Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, This month, I’ll reveal the secrets of making my forthcoming book, The Guatemala Reader, which is especially timely given the watershed events following the Presidential elections. In Culture Watch, I’ll tell how one teacher and her daughter organize a Summer Spanish Camp for the grandkids while some State officials try to eliminate bilingual education. I’ll share the latest Arizona Authors Association newsletter in My Writing and Reviews. Voices in Action will include a provocative quote and an updated Calendar. Although recognition of My Saddest Pleasures as the 2023 recipient of the […]
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Million Mile Walker Dispatch, Rave Reviews for My New Book–Not So Much With Our Guatemala Documentary! June,2022 Issue
My Saddest Pleasures Gets Rave Reviews—not so much for our Guatemalan Documentary! Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, My Saddest Pleasures received impressive reviews, although we didn’t have the same luck with our Guatemalan documentary, “Trouble in the Highlands.” I’ll tell some stories about excellent literature, documentaries, and classic rock music in Culture Watch. As always, I will share My Writing, Interviews, Reviews, Voices of the Day, What Others Are Saying, and an updated Calendar. First, check out a brief video of the new book and share it with friends you think will like My Saddest Pleasures. Find out what others have said […]
Continue readingAllegro for Life by Earl Vincent de Berge, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
I met the author and his wife, Suzanne, several years ago over lunch in Phoenix discussing fundraising strategies for an NGO they set up in Guatemala, “Seeds for a Future,” which provides training to impoverished rural women in and around Chocolá on the South coast, to improve family access to food and nutrition. I soon learned that we not only shared a love and appreciation of Guatemala and the Desert Southwest, but that Earl was also a writer and, in his case, a poet as well. I was surprised to learn that he started writing as far back as 1959 […]
Continue readingMillion Mile Walker Dispatch, My Special Edition, January, 2022 Issue
Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, Several author friends have asked what the basis for my passion and concern about Guatemala is, which I answer in my “Special Edition” column in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter. In our Culture Watch, I’ll reflect on the implications of a lack of consensus around the “Build Back Better” plan while the Senate approves a record budget for our military on a bi-partisan basis. 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 […]
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 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 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 readingMillion Mile Walker Dispatch: Democracy Under Siege, The June Edition
Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, The January 6 attempted take over of the US Congress in an attempt to change Presidential results bore to the world the growing deterioration of democratic institutions and traditions here which will be the focus of this month’s Dispatch. I’ll have a few announcements and an update on our documentary film and as always include basic segments such as Culture Watch, My Writing / the Documentary & Book/Movie Reviews . We’ll look to Voice of the Day for inspiration, some comic relief with Just Keep Laughing and we’ll check in with What Others Are Saying. Just click on the poster above for an update […]
Continue readingMonkey Boy by Francisco Goldman, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
The Long Night of White Chickens was my introduction to Francisco Goldman, the author who I selected to review due to his connections to Guatemala, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Though born in Boston, his mother is a Catholic Guatemalan, his father Jewish American, so his life started off with an intriguing combination of influences. The book is a tense, almost surrealistic detective story that opens windows on the Latin American reality of State Sponsored assassinations, marabunta youth gangs and organized crime. His next book, Say Her Name, is an evocative story of love and loss between […]
Continue readingMillion Mile Walker Dispatch, “The US in an Age of Constant War,” May 2021
The U.S. In an Age of Constant War Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, As the U.S. continues to depend on military solutions to deal with an ever-growing number of problems locally and around the world, militarization will be the focus of this month’s Dispatch. Basic segments will include the Culture Watch, My Writing the Documentary & Book/Movie Reviews. We’ll look to Voice of the Day for inspiration, and for some comic relief, with a new Just Keep Laughing when that’s all we can do, as well as What Others Are Saying. Just click on the poster above for my latest book reviews in “The Million Mile Walker Review: What We’re […]
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