Wayne grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, surrounded by mountaineers and
Appalachian farmers who liked nothing more than sitting around a fire, spinning terrific tales
that always teetered on the fringes of truth and the slippery slope of fiction. It was here that he
learned the key points of storytelling. It is fitting that Wayne’s first contact with a Guatemalan
happened in a bean field on the banks of Upper Creek in Morganton, since that’s where so many
of his recollections seem to be rooted. It was there that he met a group of travelling migrant farm
workers who his father had hired for the green bean harvest. Their incomprehensible chattering
and traditional indigenous clothing captured his fascination.
In 2004, he finally made his way to Guatemala, spending most of his time among the peoples of
Alta Verapaz, visiting one or two times a year over the next decade. In 2016, Wayne and his wife
moved to Guatemala fulltime and gradually, he extended his travels and work experiences to all
twenty-two departments of the country. He has been flogged by turkeys, chased by pigs, hollered
at by monkeys, and countless mosquitoes have feasted on his blood. He has hung out with police
officers, visited many jails, slept outside in a cornfield, climbed a volcano, been hospitalized, and
he’s pretty sure he’s seen a ghost or two.
As a criminologist and human observer, Wayne has seen incredible goodness in the people of
Guatemala and the troubling consequences of colonialism, corruption, and organized crime. As a
writer, Wayne seeks to share his love of the Guatemalan people he has known, their incredible
generosity, their unwavering work ethic, their love of a hearty celebration and a good meal, and
their resiliency in the face of economic deprivation, separation from loved ones, and security
concerns. Guatemala is a fascinating country! There is such incredible diversity in both the
people and the landscape. He desires that his writings will stimulate curiosity to encourage
readers to want to learn more about this captivating country.
Wayne received his Bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Western Carolina University in
1991. After serving in the Peace Corps in Senegal West Africa, he attended graduate school at
the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, completing his Master’s in sociology in 1995
and his Ph.D. in the same field in 2003. He was a tenured professor of criminology at the
University of Memphis, where he spent eight years before going to work as a research
criminologist at RTI International in 2012. He has lived in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala
and he currently has multiple work activities across Central America and the Caribbean. He has
been happily and enthusiastically married to his best friend Kim for nearly 30 years. Together
they have two grown sons, Forrest and Walker, and a lovely daughter-in-law Annika. All are also
storytelling adventurers!
