Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny

 

  Life plays amazing tricks on me. I often donate books to Little Free Libraries, but I seldom take any from these libraries. On December 28, 2024, I told my family that I would like to read Alexei Navalny’s book. Two days later, I checked a Little Free Library located 45 minutes away from where I live. To this date, I do not know what made me check that Little Free Library. I was by myself, so nobody encouraged me to do so. It was astonishing to meet Navalny’s blue eyes on the vibrant book cover of a hardcover somebody had left behind. Yes, I found his book right there.

To say that I was in awe is an understatement.

 The book is brand new. I think somebody may have received it as a Christmas gift and may have passed it on without reading it. I think it is fair to say that somebody’s apathy became my gift, and it is not just a gift but it is also a great responsibility.

  Reading Patriot is an immersive, fascinating experience. It made me laugh and cry, and it connected me to this man’s humanity, kindness and intelligence. It is the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish it. I like to re-read parts of it and I scribble notes to reflect on his wisdom, experiences and ideas.

  The book starts with his experience of being poisoned in August 2020 with the Novichok nerve agent. Because of this he was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Berlin; he required a period of rehabilitation in Germany to recover.

 Alexei Navalny’s writing then goes back in time to the years of his childhood and youth. He shares the social, cultural and political context of his childhood and youth. Furthermore, he reveals the challenges he faced when he attended university.

  His writing style is riveting and friendly. As I read his book, I experienced a certain familiarity with the author. I felt he was like a friend to me; he is the kind of person I would be happy to spend hours chatting with about life, history and anything else.

    As a reader, you will get to know him well. Every anecdote he shares helps us to understand him as a person. I have the feeling that I have known him all my life.

 The horrifying experience of being poisoned did not dissuade him from returning to Russia in January 2021. Soon after he landed on Russia, however, he was detained, a reminder that Putin’s regime operates with total impunity.

   Alexei was kind, fearless and courageous in every situation. His honesty and transparency united people who wanted to stand up against the tyranny of Vladimir Putin, a man who behaves like a king. Over the years Putin has crumbled the economy and future of his country to abuse his power and to serve the interests of the oligarchy.

  I appreciate the way Alexei Navalny describes what Putin has done to the economy in Russia. Navalny does not mince words when he unveils the incompetence of Putin: “Putin has stolen the last twenty years of Russia. He could have used these years to turn Russia into a prosperous country. All of us could have lived better. Instead, twenty million people live below the poverty line. Part of the money Putin and his cronies simply stole was squandered. They did nothing good for our country, and that is their worst crime against our children and the country’s future.”

  The Kremlin wanted to make Navalny feel that he was alone, isolated and lonely. He was not. Navalny counted on the solidarity and support of millions of people who valued his work. The solidarity and support he received are a testament to his bravery and kindness. To learn the details of Navalny’s work, I encourage you to read Patriot. His book delves into the details of his work. I was greatly impressed by how he consistently worked with his team to unmask the corruption under Putin’s regime.

  Alexei Navalny had to deal with the forces of an authoritarian regime that tried to silence and demoralize him. Yet Navalny never surrendered to fear. The history of his country is one of the interesting aspects of this book: “Throughout our history we have had tsars, then emperors, then general secretaries, then presidents, and all of them have been authoritarian. We can’t go on like that.”

 Alexei Navalny was a peaceful warrior whose only weapons were the truth and the facts. He and his team exposed the corruption of the regime through videos and blog posts. Millions of people appreciated his work, not only online but also the work he did by meeting people from all walks of life to communicate with them in-person. 

  Truth and facts endowed Alexei Navalny with inner strength, courage and resilience. These qualities helped him deal with the cruelty of his imprisonment, which was like a kind of “concentration camp” during the last years of his life.

  The torture and atrocities that he was able to document in those prisons during the last months of his life left me speechless.

  Under Putin’s regime Alexei Navalny was falsely charged with acts he never committed. The falsehoods were spread by Russian Television, which promotes Putin's propaganda. 

 The European Court of Human Rights declared that Navalny was innocent and demanded his release several times to no avail.

   Alexei Navalny also reveals the reason why Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin used the war on Ukraine to distract people from the disastrous situation in Russia: the economic stagnation, rising prices and rampant lawlessness under Putin’s regime in Russia were a threat to Putin’s power. Putin wanted to cover up this situation by creating a distraction, so he invaded Ukraine.  

