Wayne J. Pitts

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. Wayne is an Author-in-Residence for Appalachian Memory Keepers. 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!