In author Yaron Glazer's debut novel, Islands of Shadow, Islands of Light, secrets buried in Noriega's Panama are unearthed in the rush to prosperity, and powerful forces will stop at nothing to prevent the truth from coming to light. The story follows Jessica Talbot, a woman with a violent past of her own who returns to Panama City after years of absence to investigate the brutal quelling of a prison riot. Her search will lead her across the country and into the past – to the disappearance of a boy during the American invasion - and to a man who may be the country's next president. Based on personal journals maintained by the author as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama during the late nineties and on research and interviews conducted over the past few years at La Joya prison, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and Isla Coiba – a shuttered penal colony – this fast-paced story weaves history and fiction to explore a country struggling with the promise of boom and the legacy of military rule. Islands of Shadow, Islands of Light (ISBN 1439249431) is available on Amazon.    

By AMY GAIL HANSEN - Panama is a lush, tropical country at the southern tip of Central America. Mention it, and Americans conjure the notorious Panama Canal, Panama Jack, Panama hats and even the 1984 Van Halen hit about a race car called "Panama." But for award-winning writer Cristina Henriquez of Hinsdale, Panama is a second home. Her father is a native, and she's been visiting his family there since she was just eight months old. "My experiences in Panama are not as a tourist," explained Henriquez. "I do normal things there, like pick up prescriptions at the drugstore with my grandmother." But for award-winning writer Cristina Henriquez of Hinsdale, Panama is a second home. Her father is a native, and she's been visiting his family there since she was just eight months old. "My experiences in Panama are not as a tourist," explained Henriquez. "I do normal things there, like pick up prescriptions at the drugstore with my grandmother." (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (564 words)

By By Jessica Schneider for Monsters and Critics.com - A groundbreaking history of the Panama Canal offers a revelatory workers-eye view of the momentous undertaking and shows how it launched the American century. The Panama Canal has long been celebrated as a triumph of American engineering and technology. In The Canal Builders, Julie Greene reveals that this emphasis obscures a far more remarkable element of the canal's construction and the tens of thousands of workingmen and women who traveled from around the world to build it. Drawing on research from around the globe, Greene explores the human dimensions of the Panama Canal story, revealing how it transformed perceptions of American empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. For a project that would secure America's position as a leading player on the world stage, the Panama Canal had controversial beginnings. When President Theodore Roosevelt seized rights to a stretch of Panama soon after the country gained its independence, many Americans saw it as an act of scandalous land-grabbing. Yet Roosevelt believed the canal could profoundly strengthen American military and commercial power while appearing to be a benevolent project for the benefit of the world. But first it had to be built. From 1904 to 1914, in one of the greatest labor mobilizations ever, working people traveled to Panama from all over the globe—from farms and industrial towns in the United States, sugarcane plantations in the West Indies, and rocky fields in Spain and Italy. When they arrived, they faced harsh and inequitable conditions: labor unions were forbidden, workers were paid differently based on their race and nationality—with the most dangerous jobs falling to West Indians—and anyone not contributing to the project could be deported. Yet Greene reveals how canal workers and their families managed to resist government demands for efficiency at all costs, forcing many officials to revise their policies. The Canal Builders recounts how the Panama Canal emerged as a positive symbol of American power and became a critical early step towards twentieth-century globalization. Yet by chronicling the contributions of canal workers from all over the world, Julie Greene also reminds us of the human dimensions of a project more commonly remembered for its engineering triumphs.   

PANAMA CITY, Panama (UPI) -- Noted Panamanian writer and journalist Mario Augusto Rodriguez Velez has died of a heart ailment at age 92, colleagues said Sunday. The Panamanian Writers Association said Rodriguez Velez died Saturday at a Panama City hospital, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported. A journalist, essayist, dramatist, poet and storyteller, Rodriguez Velez was the oldest active writer in the Central American nation, said his grandson, author Jose Luis Rodriguez Pitti. He was awarded the Order of Omar Torrijos Herrera, Great Cross grade, by Panamanian President Martin Torrijos last year in recognition of his support for communications and Panamanian culture and history. From 1932 to 1989 he worked in a variety of positions, from correspondent to chief editor and director at a number of newspapers and magazines, including Mundo Grafico, La Hora, Prensa Libre, El Dia, El Panama America, Prensa, Matutino and La Republica, Preludios, Urraca, Siete, Educacion, Loteria, Mas and Semana. He also authored several story collections, starting with "Campo Adentro" in 1947.   