  Navalny explains that Putin used his imperial mindset to distract people and to manipulate Russians into supporting the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Putin persecutes those who try to speak up against the injustices and oppression of Russia's current regime. Yet Trump has referred to Putin as a “genius” and he considers Vladimir Putin his “friend.” It is disturbing, albeit not surprising, to see that Donald Trump supports Putin’s interests and that he repeats Putin’s narrative. It was deeply distressing and unsettling to witness Donald Trump blaming Zelensky for the war in Ukraine.

  I urge every American citizen to read Patriot by Alexei Navalny. It will help Americans to awaken to the truth and to understand what is at stake in the United States of America and the world.

  Alexei Navalny’s integrity shines through his behaviors and words, and it is also alive in the behaviors of his family. Also, his brother, Oleg, is a hero and you will find out more about him in his book.

 The injustices that Alexei and his family had to go through will cause outrage, but it is my hope that his book will raise awareness on the need to work to preserve democratic principles and to understand the need for fair elections to protect democracy.

  I was in awe to read that Navalny always sought the slivers of light and hope in the darkest situations he faced. His sense of humor was irresistible, and he always found an opportunity to learn something new and move forward through every challenge. The positive attitude in his book reminded me of the character in the movie Life is beautiful in which the father tries to create a bubble of hope and joy for his son amid the despair and constraints of a concentration camp.

  It is hard not to shed tears as I write about Navalny. He was only forty-seven years old when he lost his life for simply standing up to injustice. Alexei Navalny’s indomitable, joyful, resilient spirit is a gift to humanity, a legacy that will continue to inspire generations of people as long as we keep his memory alive. Navalny’s steady, peaceful fight will live on in the hearts and minds of those who believe in democratic principles and the Rule of Law.

 Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia, continues his work. She shares his enthusiasm, inspiration and zest for life. I found this brief interview with Yulia Navalnaya from PBS here.

  I also want to share this powerful statement by Alexei Navalny from his book Patriot: “It is very important not to be fearful of people who are seeking the truth, and perhaps even to find ways of supporting them, directly, indirectly, perhaps even not supporting them, but at least not contributing to the deceit, not making the world around you a worse place.”

 Alexei Navalny was an activist, lawyer, blogger, journalist and a Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner. He was imprisoned for no reason other than the fact that he stood up against tyranny and the actions of a dictator. His many international honors included the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament’s annual human rights prize; the Courage Award from the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy; and the Dresden Peace Prize, among others. Navalny appeared on Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” and “25 Most Influential People on the internet” lists.    

Relevant links:

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-trump-war-zelenskyy-putin-7fe8c0c80b4e93e3bc079c621a44e8bb

 https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/27/donald-trump-and-the-putinization-of-american-politics_6738649_4.html#

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/15/google-helped-facilitate-russia-china-censorship-requests

 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/merkels-lack-of-regrets-illustrates-the-fallacies-of-germanys-russia-policy/

Interview With Author Diana Stevan

 

Julia: What is Along Came a Gardener about? What makes it unique?

Diana: My non-fiction book, based on my 25 years as a family therapist, is unique because the thoughts and experiences I share are woven in with the lessons I found in gardening and nature.  I also reveal my own stumbles, and I do it to demonstrate how important it is to be kind to ourselves and not feel bad when we can’t figure things out or our lives are not going as well as we had hoped. I hope the stories in my book will inspire others to make some positive changes in their life.

 

Julia: You have written several novels and poetry. What inspired you to write this non-fiction book?

Diana: I was inspired to write this book back in the late 1970s. I was working as a school psychologist then and a high school guidance counsellor had referred a couple of sisters to me for counselling. They were brilliant students but were failing. The oldest had attempted suicide. I tried family counselling, but the mother was mentally ill, so it wasn’t possible to continue. So I saw the sisters together and not long after I started seeing them in therapy, the oldest wrote me a poem, titled “The Seed of Hope” and in it, I was the gardener who had come along and planted it.

Her poem gave me an idea for a book based on my work as a psychotherapist. I started writing it shortly after I had finished my sessions with the sisters, but as a wife and mother of two, there wasn’t much time for writing. I’m glad I waited, as I wasn’t ready to write this book.

