Kate’s 2¢: “Silver, sword, and stone: three crucibles in the Latin American story” by Marie Arana

“Silver, sword, and stone: three crucibles in the Latin American story” by Marie Arana

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read. I’m just saying…

I can appreciate the time, effort, and energy it must have taken to research and write this intricate history. How disappointed it must have been to have it panned. Maybe, it would make a good project for high school seniors to do their own research to corroborate or not the facts in this history.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Marie Arana was born in Peru, the daughter of Jorge Arana Cisneros, a Peruvian born civil engineer, and Marie Elverine Clapp Campbell, an American from Kansas and Boston, whose family has deep roots in United States. She moved with her parents to Summit, New Jersey (United States) at the age of 9. She later achieved her B.A. in Russian at Northwestern University, her M.A. in linguistics at Hong Kong University, a certificate of scholarship at Yale University in China, and began her career in book publishing, where she was vice president and senior editor at Harcourt Brace and Simon & Schuster. At Northwestern she joined Delta Gamma and was honored as Homecoming Queen.
For more than a decade she was the editor in chief of “Book World”, the book review section of The Washington Post, during which time she instituted the partnership of The Washington Post with the White House (First Lady Laura Bush) and the Library of Congress (Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress) in hosting the annual National Book Festival on the Washington Mall. She is currently the Literary Director of the Library of Congress and directs all programming for the National Book Festival among numerous other programs at the Library.[2] Arana is a Writer at Large for The Washington Post. She is married to Jonathan Yardley, the Post’s former chief book critic, and has two children from a previous marriage, Lalo Walsh and Adam Ward; as well as two stepchildren, Jim Yardley and Bill Yardley.
Marie Arana is the author of a memoir about a bicultural childhood American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood (finalist for the 2001 National Book Award as well as the Martha PEN/Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir); editor of a collection of Washington Post essays about the writer’s craft, The Writing Life (2002); and the author of Cellophane (a satirical novel set in the Peruvian Amazon, published in 2006, and a finalist for the John Sargent Prize). Her most recent novel, published in January 2009, is Lima Nights (its Spanish edition [2013] was selected by El Comercio’s chief book critic as one of the best five novels of 2013 in Peru. In April, 2013, Simon & Schuster published her book “Bolívar: American Liberator,” a biography of the South American revolutionary leader and founder Simon Bolivar[3] [4][5] It won the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography.[6] She has written introductions for many books, among them a National Geographic book of aerial photographs of South America, Through the Eyes of the Condor. and she is a frequent spokesperson on Hispanic issues, Latin America, and the book industry.
Arana has served on the board of directors of the National Book Critics Circle and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She is currently on the board of directors of the American Writers Museum. For many years, she has directed literary events for the Americartes Festivals at the Kennedy Center. She has been a judge for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award as well as for the National Book Critics Circle. Her commentary has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the “Virginia Quarterly Review,” USA Today, Civilization, Smithsonian magazine, National Geographic, and numerous other literary publications throughout the Americas.
Arana was a Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in 1996 and then again in 1999, an Invited Research Scholar at Brown University in 2008–2009. In October 2009, Arana received the Alumna Award of the Year at Northwestern University.[7]
In April 2009, Arana was named John W. Kluge Distinguished Scholar at the Library of Congress through 2010. In September 2009, she was elected to the Scholars’ Council of the Library of Congress as well as the Board of Directors of the National Book Festival.
Arana was scriptwriter for the Latin American portion of the film “Girl Rising,” which describes the life of Senna, a 14-year-old girl in the Andean gold-mining town of La Rinconada. At 17,000 feet above sea level, it is the highest human habitation in the world. The film was part of a campaign to promote the importance of girls’ education. Arana’s writing about that experience, which was published in The Best American Travel Writing 2013, was named one of “the most gripping and sobering” of the year.
In March 2015, Arana directed the Iberian Suite Festival Literary Series for the Kennedy Center. In the course of seven programs, she featured more than two dozen Spanish-language and Portuguese-language writers from around the world.
In October 2015, Arana was named Chair of the Cultures of the Countries of the South, an honorary post at the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress. She then became Literary Advisor to the Librarian of Congress as well as Director of the National Book Festival.
In 2019, Simon & Schuster published her latest book, Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story (Orion Publishers released it in the United Kingdom). The Spanish edition of Bolívar: Libertador Americano was published the same year by Penguin Random House.
In October 2019, Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, named her Literary Director of the Library of Congress.
Bolivar and Silver, Sword and Stone have received accusations of hispanophobia, antiespañolismo, stereotyping, sectarianism and misinformation.[8][9][10]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Silver, sword, and stone: three crucibles in the Latin American story DB98143
Arana, Marie, (Writer). Reading time: 16 hours, 4 minutes.
Read by Cynthia Farrell.

Biography
World History and Affairs

Profiles of three modern Latin Americans whose lives represent three forces that have shaped the region through exploitation, violence, and religion. A Jesuit priest serves among the indigenous, a Cuban fought in the civil war in Angola, and a gold miner works under terrible conditions. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Kate’s 2¢: “When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes: Vision Loss and Personal Recovery” By Hannah Fairbairn

“When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes: Vision Loss and Personal Recovery” By Hannah Fairbairn

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read. I’m just saying…

Whether one loses sight gradually or quickly, it is traumatic, to say the least. Fairbairn’s book can give a boost to getting back on an even keel.

“When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes: Vision Loss and Personal Recovery”
By Hannah Fairbairn
9780398092825
2019
Synopsis
This book was first projected in 2004, when Author Hannah Fairbairn was teaching interpersonal skills at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts. The experiences of her adult students and her own experience of sight lost convinced her that everyone losing vision needs access to good information about the process of adjustment to losing sight and practical ways to use assertive speech. When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes is intended for anyone going through vision loss, their friends, and families. It will inform readers how to get expert professional help, face the trauma of loss, and navigate the world using speech more than sight. Each of the twelve chapters in the book contain many short sections and bullet-point lists, intended to facilitate access to the right information. It begins where you begin at the doctor’s office or the hospital. Since vision loss takes many forms, there are suggestions for questions you might ask to get a clear diagnosis and the best treatment. Part One also has a description of legal blindness and possible prevention, advice about your job, and tips for life at home. Part Two is about believing in yourself as you deal with the loss, the anger, and the fear before you come up for air and consider training. Parts Three and Four describe using assertive speech and action in all kinds of settings as your independence and confidence increase. Part Five gives detailed information about everything from dating, and caring for babies to senior living, volunteering, and retaining your job. It is hoped that by reading and trying out the suggestions, the reader will recover full confidence, become a positive, assertive communicator, and lead a satisfying life. Because vision loss happens mostly in older years, the book is written with seniors particularly in mind. Professionals will also find it to be a useful resource for their patients.

Hadley Presents
and a microphone
with the braille ‘h’
appear in white on a
black background,
framed by red
curtains
Becoming Socially Confident After Vision Loss
Author of “When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes,” Hannah Fairbairn, chats with us about how to communicate in everyday situations when you can’t rely on visual cues. Hear Hannah’s own story about losing vision, her practical tips on adjusting to vision loss, and advice she has on regaining confidence in social situations.
Listen Now
A downloadable transcript is available on our site.