By Hunter Baker (The American Spectator) The Reagan I Knew By William F. Buckley, Jr. (Basic Books, 279 pages, $25) When William F. Buckley died in February 2008, it was widely known that he had been working on a book about Ronald Reagan. He died before completing the task. The unfinished nature of the work is something that should be understood at the onset. It is quite clear that The Reagan I Knew runs short of a great deal of personal reflection by Buckley on the former president. There is simply no question about it. The good news for readers is that the editorial team made skillful use of Buckley-Reagan correspondence and a series of footnotes to create a highly engrossing reading experience. Indeed, the book may have begun as the narrative story of a relationship with substantial personal reflection, but of necessity it became a successful collection of letters with a solid array of commentary by an author who pre-deceased his project's completion. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (901 words)

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- November 12, 2008 -- Global Passage: Transformation of Panama and the Panama Canal by McMillan explores how Panama shifted to a true democracy after 1989, when military dictator Manuel Noriega was ousted. McMillan asserts that because 69 percent of Panama Canal traffic is to or from the United States, it is crucial for Americans to have an accurate picture of the country, or risk severe economic and political consequences. He discusses the role of China, which has expressed interest in expanding their port facilities, and which he feels could dominate the Panama Canal and become the major economic force in Central America. McMillan also voices concern that Panama's alliances with such leftist-leaning nations as Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua could put more pressure on Panama to distance itself from the United States. McMillan describes the past history of the canal from its creation by Teddy Roosevelt to Jimmy Carter’s Panama Canal Treaty that “surrendered” it to the Panamanians. The challenge for the future, states McMillan, is to encourage the United States to play a large role in financing and building the expanded Panama Canal and canals built in Nicaragua.    

PANAMA CITY, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Panama has donated to France a collection of books chronicling the history of the Panama Canal's construction and its transfer to Panamanian sovereignty, the director of the Panamanian Diplomats' Academy, Paulino Romero, said here Tuesday "The Panamanian Foreign Ministry's Diplomats Academy gave 32 samples of the edition 'Commemoration of the Panama Canal Transfer1999' to the French ambassador to Panama, Pierre Henry Guignard," Romero said. Romero told reporters that the bibliographic collection will beat the University of Sorbonne in Paris and it will be guarded by the Contemporary Documentation Center. "In these volumes are the best Panamanian experiences of the tasks from national life, as well as on national and international politics, literature, science, education and pedagogy," Romero said. Saying he valued the importance of the donation, Guignard added that the books will tell readers the history of the ties between the two countries, which are linked to the first years of Panamanian history. The first attempt to construct the Panama Canal began in 1880 under French leadership. After this attempt failed, the project of building the canal was begun and completed by the United States in the early 1900s, with the waterway opening in 1914. The building of the 77 km canal was plagued by problems, including disease and landslides. By the time it was completed, some 27,500 workers were estimated to have died in the French and American efforts.   

By Alex McVeigh Pentagram Staff Writer - The United States invasion of Panama was, for a brief time, a dominant case study for military service institutions as a study in post-Cold War tactics. But as larger issues in the Middle East have come to define the past twenty years of American conflict, the Panama invasion has lost its luster for the military strategist. The Center of Military History has recently released its own take on the events leading up to the invasion, written by Lawrence Yates. ‘‘The U.S. Military Intervention in Panama: Origins, Planning, and Crisis Management, June 1987-December 1989” provides a complete historical overview of the events that led to the invasion of Panama. Yates, a Ph.D. who spent 24 years teaching and writing about military conflicts at the Combat Studies Institute, was in Panama in 1989, during Operation Just Cause. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (321 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - This book, "The Strength to Move a Mountain" by W. Storrs Lee, was published in 1958 and it gives a better than usual look into life in Panama during the construction of the Panama Canal. The book starts just before the US-backed revolution that created Panama as a country, formerly a Department of the Government of Colombia, and it ends with the opening of the Panama Canal. The book was written at a time when there were still a ready supply of first hand witnesses and those who had actually participated in the revolution of Panama and the construction of the canal. From this book I take a couple of interesting snippets which help to illustrate little things that shaped Panama as it is today. (more)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (463 words)

Reviewed by Richard Feinberg for Foreign Affairs: Forty-niners eager to pan for gold in California had several routes to choose from in getting there: the arduous overland trek by covered wagon so often mythologized by Hollywood, the long sea voyage around Cape Horn, or the interoceanic Panamanian passageway, a path made more attractive by the remarkably quick construction by U.S. investors of the first transcontinental railroad. Writing in the now-trendy tradition of "cosmopolitan," or "world," history, McGuinness draws insightful comparisons and connections between the westward march in the United States, the dawn of U.S. imperialism in the Caribbean basin, and the emerging identity of "Latin America" as a construct in opposition to the theories driving northern expansionism. A superb storyteller, McGuinness artfully re-creates the famous (in Panama) 1856 "watermelon slice incident," and links the resistance of black Panamanians against U.S. encroachment to their fears of the antebellum pro-slavery filibusters who had seized Nicaragua a year earlier. Although ambivalent about the repercussions in Panama of global capitalism, McGuinness notes that it was Simón Bolívar who first proposed that someday Panama, which is today enjoying a major commercial trade and real estate boom, might become "the emporium of the world." Aims McGuinness. Cornell University Press, 2007, 264 pp. $35.00.   