Julia: What were the challenges you encountered when writing your book? How did you deal with them?

Diana: Well, I kept wondering if I could do justice to what I had experienced. I was so grateful for the trust that many had put in me over the years, and I wanted to honour that trust. As you know, counselling is a confidential service, so I was mindful to be respectful and maintain those confidences. So, names were not divulged nor anything else that might identify those I’d seen in therapy. I also had the help of three professional therapists who read my book beforehand, and I was relieved to get their approval.

 

Julia: What are the greatest setbacks and ordeals you've dealt with as a therapist? How did you navigate those challenges?

Diana: The greatest ordeals I experienced as a therapist were conflicts with other professionals in the workplace. My first job after getting my Master of Social Work in 1972 was in a psychiatric ward at Winnipeg General Hospital (Health Sciences Center today). I was stunned to discover electric shock therapy was being routinely prescribed for patients with depression. I didn’t think patients had been given enough time to tell their story, the one that had resulted in them ending up on a psychiatric ward. Since I wasn’t a psychiatrist, the decision to give a patient shock treatment was a hard decision to challenge. Hospital beds were at a premium and the psychiatric staff were pressured to discharge patients as quickly as possible. Still, I made my observations known. At the time, I didn’t realize how naïve I was, and how I had overstepped those professional boundaries. So, it’s not surprising I didn’t make a lot of friends amongst the staff who were used to treating patients this way.

Another challenge I had took place in a different workplace. I was sexually harassed by the director of the agency.  After an incident where he had made sexual remarks to me in front of a team of counsellors, I went to his office and confronted him. I told him how uncomfortable it had made me feel, how inappropriate his comments had been and told him to never do it again. He didn’t.

And there was one patient who had been discharged from hospital who called me up in the middle of the night threatening to commit suicide. I was trained to take these threats seriously, so I got dressed and went out to meet him at a cafe. I gave him the support he needed over a cup of coffee. It sounds simple, but it wasn’t. Thankfully, I had established a rapport with him while he was in hospital, and he trusted me.

 

Julia: Would you like to share a personal experience that helped you to change and grow as a human being?

Diana: Training to be a family therapist was an eye-opening experience. I read everything available on family communication. It’s one thing to read it; it’s another to put it into practice. In order to be a good therapist, you have to work on yourself as well. Over the years, the knowledge I gained through my training and work with others dealing with family conflict helped me grow as a human being. I write about this experience, including my missteps, and more in my book.

Julia: Is there anything else you would like to mention about the book?

Diana: Because I also have a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics degree, I included a chapter on diet and nutrition. I’ve always tried to practice holistically. In fact, I attended the first Holistic Conference in Vancouver back in 1979. We have so much to deal with to maintain our mental and physical health, so I felt I had to mention the obvious in my book: the importance of diet, nutrition, exercise, and sleep.

Since I also gave stress management and anger management workshops during my career as a psychotherapist, I share helpful ideas from those times in Along Came A Gardener.

I’m hoping readers will find Along Came A Gardener inspirational and feel less alone in the complicated world we live in.

Thank you again, Julia. It’s been a pleasure sharing what’s inside my new publication with you.

Julia: Thank you so much for sharing your experience and words of wisdom at My Writing Life blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration, and I wish you all the best with the new book release.

  A former family therapist, Diana Stevan has published poetry and five novels: A Cry from the Deep, The Rubber Fence, Sunflowers Under Fire, Lilacs in the Dust Bowl, and Paper Roses on Stoney Mountain.

  Along Came a Gardener, non-fiction, is her latest book. She resides with her husband on Vancouver Island.

 

The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery

 

 Clara and Maria are gifted with the talents of empathy, intuition, clairvoyance and creative expression. They share an intimate communication and connection with the natural world that surrounds them. Maria lives in Burgundy, France; Clara lives in Italy. She is originally from the Abruzzo.

