, “…we know that over that time, you’ve made an indelible and long-lasting impact upon your cause, our community and the world.” Read the newsletter . . .
Continue readingNewsletter: October 2019
“Hugs not Walls: Reuniting the Children,” which is part of my series of articles on immigration, placed second at Saturday night’s Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest held at the Moon Valley Country Club here in Phoenix and will be included in their Arizona Literary Magazine. Over 50 attended the banquet. Also, my article, “Justice and Responsibility: The Plight of the Immigrants from Guatemala,” is now available at “Quail Bell Magazine”. http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-real-20/essay-migrant-caravans-and-social-justice. Read the newsletter . . .
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