Barrons.com - Edited by JAY PALMER, Reviewed by Jim McTague: IN 1889, THE WORLD WITNESSED THE MOST CATASTROPHIC financial collapse in history up to that time. Investors had thrown all their money into a gigantic hole in the ground. Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique, which was funded largely by French investors to finance construction of a Panama canal, went bankrupt because the credit markets lost confidence in its promise to complete the project, already eight years in the making. The digging of the canal had been a source of tremendous French pride and an affront to the ego and global ambitions of an emergent United States of America, which was asserting itself in the Pacific and the Caribbean (and thus the Atlantic). (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (502 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - From an email I received this morning: "Hi Mr. Don. I'm across your address through panama-guide.com. I am the coordinator for the 2009 Our Children’s Art Agenda, 14th consecutive edition. Produced by the Children Helping Children Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Montreal, Canada. The agenda is a collaboration of artwork from young artists from ages 2 to 18 from around the globe. Profits from distributing the book are donated to the Research for Children’s Diseases Foundation. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (265 words)

By Matthew Parker EXCERPT - CHAPTER ONE - "THE KEYS TO THE UNIVERSE" - What had motivated the voyages that led to the discovery of the New World was exactly what the Panama Canal would eventually deliver—a through passage to the East. On his fourth voyage, in 1502, Columbus, by then embittered and sickly, sailed all along Panama's northern coast, obsessively searching every tiny cove for a "hidden strait." At one point he anchored in Limón, or "Navy," Bay, now the Atlantic terminus of the canal. Even after Columbus's failure to find an open passage to the East, the idea died hard. In 1507, the first map ever printed of the New World optimistically showed an open strait about where the Isthmus of Panama is located. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (2,529 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - A good friend of mine Alfredo Bocanegra launched his new magazine "Madame Blanche" last night in a coming out party in Koopas. Alfredo is one of the best and most accomplished photographers in Panama. The magazine covers both local and international musicians and artists. For example the first issue of the magazine covers the "roots of Panamanian rock." Alfredo is a character, a great guy, a very talented photographer, good drummer, and usually the guy singing along to Pink Floyd fearlessly and at full volume. I wish him, his crew, and his magazine all the best. Photos from the launch follow (hot model alert...)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (25 words)

By Lehisy Domínguez for El Siglo - Next week a new magazine called "Madame Blanche" will be launching in Panama. The magazine will cover the music and art scene in Panama, will be directed at readers between 20 and 40 years of age, and will cover, promote, and emphasize local talent as well as international artists. The team working on the magazine is formed by established and accomplished professionals such as María Ruth Sánchez (La Prensa), Raúl Altamar (Blank), Pilar Cáceres (Much Music), Juanita Jaramillo (MTV Latino), Anastasio Puertas (Billboard). The chief editor is Fabricio Mejía (Rolling Stone) and the Director of the magazine is Alfredo Bocanegra, one of the most recognized and accomplished photographers in the country and the person responsible for establishing the high artistic level the magazine displays. The magazine will be offered for sale in pharmacies and stores throughout the country. There will be an official launch party at 6:00 pm at Koopas on 9 April.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (204 words)