 Even though the girls live away from each other the communication between them goes beyond the realm of words…

  I appreciate the delicate style through which Barbery describes her characters. For example, I will offer a glimpse into the character of Maria from page 86:

 “And yet Maria was close to the religion of poetry every day, whenever she climbed a tree or listened to the song of the branches and foliage. Very early on she had understood that other people went about the countryside as if they were blind and deaf, and the symphonies she heard and the tableaux she embraced were, to them, mere sounds of nature and mute landscapes. When she wandered through her fields and woods she was in constant contact with a material tide in the form of intangible but visible lines which enabled her to know the movement and radiation of things, and if in winter she liked to go to the oak trees in the combe in the neighboring field, it was because the three trees liked winter too, and made vibrant sketches whose strokes and curves she could see as if they were an engraving embodied in the air by a master’s hand. Moreover, Maria conversed not only with matter, but also with the creatures of the land.”

  How can the enhanced perceptions and sensitivities of their human souls help them face the threat of war? What role do they play in the fight between oppression and freedom?

 The Life of Elves is a tribute to the bond between art, empathy and Nature. I appreciate the mystical quality of the prose.

  Metaphors and descriptions paint dream-like scenes that become timeless and intriguing to the reader. Unlike The Elegance of the Hedgehog, this story contains elements of fantasy. 

  The author offers an introspective outlook about some of the characters. Muriel Barbery unearths the gems that are concealed under the superficial façade of everyday life, and she does so with artistry. She did this in The Elegance of the Hedgehog and she conveys a similar message in The Life of Elves. For example, read the description of Leonora Acciavalti and draw your own conclusions about it:

  “… while the guests dined, their gazes followed the network of curving lines embraced by her gestures, and when they left they took away with them some of Leonora’s grace: she may not have been beautiful, but they found her sublime…”

Muriel Barbery describes Leonora as a “world unto herself.”

 “Her caste had betrothed her to the role of bored heiress, but fate had made a daydreamer of her, gifted with otherworldly power, to such good effect that in her presence you felt as if a window onto infinity had been opened, and you understood that it was by delving into yourself that you escaped imprisonment.”

    There is a story buried in a world of dream-like descriptions, metaphors and introspective reflections. However, the conflict and plot do not appear well-defined. The plot rolls on  subtle waves of undertones. It is blurred by the poetical prose and the ramblings, which become monotonous at times. It takes patience and attention to remember the endless list of characters, both elves and humans.

  Some features of the story irritated me as a reader. Why are some of the characters always drinking wine? I do not see the significance of this or the need to incorporate it. The author appears to be obsessed with the act of drinking wine and with hunting. I think these obsessions tainted the beauty of the story and appeared to be at odds with the essence of the tale. There were times when I wanted to quit the read, but I kept reading. I was hopeful that something important would happen, but it never did. 

  The unique descriptions of some of the characters and the reflections the author threads into the narrative aroused my curiosity, but the story did not deliver its full potential. It did not satisfy my expectations.

  I recommend the story to poetry lovers with the patience and time to lose themselves in the lyrical narrative, the epiphanies and perceptions. Reading this book is a personal journey, and it may require more than one read to gain a deep exploration and understanding of it. It may illuminate something inside your own conscience or it may not. It may awaken something to which you have been indifferent, or it may simply not be for you. I reveled in the magical nature of the descriptions, but I was left asking for more…

 

 The photographs of the landscapes are from unsplash.com

 

 

Octavia E. Butler: The Last Interview and Other Conversations

 

 I was ecstatic to learn about the experience of a woman in Australia who jumped into a cold stream to rescue a wild baby horse. The newborn wild horse had fallen into the water and the desperate mother horse had nudged the woman asking for help. The woman’s husband took a video of the event. The baby horse’s parents witnessed the rescue and soon enough, the mother was able to nurse her baby; the horse family reunited.

  This heart-warming story deserves to be shared, and Octavia Butler gave me a good reason to do so. On the same day I came across this story, I learned that Octavia Butler loved horses from this fabulous book of engaging interviews with Octavia Butler.

  Grab your favorite infusion, curl up in your comfy spot and immerse yourself in the depths of these amazing conversations. What a pleasure it was to read her words! It was like spending time with a good friend... You don’t want those conversations to end.

  Octavia Butler was too humble to acknowledge that she was a visionary, but she was. If you don’t believe me, read this book. Her words are as relevant today as they were when she said them.

  Octavia Butler asserts that to foresee the future, one has to study history.

