Laurie Levinger

I am a retired clinical social worker and a writer living in Vermont.

I went to Guatemala in 2004 as a volunteer teacher with the Maya Educational Foundation English Language Program. During those first days, one of my students introduced himself as a survivor of the Guatemalan civil war; I realized that I had more to learn than to teach, and so I began to listen.

During several trips back to Guatemala with the Guatemala Solidarity Project and independently, I collected testimonies from university students, their families, and other survivors. These testimonies have been published in my book What War? Testimonies of Maya Survivors (Wipf and Stock, 2011).

Staughton Lynd, author, historian, and peace activist:

"A middle-aged American stranger who knew little Spanish came to teach English and, somehow, encouraged young Mayan university students to share their pain-filled memories with her and with each other. This book records that extraordinary achievement."

More praise for What War?

My new book about the Spanish Civil War Love and Revolutionary Greetings will be published in December 2011 by Wipf and Stock Publishers.

At the age of 19, Sam Levinger left his home in Ohio for Spain to join the Lincoln Brigade to fight against Fascism. His own letters, poems, and stories, and those of his mother Elma, give a vivid and compelling picture of the American involvement in the Spanish Civil War through the eyes of one extraordinary family. In Love and Revolutionary Greetings, his niece brings his story to life as she searches for the meaning of his sacrifice in the words that he left behind.

Find out where to purchase my books

Past Events

  • Reading from Los hijos de Rosa December 2, 2010, Norwich, Vermont.
  • Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, Vermont Wednesday October 13, 2010 reading from What War? Testimonies of Maya Survivors.
  • Reading and discussion of Los Hijos de Rosa on June 20th at the Hanover Friends Meeting House, 7pm. Sponsored by the Upper Valley Jewish Community and Shema Kolenu.
  • A book launch event for my memoir Just a Dropped Stitch at Tuckerbox Cafe, White River Junction VT on Sunday May 23rd, 3:00-5:00.
  • An exhibit of my photographs titled People of Bisan will be shown at the Underground Gallery in Lebanon NH from September 11 through September 17, 2009.
  • Reading from What War? at the Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, VT on September 23 at 7pm.
  • Reading from What War? at the Bradford Vermont Library, Wednesday October 7 at 6:30
  • People of Bisan will be shown at Russo Gallery at Dartmouth College in the Haldeman building October 12 through October 30, 2009.
  • Reading from What War? at Dartmouth College in mid-October, 2009.
  • Reading from What War? at the Strafford, VT library at 7:15pm on October 27, 2009.
  • Reading from What War? at Temple University, Philadelphia on October 29, 2009 at 11:00.
  • Reading from What War? at Harvest Hill Retirement Community on November 13