Reviewed by Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times - Most Americans' knowledge of the Panama Canal was acquired in a haze of junior high school history -- somewhere alongside "trust busting" and the "bully pulpit" in the unit on Teddy Roosevelt and turn-of-the-century American confidence. There was a spasm of interest in the canal 31 years ago, when the United States agreed to turn it -- along with the surrounding territory -- over to Panama, and also a flicker of notice in 1999 when the actual handover occurred. Beyond that, it's been pretty much out of sight, out of mind -- except on the political fringes, where some have tried to argue that Sen. John McCain's birth in the Canal Zone disqualifies him from seeking the presidency. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (954 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - This week I learned that the "Expat Center" which has been operating on Calle D in El Cangrejo for the past two years or so will be closing. The short answer is that the guys who were paying the bills both need the space, and can no longer afford to pay for the non-profit Expat Center at cost. As a result there are literally thousands of books in the book swap now available to a good home. Anyone can come and take away as many books as they want, and they just ask you not to bring them back. So, if there is anyone out there who has the space and the inclination, there is a completely stocked book-swap looking for a good home. Bagel Bakery, maybe? John has the room...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By Nicholas L. Dean for the Post-Journal - Panama Native Clair Saeger’s original story ‘‘Happy With Nothing’’ is included in the recently-published book, ‘‘Chicken Soup For The Teen Soul.’’ Clair Saeger usually writes stories for her family, but it was a story about her mother which got the Panama native published. In her junior year of high school, the current college senior entered a contest being held by Teen Ink magazine. Now, some years after having had her essay printed in the magazine, Saeger’s story, ‘‘Happy With Nothing,’’ has been included in ‘‘Chicken Soup For The Teen Soul.’’ A new book in the ‘‘Chicken Soup For The Soul’’ series, the teen-themed compilation collects ‘‘real life stories by real life teens.’’ Tackling topics like change, challenge, loss and other issues facing teens, the book shows readers they are not alone through its friendly peer-to-peer style. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (254 words)

LUSK, Wyo., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- An explosive mixture of international intrigue and danger and the cover-up that followed, "Panama: Echoes From A Revolution" (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com) travels back to the late 1970s to tell the true story of the invasion of Panama by privately funded U.S. citizens. Author Thomas James Bleming should know. He was there. Reviewers have been blown away by this true action-thriller: "A real life Jason Bourne," writes David Mirhadi, Casper Star Tribune. "The characters, places, conditions and treatment that Bleming describes would be suitable for a Hollywood movie," writes Alan B. Johnson, U.S. District Judge, Cheyenne, Wyo. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (347 words)

Fox News.com - GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: First twin daughter, Jenna Bush, worked for UNICEF in Latin America and met with children and young adults living with HIV and AIDS. She says it's a life changing experience, so much so that she has now written a book "Ana's Story." Now this book might be a real eye opener for many. We spoke with Jenna Bush earlier today after she met with students at the SEED Charter Schools in Washington. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VAN SUSTEREN: Jenna, a brand-new book, "Ana's story." Whose idea was it to write it? JENNA BUSH: Mine. My job with UNICEF was to meet with different kids who were living in exclusion, which means they are living in an extreme poverty or living with HIV/AIDS, or living in homes with abuse. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (1,450 words)

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG - WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — Just a few short years ago, she was a party-loving college girl, sticking her tongue out in view of photographers and giving her parents heartburn. Now Jenna Bush, 25, is sporting a diamond-and-sapphire ring, engaged to be married — though probably not at the White House, her mother says — and heading out on a book tour. America is meeting this new, grown-up Jenna — twin sister of Barbara, daughter of George W. and Laura — this weekend with the publication of her book, “Ana’s Story.” It is a chronicle of Ana, 17, an H.I.V.-positive single mother in Panama whom Ms. Bush encountered while an intern there for Unicef, the international children’s advocacy group. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (996 words)

By Sam Carchidi for the Philadelphia Inquirer - From leafy Haddonfield to the tough streets of Panama. Yes, it's been quite a journey for teacher-turned-author Christian Giudice. For that, readers of his first book should be grateful. Giudice (pronounced Jude-uh-jay) has written a fascinating, exhaustively researched biography called Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran. Duran, a colorful boxing legend who once knocked out a horse with one punch, held world titles at four weight classes and is the only man to have fought in five decades. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (679 words)

Last week the restorer of the National Theatre of Panama and the author of the book "Paris in Panama." Professor Anton Rajer, the worlds foremost authority on the works of Panamanian artist Roberto Lewis, presented a lecture on the recently inaugurated exhibit of Lewis' work at Panama's Museum of Contemporary Art in Ancon. The author signed his limited and numbered edition of "Paris in Panama" - "Paris in Panama is an inspiring bilingual book documenting my country's art and history. It brings alive an important and lost chapter in Latin America's artistic heritage and focuses on the need to preserve and restore it."—Carmen Aleman Healy, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Panama    Click Here To Read The Full Article (660 words)

By Ramon Huang and Luis Huang - Panama City, May 6 (CNA) A community library in the Panamanian township of La Conga, constructed using donations from the Republic of China (ROC) government, was formally inaugurated Saturday to upgrade Panamanian school children's educational quality. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Taiwanese Ambassador to Panama Hou Ping-fu said that as there are no libraries at Panama's remote schools, the Taiwan government decided to make donations to help build the library at the request of FUNDACUNA, a local non-profit organization. Taiwan is also planning, in the near future, to donate computers to Panama's elementary schools in remote areas as part of its efforts to help improve the quality of education in the Central American country, Hou said. Coinciding with the inauguration of the library, FUNDACUNA also distributed a shipment of clothing and footwear donated by Taiwan to the disadvantaged in La Conga. Taiwan donated a total of 76 containers of clothing and footwear to Panama last year. FUNDACUNA Chairman Edith Roqueber told CNA that the organization has received funds from the ROC government to help build six community libraries, and that so far three libraries have been inaugurated.    

