I first came across Packer from his cover story “The Valley,”—the second-longest that The Atlantic published in the past 40 years, in which he provides a kaleidoscopic view of the precarious political and physical ecology of Phoenix regarding climate change, which meant a lot to me in the summer of 2024 as we were suffering record-breaking, triple-digit temperatures. I had no idea he was a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer until a fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) serving in Togo gave me a heads-up. When I started reading his memoir, I realized it was ideal for the Million Mile Walker Review. […]
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Asian Trail Mix: True Tales from Borneo to Japan by Eric Madeen, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
As a fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer author, I’ve read, enjoyed, and reviewed several of Madeen’s books. “True Tales from Borneo to Japan” caught my attention since Borneo was the first site the Peace Corps offered me, although when I applied, all slots were filled, so I followed his trail. Also, I became aware of his appreciation for Joseph Conrad and shared his fascination with “The Heart of Darkness.” I appreciated Madeen’s deliberate retracing of Conrad’s footsteps. In the opening chapter, In Conrad’s Wake, Madeen travels from Singapore to Berau in Kalimantan (Borneo), a reminder of Conrad’s seafaring voyages. He […]
Continue readingBefore Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone by Betsy Small, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone By Betsy Small (Sierra Leone, 1984-1987) University of Michigan Press: Law, Meaning and Violence series. Reviewer Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971-1973) Betsy Small’s Before Before offers a deeply personal and historically rich account of Sierra Leone, blending memoir and ethnography with emotional resonance. She draws from her Peace Corps service in mid-1980 and a return visit in 2013 with her daughter. This memoir is more than a recollection—it’s a meditation on cultural exchange, colonial legacies, and the fragile threads of memory that bind us across time and geography. Like […]
Continue readingThe Demise of Soft Power and Harsh Times, Million Mile Walker Dispatch, May 2025
Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, I’ll focus on the impact of dismantling overseas development programs in Culture Watch. Then it’s What We’re Reading and Why, a new Scanning Project segment, What Others Are Saying, plus an updated Calendar. Culture Watch Many Americans are unaware what USAID does and few realize the impact of its dismantling. Humanitarian programs like USAID and the Peace Corps comprise our “Soft Power” which impacts how we are perceived abroad. The number of lives lost by its disappearance. Brooke Nicols, a Professor of Global Health at Boston University, developed an impact […]
Continue readingThe Million Mile Walker Dispatch, July 2023, Best Travel Book & Poverty by America
Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World, I want to reflect on the meaning behind my latest book being named by the Peace Corps Writers Award as the Best Travel Book. Culture Watch will introduce a compelling book by Matthew Desmond and then explain why Phoenix feels like the “canary in the mine,” as triple-digit temperatures have been the norm for 26 days. I’ll share my column in the Arizona Authors Association newsletter in My Writing and Reviews. Voices in Action will include a provocative quote from author Matthew Desmond, and I’ll end with an updated Calendar. My Saddest […]
Continue readingHey Buddy! Portraits of Friends by Lawrence F. Lihosit, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
Lihosit and I were contemporaries in the Peace Corps in Central America and both married women south of the border. Still, I didn’t connect with him until I became a writer after my international development career ended. Lihosit has written 19 books so far, and I’ve delighted in reading and reviewing several of them. I even used his book on writing and publishing a memoir to write my first book, Different Latitudes. After all he’s seen and done over the years, these memorable descriptions of his friendships seem a perfect time as he dedicates his book “For the Next Generation.” […]
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