At twenty-one, Evelyn is naive about life and love. Raised in a small Montana town, she moves at age sixteen with her devout Catholic family to California. There, she is drawn to Latino culture when she works among the migrant workers. During the summer of her junior year in college, Evelyn travels [with Amigos Anonymous] to a small Mexican town [Apaseo el Grande] to help set up a school and a library - an experience that whets her appetite for for a life full of both purpose and adventure.
Press Release
She Writes Press announced 8/11/2020 as the publication date of Evelyn LaTorre's compelling coming of age story about her experiences living in the Andes of Peru when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s. Past, present, and future adventurers, and those curious about the Peace Corps, Peru, and the value of living abroad, will want to read this book. They will be intrigued by how someone accustomed to drinkable water, bathroom facilities, and refrigeration, learns to thrive without these conveniences. This memoir highlights Evelyn's growing awareness of what's important in life when she falls in love with a university student.
"I didn't always get what I wanted," the author says, "but I received what I needed."
The book follows Evelyn from her small, rural, Montana town of Ismay, to Fremont, in the suburbs of the San Francisco Bayt Area. Along the way she becomes lost in Tijuana when traveling to work in Mexico, and she misinterprets cultural customs during a home stay in Puerto Rico. Training for the Peace Corps and living in Latino countries gives Evelyn a new perspective of her capabilities and the differing values between her home country and that of the countries she visits. She admires the heartiness of the indigenous people of the Andean countryside who occupy the lower rung of Peruvian society. As she works in the poorer schools of her town, she questions how those inequities she sees are perpetuated and vows to help eradicate them.
Evelyn Kohl LaTorre grew up in rural Southeastern Montana, surrounded by sheep and cattle ranches, before coming to California with her family at age sixteen. She holds a doctorate in multicultural education from the University of San Francisco, and a master's degree in social welfare from UC Berkeley. She worked as a bilingual school psychologist and school administrator in public education until her retirement. Evelyn loves to travel. To date, she and her husband have traveled to some 100 countries. You can view her stories and photos on her website, www.evelynlatorre.com. She is currently completing a second book about the struggles and triumphs of a bicultural marriage in the US.
Between Inca Walls, A Peace Corp Memoir, is available for preorders at your local bookstore or on Amazon.com.
"This book is very engaging and well written. Evelyn has a way of finding drama in interesting and ordinary events alike. Like when she tries to find the Tres Estrellas bus station while fearing missing the departure and losing her travel companions. I felt her sweat-soaked dress and brow."
Jackie Reid Dettloff, author of My Mexico.
"Evelyn LaTorre creates a masterful portrait of place - from the Montana hills to the peaks of Peru - and illustrates how place shapes us. The many lovely metaphors and descriptions throughout the book invite the reader to see through the eyes of an innocent girl as she discovers exotic, lively cultures: absorbs the colors, sounds, passion, and intensity of that new world; and allows it to change her life path."
Linda Joy Myers, president of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of Don't Call Me Mother, Song of the Plains, and The Power of Memoir.
Press Release
She Writes Press announced 8/11/2020 as the publication date of Evelyn LaTorre's compelling coming of age story about her experiences living in the Andes of Peru when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s. Past, present, and future adventurers, and those curious about the Peace Corps, Peru, and the value of living abroad, will want to read this book. They will be intrigued by how someone accustomed to drinkable water, bathroom facilities, and refrigeration, learns to thrive without these conveniences. This memoir highlights Evelyn's growing awareness of what's important in life when she falls in love with a university student.
"I didn't always get what I wanted," the author says, "but I received what I needed."
The book follows Evelyn from her small, rural, Montana town of Ismay, to Fremont, in the suburbs of the San Francisco Bayt Area. Along the way she becomes lost in Tijuana when traveling to work in Mexico, and she misinterprets cultural customs during a home stay in Puerto Rico. Training for the Peace Corps and living in Latino countries gives Evelyn a new perspective of her capabilities and the differing values between her home country and that of the countries she visits. She admires the heartiness of the indigenous people of the Andean countryside who occupy the lower rung of Peruvian society. As she works in the poorer schools of her town, she questions how those inequities she sees are perpetuated and vows to help eradicate them.
Evelyn Kohl LaTorre grew up in rural Southeastern Montana, surrounded by sheep and cattle ranches, before coming to California with her family at age sixteen. She holds a doctorate in multicultural education from the University of San Francisco, and a master's degree in social welfare from UC Berkeley. She worked as a bilingual school psychologist and school administrator in public education until her retirement. Evelyn loves to travel. To date, she and her husband have traveled to some 100 countries. You can view her stories and photos on her website, www.evelynlatorre.com. She is currently completing a second book about the struggles and triumphs of a bicultural marriage in the US.
Between Inca Walls, A Peace Corp Memoir, is available for preorders at your local bookstore or on Amazon.com.
"This book is very engaging and well written. Evelyn has a way of finding drama in interesting and ordinary events alike. Like when she tries to find the Tres Estrellas bus station while fearing missing the departure and losing her travel companions. I felt her sweat-soaked dress and brow."
Jackie Reid Dettloff, author of My Mexico.
"Evelyn LaTorre creates a masterful portrait of place - from the Montana hills to the peaks of Peru - and illustrates how place shapes us. The many lovely metaphors and descriptions throughout the book invite the reader to see through the eyes of an innocent girl as she discovers exotic, lively cultures: absorbs the colors, sounds, passion, and intensity of that new world; and allows it to change her life path."
Linda Joy Myers, president of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of Don't Call Me Mother, Song of the Plains, and The Power of Memoir.