   In addition to sharing interesting life experiences, she reveals a lot about the writing life. Persistence and the desire to learn from mistakes are more important than talent. They are necessary aspects of a writing life with goals and a purpose. I dare say that to persist and learn from mistakes are imperative actions in everything we wish to attain.

  Her grandmother managed to eke out a living by working hard in sugar plantations in Louisiana. She had been treated like a slave, except for the fact that she was free to leave the job if she chose to do so. Eventually, she saved enough to move to California. She purchased her own space and worked as a farmer. Octavia’s mother lost her husband when Octavia was a little girl. Her mother could not complete elementary school. She worked hard as a maid to make sure Octavia had what she needed to complete her own education. Octavia witnessed how her mother was treated poorly in the workplace, enduring insults and humiliation.

   Octavia Butler meditates on her mother’s sacrifices. She considers her a hero. Octavia’s hard work and dedication had the foundation on her mother’s sacrifices. Despite the fact that Octavia grew among resilient, strong women, Octavia did not find characters like these women in the books she read during her childhood. The novels and short stories were mostly focused on the stories of white men. She was puzzled. Why didn’t science fiction authors integrate black women into the stories?

   Octavia Butler only encountered stories about black people when the narrative dealt with the topic of slavery. Otherwise, black characters were not included. Thankfully, Octavia Butler’s writing incorporated diverse people and challenged the stereotypes and biases she had to put up with through her childhood and youth.

   I appreciate her style of communication. It is concise, clear and honest. I admire her introspective, reflective attitude and the clarity and precision of her observations.

 I enjoyed the revelations about the different books she wrote, what she had in mind when she wrote them, and the ways she tackled challenges and obstacles.

  I read Parable of the Sower not too long ago. Parable of the Talents, the sequel to Parable of the Sower, is now in my mental list of books to be read.

  Octavia Butler reveals interesting information about these two books, “One of the kinds of research I did was to read a lot of stuff about World War II. Not the war itself, but I wanted to know in particular how a country goes fascist, so, I have this country in Parable of the Sower, and especially Parable of the Talents, sliding in that direction. And I really was not trying to prophesize that somehow we would do that but…”

 Regarding these two books, she added, “You can call them save the world fiction, but it clearly doesn’t save anything. It just calls people’s attention to the fact that too much needs to be done and obviously they are people who are running the country who don’t care. I mean, look at what the Congress is doing in terms of taking money away from every cause that is helping people who aren’t very rich; it makes it harder for people to get an education. Who would want to live in a world where there were fewer educated people?”

 She said this in January, 2006, the year she passed away. Yet her words resonate as if they were pronounced today.

 I agree with Octavia Butler.  I would like to add, what kind of government uses fear, threats and intimidation to stop children from attending school? 

 The totalitarian regime of Hitler did it, too. 

 Let's not forget, however, that the right to an education is a basic human right.

 To understand the features of fascism, I encourage you to check this site.

  I strongly believe that critical thinking skills and empathy are important elements of a well-rounded education. These are skills and talents that should be prioritized. They should form the foundation of every healthy society, because without them democracy cannot survive.

 Tyrants deride education and they do anything to dismantle it, because they know that a well-rounded education is a threat to their abuse of power. 

  Octavia Butler's reflections apply to our current situation:

 "I guess many people just need someone to feel superior to to make themselves feel better. You see Americans doing it now, unfortunately, while voting against their own interests. It is that kind of shortsighted behavior that is destroying us."

 I will pass on this book by dropping it in a Free Little Library. Soon it will be dancing to the rhythm of somebody else’s thoughts and dreams. Such is the magic of books…

  Octavia E. Butler was a pioneer of the science fiction genre who received a MacArthur “Genius” grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena, California, in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable of the Sower (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and Parable of the Talents (1995), winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.

 

If you enjoyed this book, feel free to read my writing on the following books:

 

Spirit Woman: The Diaries and Paintings of Bonita Wa Wa Calachaw Nunez

Unstoppable Native American Women by April Riverwood

 

 Relevant reporting related to this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGbA1BnMvzk

 

Walking Away From Hate by Jeanette and Lauren Manning

 

  

   Last December I was distraught and shocked to learn that a student at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, shot and killed a teacher and another student. The shooter’s action had been motivated by neonazi, white supremacist ideology. That same month, a neonazi, white supremacist rammed his vehicle into a group of people at a Christmas Market in Germany, killing five people and injuring several others. (Please, note that I type the word neonazi without capital letters on purpose).

