News from Eland View this email in your browser Welcome to the Eland Books end of January newsletter. We do hope you’ll enjoy reading it. If you wish to unsubscribe, please use the link in the footer. The Saddest Pleasure Moritz Thomsen A personal reflection from former Peace Corps Volunteer, Mark D. Walker Moritz Thomsen was an iconic author and figure to his devoted fan base, and before his death in 1991, he had written five extraordinary books. Although we are of different generations and never met, we shared some similar life experiences as Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) involved with […]
Continue readingLies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
With the controversy around critical race theory, which is a cross-disciplinary intellectual and social movement of civil rights scholars and activities who seek to examine the intersection of race and law in the U.S., not to mention the recent assaults on boards of education across the nation by “concerned parents” to assure that their children weren’t confronted by a history which might make them feel “uncomfortable,” this seemed to be an ideal time to pick up this book. Since its first publication in 1995, Lies My Teacher Told Me has become one of the most important history books of our time. Having […]
Continue readingMillion Mile Walker Dispatch: A Time to Pause, Reflect & Reset! December 2021
Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, Year-end is always an excellent time to Pause, Reflect and Reset! In our Culture Watch, we’ll look at some images and stories that stood out and will be with us during the coming year. Amongst all the craziness, a sense of humor is a must, so I’ve included Just Keep Laughing. My Writing, Interviews and Reviews, Voices of the Day, and What Others Are Saying will include highlights of the year and, of course, an updated Calendar. Culture Watch The one story that sticks in my mind this year is the parody […]
Continue readingHarsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa Reviewed by Mark D. Walker I immediately picked up this book upon learning it was available in English, as its story is so relevant to the challenges facing Guatemala today. I’m producing a documentary on immigration and social justice challenges in Guatemala, Trouble in the Highlands, and this book deals with international intrigue and the control of land by international/U.S. corporations. A Peruvian writer, Llosa is one of Latin America’s most significant novelists and some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer in […]
Continue readingMillion Mile Walker Dispatch, From Winslow, Arizona to Canyon de Chelly & Much More! November Edition, 2021
From Winslow, Arizona to Canyon de Chelly & So Much More! Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, This month, my latest Million Mile Walker trek took me through two cultures in Arizona. Culture Watch will include an eye-opening survey on the best to worst Presidents in U. S. history, which puts some current events into perspective. Given all the negative news as of late, I’ve included my Just Keep Laughing segment and, as always, you’ll find My Writing and Reviews, Voices of the Day, What Others Are Saying and an updated Calendar. And click on the poster above to see my Million Mile Walker Review column, and two of my […]
Continue readingAn Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I purchased this book for a trek through the Hopi and Navajo Nations in order to better appreciate a different culture, worldview food and lots more. They are two of five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people which once inhabited this country—the Navajo Nation is the largest. I chose this book to get a perspective from a Native American and how they resisted “Manifest Destiny” and a U.S. “settler-colonial” regimen, which is rarely presented in our history books. Spanning four hundred years, the bottom-up peoples’ history reframes U.S. […]
Continue readingThe Green Pope by Miguel Angel Asturias, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I initially read this book years ago in Spanish but decided to read and review it in English as its story is so relevant to the challenges facing Guatemala today. I’m also producing a documentary on immigration and social justice challenges in Guatemala, Trouble in the Highlands and this book deals with land tenure and the control of land by international/U.S. corporations. And the author is a Nobel Prize winner for literature. Much of my documentary and Asturias’s works are inspired by the Maya culture in the highlands of Guatemala. This is an overarching theme which influenced the […]
Continue readingThe Dispatch October, 2021 Edition. New Stories of Individual Pluck & Charity Underscore How Cruel Our Society Is
New Stories of Individual Pluck & Charity Underscore How Cruel Our Society Is Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, I have several stories and articles worth reflection on the world we live in as well as a sad goodbye tale. Culture Watch will include a provocative look on what’s behind the “feel good” stories on our news feeds plus what’s behind the ongoing growth of the “Big Lie.” And, as always, you’ll find My Writing and Reviews, Voices of the Day, What Others Are Saying and an updated Calendar. On a personal note, we lost our 9-year-old Airedale, Ms. Margo, who was our 7th Airedale and […]
Continue readingThe President by Miguel Angel Asturias, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I’d read this Latin American classic in Spanish years ago, but decided to read it again in English in order to share it with a broader audience. Although it was published before I was born, it’s relevant today, as it portrays the damaging psychological impact of a totalitarian government and the brutality it will go through to maintain power—a phenomenon all too real to Guatemalans today. Much to my surprise, my Guatemalan wife had to read this when she was in seventh grade – something I wouldn’t recommend for today’s students in the U.S. even though it’s been translated into […]
Continue readingRed Nation Rising: From Bordertown Violence to Native Liberation by Nick Estes, Melanie Yazzie, Jennifer Denetdale and David Correia Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Ironically, I finished reading this book on what was called “Columbus Day,” which is not what it used to be—there’s a new story/reality in town. And this book, written by four professors at the University of New Mexico—three of the four are from Dine and Kul Wicasa tribes, provides a decidedly different perspective on our country’s relationship to, and treatment of, Indigenous communities. A decidedly Indigenous perspective. And for the first time in our history, a U.S. President officially issued a proclamation marking “Indigenous Peoples Day.” Much of this was never taught in any of my high school history courses […]
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