APW Book Club 4/26/25 with Mark D Walker
Karen Lateiner is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives and Amazing Stories, by Mark D. Walker
Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Arizona
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83980882806?pwd=JfTPbbV9bAa6Og9kxQYOgZjxq1K9Qj.1
Meeting ID: 839 8088 2806
Passcode: 097427
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kppOG5Gzj
Book Overview
Guatemala draws up to 1.8 million tourists per year, whose visits start in the largest city in Central America with brief visits to ancient Mayan ruins and contemporary Maya villages, which provide a partial folkloric understanding of Guatemalan society. Over the last 50 years, Mark Walker has traveled to places most Guatemalans have never seen. He uses encounters with ordinary Guatemalans, profiles, and stories from local Mayan leaders, advocates, writers, and poets to bring a new appreciation and understanding of this country. Maps, graphs, facts sheets, and photos support 17 stories to provide insights into the inner workings of Guatemalan society.
Story Behind the Cover
The photographer who took the picture of the girl on the cover of The Guatemala Reader, Cliff Nagel, managed to find her ten years after he took the photo (she was six) to show her the picture on the cover of my book. She was thrilled and hugged Cliff. Albina still lives in Santa Catarina Palopó on the shores of Lake Atitlan, the deepest lake in Central America.
Bio for Mark D. Walker, Million Mile Walker
Mark D. Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala (1971-1973) and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world with international agencies. His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Authors Association. His second book, My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road, won the Peace Corps Writers’ Award for Best Travel Book. His latest book, The Guatemala Reader: Extraordinary Lives and Amazing Stories, is a Best Seller and recipient of the BookFest Award for Nonfiction travel. All three books are part of the Yin & Yang of Travel Series. He’s a board member of the Arizona Authors Association, Advance Guatemala and SEEDS for a Future as well as an Advisory Board member of Peace Corps Worldwide. His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. To learn more about Mark, visit MillionMileWalker.com and (1) Mark D Walker | Substack as well as a recent interview on Voyage Phoenix Magazine Life & Work with Mark Walker of Scottsdale – VoyagePhoenix – Phoenix
APW Book Club 1/28/23 – Mark Walker
Saturday, January 28 we will review Mark Walker’s book, My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023
Time: 10 a.m. Arizona time
Zoom: The Zoom link will be sent out to book club members before the meeting. APW members or guests who would like to attend and did not receive the link should contact Karen Lateiner at kslateiner@gmail.com for the link.
ABOUT MARK WALKER
Award winning author, Mark D. Walker has been recognized twice by the Solas Literary Awards for Best Travel Writing. His new book is part of his Yin & Yang of Travel Series. My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road, borrows its title from one of iconic writer, Moritz Thomsen’s works. It shines a sometimes-lovely, sometimes-piercing light on the countries he visits. In this captivating book, Walker reflects on his fifty years of travel miscalculations and disasters and how and why his travels changed over the years, as has who he traveled with.
Walker has received rave reviews from readers and reviewers such as Midwest Review. “My Saddest Pleasures” differs from most both in its size and in its succinct considerations of how travel changes not just self, but the environments that the traveler encounters. The combined flavor of wonder, new experiences, ecological and social reflection, and adventure brings with it a newfound opportunity to understand the traveler’s impact on a deeper level than most. Domestic and foreign experiences alike are outlined with these lessons in mind.
Please watch: Also, Mark would like participants to see an interview on the making of his book which just came out in Global Connections TV. This is his second interview and they’re seen on UN TV and in universities around the world. The 30-minute interview touches on why/how he wrote the book as well as important trends in the global publishing industry. Please watch this on YouTube before the meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IfdQ4D7DJs
Arizona Professional Writers 