    Neonazi hate groups are part of a reality that is often ignored. Interestingly, the members of these extremist groups consider themselves a “political movement.”

  These hate groups recruit young people in a state of vulnerability. The vulnerable young people who fall prey to the brainwashing of these groups—or I should say to the brain-tainting-- happen to be angry and insecure. They have a need for validation and often feel like outcasts. They may have a need to be accepted by their peers and they lack a sense of purpose.

  These neonazi violent groups entice them by making them feel that they care about them, but the reality is different. The hate groups are based on neonazi ideology. They teach the followers to loathe anybody they consider non-white, gays and Jews; they hate black people; they resent immigrants, falsely accusing them of stealing their jobs. Instead of white supremacy, the ideology should be called white insecurity or white perversion.

  How can we prevent people from joining hate groups or from sympathizing with hate ideology? We need to raise awareness on the spread of neonazi ideology. Other hate extremist groups--ISIS, for example-- follow the same pattern and strategies.

  Lauren Manning belonged to one of these groups in the past. She knows what it is like to be part of such a group. She was able to get out of the hate group despite the dangers and threats she encountered, and is now working to share her story and help others in similar situations.

   Two years ago, I received a copy of On Account of Darkness  by Ian Kennedy, published by Tidewater press, a small publisher from Canada. I wrote a review on it at My Writing Life blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration. Soon after that I navigated the site of the small Canadian publisher, and Walking Away from Hate caught my attention. I included Walking Away from Hate in my mental list of books to be read, but it took me two years to get to it. The book is not present in the library system I count on, so I chose to purchase it directly from Tidewater Press. I did not use Amazon.

  I approached the read with trepidation due to the unpleasant nature of the topic. However, I was eager to understand how young people are lured into the network of falsehoods that coax them to believe in the existence of a so-called superior white race. 

    Five years after she left the white supremacist group, Lauren Manning learned about the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and about the murder of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist. It summoned up memories of her past: “I had been living under a rock for the last few years, not paying attention to current events, but I couldn’t pretend I was shocked to hear of the Charlottesville tragedy. Back when I’d advocated for the division of humanity, I’d known many lost and angry souls in search of a life purpose. Their discussions had revolved around violence and what they considered cleverly crafted methods of returning society to an all-white population. Back then, I believed them. I was one of them, totally immersing myself in their culture while desensitizing myself to my emotions. I’d taken their ideology as gospel and would have gladly died for it.”

 Walking Away from Hate shows how Lauren became involved in a neonazi, white supremacist group, and how her choices pulled her away from her family. Even though Lauren had grown in a healthy, loving environment, she had been exposed to the ideology of her maternal grandfather, who later became estranged from the family. Her grandfather had migrated to Canada from England in 1954. He had fought in the Second World War. Yet he resented immigrants. He disliked gays, black people and Jews and had always been clear about his bigotry. Eventually he severed his relationship with Jeanette and her family, but traces of his ideology may have contributed  to Lauren’s choices when she was in a state of vulnerability, after losing her dad to leukemia at age 16.

  I think it is important to highlight that races do not exist. It has been proven by science.

   The obsession with classifying people into different races makes me uncomfortable; it has been a trend that may perpetuate biases and stereotypes. Science has shown that there is only one race: the human race. Putting labels on people on the basis of something that does not exist is absurd, but we are caught up in a pattern that has emphasized a way of dividing people. Race is a societal construction used to divide people into categories. For this reason, whenever I can avoid ticking the box, I do so.

  Walking Away from Hate is shared in Jodi Picoult’s literary style: mother and daughter narrate their experiences in alternating sections of the book. The conversational style of their prose is engaging and introspective, and it keeps you turning the pages, because you have no idea what is going to happen next. You keep wondering how far she is going to go before she comes to her senses and returns to her family.

  One aspect of the book that I’d like to emphasize is how women in the group were viewed as a means to an end.  Women were simply considered a medium to have children. Their choices and talents were ignored, disregarded and ridiculed. They are never treated as equals.

