Over the years, I’ve read and reviewed several of the twenty books of fellow author and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer “Lorenzo” Lihosit. He was a volunteer in Honduras and married a lady from Mexico, and I was a volunteer in Guatemala and married a señorita from there. I used his Peace Corps Experience: Write & Publish Your Memoir to write my first book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, proofed his Oral History from Madera, California, and agreed with the Madera Tribune, “The best of its kind in print. Like Volume 1, the author offers real-life stories by citizens of Madera, California. […]
Continue readingCategory Archives: Book Reviews: Latin America
Peace Corps Epiphanies: Panama by Anson K. Lihosit, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I’ve written my own Peace Corps memoir and reviewed many others of fellow RPCV writers, so when my author friend and fellow RPCV writer, Lawrence Lihosit mentioned that his son was also a Peace Corps Volunteer and had written a book about his experience, I offered to review his book. Lawrence is a prolific writer and I just recently reviewed his latest book, Those Who Are Gone, which is about a time long past in my own community of Scottsdale, Arizona. I also used one of his 17 books, Peace Corps Experience: Write & Publish Your Memoir to write my […]
Continue readingThe Making of the Moritz Thomsen Reader–a New Book, The Million Mile Walker Dispatch, February Edition 2025
Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, This year, I’m working on a new book, The Moritz Thomsen Reader. I’ll outline the initial plan, ask for input, and end with an updated Calendar. But first, click on the Poster above to see the latest Arizona Authors Association Digest, which includes the Million Mile Walker Review on top books for 2024 (pg. 23), a sighting of my latest book in Antigua Guatemala (pg. 10) and my critique of Paul Theroux’s essay on Expats, as well as my latest essay on traveling with granddaughters (pg. 54). Moritz is part of a talented […]
Continue readingFavorite Books of 2024 & Much More! Million Mile Walker Dispatch, January 2025
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Fellow Writers, Happy New Year, one and all! After a brief overview of one writer’s life in 2024, I’ll share some of my best reads of the year and What Others Are Saying. The Guatemala Reader Extraordinary Lives & Amazing Stories reached “Best Seller” status, received excellent reviews, and the BestBook Award for Nonfiction Travel: Self Discovery and Travel Journals. A successful Kickstarter campaign brought together friends and readers to support my work, and they pitched in to fund most of the publishing and marketing expenses. Although I produced a series of “incentives” and offered deluxe […]
Continue readingBest Books of 2024 & Much More! Million Mile Walker Dispatch, January 2025 Edition
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Fellow Writers, Happy New Year, one and all! After a brief overview of one writer’s life in 2024, I’ll share some of my best reads of the year and What Others Are Saying. The Guatemala Reader Extraordinary Lives & Amazing Stories reached “Best Seller” status, received excellent reviews, and the BestBook Award for Nonfiction Travel: Self Discovery and Travel Journals. A successful Kickstarter campaign brought together friends and readers to support my work, and they pitched in to fund most of the publishing and marketing expenses. Although I produced a series of “incentives” and offered deluxe […]
Continue readingMy Take on Paul Theroux’s Reality Check for Expats
Paul Theroux, one of the most prolific Returned Peace Corps travel writers, provides an insightful rendition of the plight of expats. He reminds us with a quote from obnoxious nativist Pap Finn from the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that Americans have complained about the state of affairs here, and many have acted on the threat to find refuge abroad, which is ironic today when millions are putting their lives at risk coming here. Those leaving often are looking for something new, according to Theroux. Pap Finn’s rant, “A man can’t get his rights in a government like this. Sometimes I […]
Continue readingSo, What’s a Writer to Do? Million Mile Walker Dispatch December, 2024 edition
Dear Colleagues and Friends from Around the World, Thanksgiving greetings to one and all! You can click on the poster above to access the latest Arizona Authors Association Dispatch (AAA), which includes accomplishments and my latest book review, as well as several essays and resources from top authors of the AAA. This month, I’ll focus on the writer’s role in this ever-more violent and complex world. 2024 was a year with unprecedented violence, record immigrant displacement, a growth with human trafficking, growing inequality, greater levels of misinformation, political abuse, and hatred against the “enemy from within,” which includes immigrants as […]
Continue readingVagabond Dreams: Road Wisdom from Central America by Ryan Murdock, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I met the author through his podcast, Personal Landscapes: Conversations on Books About Place, which included interviews with some of my favorite authors: Paul Theroux on Orwell and Burma Sahib, Thomas Swick: Life in Cold War Poland, Nicholas Shakespeare on Ian Fleming, Barnaby Rogerson: The making of the Middle East and Jeremy Bassetti: Pilgrims on Bolivia’s Hill of Skulls. Murdock’s latest book, A Sunny Place for Shady People, takes place in Malta and blends travel writing and political reportage to show why a journalist was killed in broad daylight in a tiny European Union member state. But I chose Vagabond […]
Continue readingA BookFest Award, Plus Global Threats to Free Press! Million Mile Walker Dispatch November 2024
Dear Colleagues and Friends from Around the World, This month, you can click on the poster above to access an Ad in the Arizona Authors Association Literary Magazine, “Two Arizona Authors Celebrate Their Passion For Guatemala.” Earl de Berge is the other author, and he’s a poet and co-founder of Seeds for a Future, which we highlight as well. I highlighted him and his wife Susanne in The Guatemala Reader, “Allegro to Guatemala: An Expatriate Journey Through the Land of Eternal Spring.” Earl recruited me to their board, and we all lived in Guatemala and are still working to […]
Continue readingThe Perils of Beginnings by Bernadette Inclan, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
The author researched this five-hundred-year family history extensively and took five years to write the book—and it was worth the wait. During a time when our neighbors from the South are often disparaged and misunderstood, this story helps establish the role people from Mexico and Native Americans had in settling the areas on both sides of our southern border. Bernadette Inclan is the ideal person to tell this story: “My family has deep roots in the Americas. I am a descendant of the Conquistadors of New Spain, New Mexico, and Louisiana. In 2016, I received my certificate as an honoree […]
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