Dear Colleagues and Friends from Around the World, This month, you can click on the poster above to access the latest Arizona Authors Association Newsletter, which includes my “An Ode to Travel Writers,” which is part of my Million Mile Walker Review column on page 15. I highlight two writers who have inspired my travel writing: Paul Theroux and Moritz Thomsen. You can also find out about a special presentation I’ve been working on with the Phoenix Writers Club and the Arizona Authors Association for Danielle Hampson, the founder of The Authors Show. On page 31, Danielle will discuss the […]
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Midwest Book Review of The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives & Amazing Stories by Mark D. Walker
The Guatemala Reader–Extraordinary Lives and Amazing Stories Mark D. Walker Contact Email: mark@millionmilewalker.com The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives And Amazing Stories: Walker, Mark D.: 9798990236622: Amazon.com: Books Synopsis: Guatemala is a country with a complex history, rich culture, and diverse political landscape. This exciting book offers you a unique perspective to explore this country’s unique tapestry of everyday life through descriptive words and passages. Throughout the pages, this book showcases the diverse and vibrant aspects of Guatemala’s culture and history, and our latest addition to our collection will particularly intrigue you. This author brings in-depth facts and pictures that […]
Continue readingSilent Light by Mark Jacobs, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Mark Jacobs is one of my favorite storytellers. A fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, he’s worked in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, always attracted to places that are not tourist havens. I first learned of him reading The Stone Cowboy, in which a burnt-out American doper, fresh from a Bolivian prison, connives with a naive social worker while helping her find her magician brother—and ends up conducting her on a tour of the hell that is the coca trade. This is Jacobs’ first book in thirteen years, and he introduces the reader to a different kind of hell set […]
Continue readingTraveling to Guatemala with Granddaughters, Million Mile Walker Dispatch, August Edition 2024
Dear Colleagues & Friends from Around the World, Putting together my photo album of our three-week sojourn through Guatemala with two granddaughters allowed me to reflect on the pluses and downsides of such a trip. I’ve revised my website based on this experience and the best-selling book. I have some new What Others Are Saying quotes and some new What We’re Reading (and viewing) and Why, topped off with an updated Calendar. And, as a special BONUS, click on the Million Mile Walker poster above for the latest Arizona Authors Association Dispatch. It includes an exceptional segment on the making […]
Continue readingWalking With Evaristo: a Memoir of Celebration and Tragedy in the Land of the Achí Maya by Christian Nill, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Christian Nill has written an engaging story about the impact and consequences of his experience as a volunteer in the highlands of Guatemala. He’s also made a timely contribution to our understanding of the devastating ten-year period of violence there. Although I was a volunteer five years before Nill, the similarities were amazing. I worked on a study for CARE identifying some of the management and conservation practices used for the Food-for-Work program implemented in conjunction with the group Nill worked with, INAFOR (National Forestry Institute). My second site was also in Baja Verapaz, where […]
Continue readingWater Drumming in the Soul: A Novel of Racy Love in the Heart of Africa, by Eric Madeen, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Although Madeen is a fellow Returned Peace Corps writer, I never heard of him until he reviewed my latest book, The Guatemala Reader, and commented on my video about the book’s making. Initially, I thanked him and asked him how he liked living in Texas (his university is listed as TCU—Texas Christian University)—but much to my surprise, he’s an adjunct professor of modern literature at Tokyo City University in Japan. I was impressed with a note from one of the great travel writers and a fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Paul Theroux sent him. He said he was mystified by […]
Continue readingJust Returned From Guatemala With Several Surprises! Million Mile Walker Dispatch, July 2024
Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, I returned from a three-week trek through Guatemala with my wife, son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters. The first of many surprises relates to the Indigenous girl on the cover of The Guatemala Reader. I’ll share some of the beauty I saw in The Land of the Eternal Spring. In Culture Watch, I’ll highlight some of the devastating effects of climate degradation, the impact of immigration, and an updated Calendar. During my visit to Guatemala, I planned to visit several friends and contacts. On one of those visits, I hand-carried a copy of The Guatemala […]
Continue readingEveryone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
A most timely book rated #1 for the history of U.S. immigration, public policy immigration, and the history of Central America. About a third of my forthcoming book focuses on immigration from Guatemala, making this a must-read. The immigration problem is growing exponentially around the world, and solutions are ignored for political benefit and expediency. President Biden’s executive order is designed to close the border, at least through elections. The only serious legislative reform created by both parties was abandoned by the Republicans, who blocked both legislation and funding, which could have diminished the crisis, once again, for political […]
Continue readingKidnapped to the Underworld by Victor Montejo Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
It seems appropriate that this book was published on the 500th anniversary of Spaniard Alvarado’s conquering of the Maya in 1524—making this a time to reflect on the impact it had on the Maya, one of the great civilizations of the Hemisphere. Victor Montejo is a respected Mayan intellectual and activist. He believes that racism in Guatemala is best understood as a system originating in the inequality established by the Spanish conquest. The Spaniards viewed the indigenous peoples as barbarians who needed to be controlled and civilized. Despite the Spaniards’ relentless efforts to alter and eradicate numerous Maya traditions and […]
Continue readingWe Just Reached Our Kickstarter Funding Goal! Three Weeks Remain to Do More!
Friends, Colleagues, and Writers Around the World Thank you to our backers for helping us reach our funding goal. We are so grateful to each and every one of you. We still have three weeks to go! Every extra dollar will allow us to expand the project to a larger audience and educate and inspire a larger audience about Guatemala and the book’s extraordinary lives and awesome stories. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/guatemala/the-guatemala-reader Please continue to share the link to the Guatemala Reader Kickstarter platform, which explains the objectives and the different formats of the books—hardcover and paperback—along with the “rewards,” such as a […]
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