   The unsafe situations Lauren went through and the emotional and physical violence she had to put up with stunned me. The poor choices that led her to drink alcohol and to neglect herself and surround herself by people whose actions were about hate, criminality and violence made the read heartbreaking, but I love that at the end she was able to leave that behind and to rebuild an authentic life of health and hope not only for herself, but also for the benefit of her family, friends and for those who need her experience to understand that choices make a difference.

  The new beginning in her life allowed her to study, find a fulfilling job, and to discover new talents and hobbies. Her new sense of self paved the way to thrive in healthy relationships. She embarked on a path of mindful meditation daily. As she left her past behind, the support and forgiveness of her family were crucial in the process of healing and recovery.   

    I highly recommend Walking Away from Hate. Read it and share it with the teenagers in your life. Talk about it. If you are a social studies teacher, use the book to educate others on the topic. It can save lives.  

 Last but not least, I will share resources that may also be of help:

  Life After Hate was founded in 2011. This is their message: “Life After Hate is dedicated to inspiring individuals to a place of compassion and forgiveness, for themselves and for all people.” Their goal is to interrupt violence committed in the name of ideological or religious beliefs through education, intervention, research and outreach. According to the book, they help people exiting hate groups and support those who have already left, in both the United States and Canada.

 Exit USA was born in 2014 and is available to people around the world. Its mission statement reads, “No judgment. Just help. If you are ready to leave hate and violence behind, we are here to support you. At Exit USA we are dedicated to helping individuals leave the white power movement and start building a more fulfilling and positive life, just like we did.”

 

Other organizations/resources to seek support:

https://www.splcenter.org/policy-advocacy/

 https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/peril-understanding-preventing-gender-sexuality-bigotry/

www.antihate.ca

www.moonshotcve.com

 

Around The World On Two Wheels by Peter Zheutlin

 

   

   It took Annie Londonderry fifteen months to circle the world on a bicycle, an odyssey that started in June,1894, and culminated in September, 1895. This adventurous woman was ready to defy the conventions of her time to accomplish her goal. She managed to ditch the heavy Victorian clothing that women were supposed to wear to satisfy the sense of modesty imposed on them during that time.

    This was not a minor deed considering that she was a Jewish immigrant and that antisemitism and other forms of discrimination against minorities were running rampant.

  When she was a girl, her family, whose last name was Cohen, migrated from Latvia, which was part of Czarist Russia at that time. Millions of Jews escaped from Russia due to persecution, economic hardship and restrictive antisemitic laws. Annie and her family settled down in Boston.

    Three weeks ago, somebody told me about the first woman who circled the globe on a bike in 1894, so I looked her up and I found her name. Then I wondered if there was a book about her experience. In doing my internet search I found Peter Zheutlin’s book: Around the World on Two Wheels. As soon as I learned about it, I requested it from my local library.

   Peter Zheutlin is her great-grandnephew, but Peter never had a chance to meet her. He first learned about Annie from a stranger, a historian whose name is Michael Wells. To write Annie’s story Peter researched her life thoroughly and documented her travels by gleaning information from multiple media sources such as old newspapers and magazines along with some family letters and anecdotes he recorded when he contacted Mary, Annie’s granddaughter.

  Annie Londonderry had to deal with various challenges and obstacles when she decided to travel the world on a simple bike. First of all, she had no experience biking. The prospect of wearing corsets and heavy skirts while on a bike could have been enough to deter her from riding, but she was intent on doing so.

  Her words, published by The Sunday World, introduce us to her story: “The first idea of this trip came into my head when I heard of a wager that had been made that no woman could traverse the globe on a wheel. I accepted the burdensome end of the wager, and determined to win it. The Sunday World, as usual, was interested in the project. I knew nothing whatever about a bicycle. I had never ridden one, and there I had agreed to ride one around the world. Of course, the first thing to do was to get a bicycle and learn to ride.”

  Annie expected to make money by respectable means during her trip. She did so by selling silk handkerchiefs, giving talks to share her stories, knowledge and experience and by selling photographs of herself with her autograph on them.

  In those days, a woman riding a bicycle was considered a “disgraceful spectacle” by some people, but this did not discourage Annie. Women were starting to ride bicycles and to consider these devices as a sign of emancipation and freedom.