By Michael White (Bloomberg) -- News Corp.'s HarperCollins publishing business acquired rights to a book written by Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush. ``Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope'' is based on Jenna Bush's experiences working with Unicef in Central America, HarperCollins said today in a statement. The book will focus on a 17-year-old single mother who has the virus that causes AIDS. Bush, 25, was inspired to write the book while documenting stories of young people living in poverty, said Lisa Szarkowski, a spokeswoman for Unicef, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund. Bush traveled to Argentina, Paraguay and Panama to help prepare personal narratives and create photo diaries of children and adolescents for Unicef. The book ``was not something that was planned,'' Szarkowski said in an interview. ``It came as a result of Jenna immersing herself in her role as a Unicef staffer. She was completely inspired by the kids she was meeting, especially `Ana.'''    Click Here To Read The Full Article (224 words)

It looks like I'm going to be spending more time at the Expat Center. I stopped by the other day and the book exchange is growing nicely thanks to the generous donations from the members of the community. This has become my official library, and I just wish I had the time to enjoy more recreational reading. In any case, if you have good used books laying around the house, this is the best way to make a donation back to the community and to find some new good stuff to read. Salud.   

Author Kurt Muse was on C-Span last Saturday in Florida, talking about his book "Six Minutes to Freedom," the story of his rescue from Panama's Modelo prison by US Delta Forces during the invasion of Panama in 1989. This video clip shows the entire program as it aired on C-Span. "Description: Kurt Muse talks about his rescue by the U.S. Army's Delta Force. He chronicles how he defied Panama's dictator, Manuel Noriega, by broadcasting on an underground radio station, encouraging civil resistance. Eventually, Kurt Muse was caught and arrested by Noriega’s forces. As the only American civilian imprisoned for months in Panama’s Modelo Prison, he describes the torture he witnessed and recounts his rescue by Delta Force. The Panama Canal Museum in Seminole, Florida hosted this event. Author Bio: Kurt Muse is a descendant of Revolutionary War veterans. Mr. Muse lived in the U.S. and Cuba before starting a printing and graphic arts business in Panama. John Gilstrap, coauthor of "Six Minutes to Freedom," is also the author of "Scott Free," " Even Steven," "At All Costs," and "Nathan's Run." Publisher: CITADEL PRESS 850 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022    

Tonight (Sunday) night at 10:00 PM ET, C-Span will be showing a talk by Kurt Muse about his book, Six Minutes to Freedom. The talk was taped at the Panama Canal Museum on August 1. Kurt talks about his rescue by the U.S. Army's Delta Force. He chronicles how he defied Panama's dictator, Manuel Noriega, by broadcasting on an underground radio station, encouraging civil resistance. Eventually, Kurt was caught and arrested by Noriega's forces. As the only American civilian imprisoned for months in Panama's Modelo Prison, he describes the torture he witnessed and recounts his rescue by Delta Force. Six Minutes to Freedom is being sold through the Panama Canal Museum store and website (panamacanalmuseum.org). Autographed copies are available on a first come, first served basis. If you are like those who attended the taping at the museum, you'll have to have the book once you hear the talk! Kathy Egolf    

"Bill Cosby was right, but he only told a portion of the story," Juan Williams, an author originally from Panama, writes. Referring to Cosby's assertion that the black community needs to assume personal responsibility for cultural failings rather than blame racism, he proudly touts his new book boldy entitled "Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America -- and What We Can Do About It." Picking up "...the baton to continue the race," Juan Williams takes aim at "dead-end movements," rap music, comedic shows a la Dave Chappelle, and "phony leaders" such as Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton and former mayors Marion Barry of Washington, DC and Sharpe James of Newark, NJ. He blames the latter for "a stifling echo chamber" of stale ideas and for building self-serving machines on the back of black empowerment. But Williams' doesn't just blame and point fingers. He also delivers an important message to young blacks: Follow a few rules and "there's almost no chance of being poor," he says. The rules? Stay in school, Stay in the work force, Don't have a baby out of wedlock, Don't get married until your 20s. Williams believes that some venues won't touch "Enough" because it violates liberal taboos. "I can't get on the morning talk shows," Williams said. "They don't want someone who is shaking up the pot, especially when it comes to debate about race in America." Surely, time will tell.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (3 words)