-
Acknowledgments
- University of New Mexico Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
vii Acknowledgments W ith the completion of a book as drawn out and overdue as this one, I am not sure whether to thank or apologize to all the people I leaned on along the way. I would not be publishing this book, much less continue to survive in academics, if it were not for the combined support of the following generous people. To Gwynne Jenkins, who suffered through this in its dissertation stage and then two major revisions , I am sorry and thank you for all your saintly patience and your thoughtful commentary over the years. Oscar Horst introduced me to Guatemala in 1984, and his enthusiasm for Guatemala has lit a fire of curiosity that has burned in me ever since. My appreciation for John Watanabe’s mentorship grows as my academic experience deepens. John’s patience with a very green and talkative grad student like me at the University of Michigan was magnanimous, and he probably never suspected that he would be writing letters of recommendation for me nearly two decades afterward. I have come a long way under his tutelage. I was also fortunate to study at the University of Albany under John’s first anthropology professor, Gary Gossen. There may be equals to Gary in knowledge of Mesoamerican worldview, but there are none better. As my professor, dissertation cochair, friend, and idol, Gary has also shown tremendous patience and loyalty. My other cochair, Robert Carmack, has been such a fatherly, guiding presence in my fieldwork and theoretical orientation that I find it difficult to address him other than “Dr. Carmack.” His incredibly broad range of expertise on Central American indigenous peoples, his fieldwork record, and his professionalism have set an example that lesser mortals like me could never attain. Liliana Goldin has not only been very patient and generous over the years, but also provided me A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S viii the invaluable experience of copublishing my first article on Guatemala. With moments of burnout, failed grant and job applications, and publication rejections over the years, having the emotional, intellectual, and temporal support of these scholars has been vital. Julián López García, coauthor of our book Primero Dios, has shared so much information with me since our chance meeting in Jocotán in 1992 that he is indirectly coauthor of this book as well. Other colleagues who have given me valuable insights and collaboration in the field include Johanna Kufer, Lincoln Vaughn, Felipe Girón, Jim Dugan, Claudia Dary, John Durston, Sofie de Broe, Christa Little-Siebold, Otto Schumann, Kerry Hull, Alfonso La Cadena, Alfonso Morales, Cameron McNeil, Michelle Moran-Taylor, and Debra Rodman. I have also had the high honor that Christine Eber, Richard Adams, KayWarren, and John Hawkins—a veritable Mesoamerican “hall of fame”—have reviewed previous manuscript versions and provided me critical commentary.The book has come a long way due to their input. The University of Oklahoma Press and the University of Texas Press had earlier versions of this book painstakingly reviewed and provided helpful evaluations. I can highly recommend them to any aspiring author concerned with professionalism and cordiality. Obviously, then, I cannot say enough for the patience, friendliness, advice, and professionalism of David Holtby and the University of New Mexico Press. David has been nothing if not encouraging, and I am honored to have worked with him. Elizabeth Kuznesof of the University of Kansas Center of Latin American Studies has also provided key advice about management of the manuscript, and the Center offered a terrific context and support for finishing the book. Like most ethnographic fieldwork, mine relied on particularly generous , friendly, and often intellectually curious people, as well as those who have self-interest in reciprocating with the ethnographer. Those who fall in the former category are many, but the most notable include the families of Ch’orti’s Teodoro Ramírez, Raimundo García, Gregorio García, Saturnino Ramírez, Isadora Pérez, and Gabriel Pérez. From Jocotán, I thank especially the families of Celeste Ramírez and Hector Peña, Julió and Olfania Paz, doña Tonia Guerra,Yolanda Pérez, and the Brínguez family. Generally, these people are exceptions to the negative patterns and structures that I will uncomfortably but frankly lay out below. In Guatemala City, Linda Asturias, Arturo Duarte, and Primina Mendizabol provided me intellectual stimulation, key social contacts, and room and board...