  During those years, bicycles became popular among women, but there was still controversy over whether women should or should not ride bicycles. The research on this topic is meticulous and engaging, for it mentions the names and anecdotes of women who completed long-distance rides. The book also highlights the fascinating link between the women who advocated for their right to vote and the use of bicycles. Did you know, for example, that Frances Willard learned to ride a bike at age 51?

 

Biking and the art of self-promotion

  To meet her goals Annie Londonderry relied on the art of self-promotion, something she was lucky enough to handle well. She was an avid storyteller, and her capacity to distort reality to make her stories more engaging was one of her talents. She had a flair for entertaining audiences across the world, and this helped to sustain herself financially during her trip. However, her adventure was plagued by several dangers and threats.  In the year 1894, when she was travelling, China and Japan were at war over the Korean territory. When Annie visited the region, she was imprisoned for a short period of time. Her reports reveal descriptions of what she witnessed.

  Annie also had to face the fact that there were people who did not like a woman working to promote herself. Women were not expected to get involved in such activities. It was viewed with suspicion and derision, and, as you may know, it was considered petty or even arrogant. It may have been envy what drove men and women to criticize her bravery and free spirit. In some places some of these people even doubted her gender because of her clothing and athletic habits.

     Yet what the naysayers said or thought did not dissuade Annie from pursuing her goal. She was unstoppable. Here’s the route she followed:

   If you expect to meet a perfect woman in this book, however, you will not find that. She was not a perfect human being—and nobody is, as far as I know--and why is perfection expected from women? I do not see the same attitude toward men. 

  Annie did accomplish her biking goal, and her great-grandnephew was excited to research her experience and share it. The information, however, is limited. I found the book to be a bit disorganized at times and some parts were a bit tedious, but I am thankful for Peter Zheutlin’s book. It made me reflect on various topics and it inspired me to learn about history.

 

 Annie and her family secrets

   Annie Londonderry was married and had three little kids when she launched into her odyssey. However, she kept this information hidden from the public lest she be judged and rejected.

  I was surprised to learn that Annie did not like to be a mother, but then I realized that in those days women were expected to become mothers even if they were not motivated to be mothers. Then I wondered if they had the freedom to make a choice over whether to become mothers. I wondered whether contraception was even available. I did not even know if contraceptives existed.

  I researched this topic and was shocked to learn that in the United States of America contraceptives were banned in the 1870s and the ban lasted until the 1960s. Also, abortion was criminalized in every state in the 1880s. The Comstock Act was proposed by Anthony Comstock, a fanatic religious man who hated women. The Comstock Bill was passed by Congress in 1873. The Comstock Act did not allow the promotion of contraceptive methods and it banned the transport of contraceptives by mail or other common carriers. You can read more about it here. 

  The United States of America was the only Western nation criminalizing birth control at that time.Therefore, many women were simply forced to become mothers because of their circumstances. Now we, as women, have the freedom to choose whether we want to have children or not, so we cherish the experience of being mothers. I had never thought about this before until I reflected on the life story of Annie Londonderry, the woman who cycled the world for the first time in history.

  Annie and her husband did not like parenting their children. I was baffled to learn that they sent them to Catholic boarding schools, where the kids faced stressful situations that affected their lives as adults. The emotional distance from their parents along with the harsh treatment in those school years left psychological scars for life.

  This book inspired me to learn more about the time period and opened my mind to understand that mothering may not have been a pleasant experience for many women in the past. I immersed myself in this book thinking that I would simply learn about a woman traveling the world on a bike, but I ended up researching subjects I would never have researched otherwise, like the use of contraceptives in the 1800s. Such is the magic of books.

 Riding through time takes us back to the present

  It was distressing to learn how religious fanaticism in the United States of America curtailed the rights of women. I am surprised that these historical topics are not discussed openly today. When I reflect upon this matter, I suddenly become aware of the ways in which a set of ridiculous rules were imposed to violate the rights of women to body autonomy. The right to body autonomy is a human right and it should be treated as such. No religion should be allowed to infringe upon this basic right. We are now in the twenty first century, and we are still confronting the creepiness of men and women who are proud of empowering men who are entitled to violate women and publicly say so.

 

   Conclusion

    Annie’s biking adventure opened her life to new experiences and afforded her the freedom she craved for during a time that constrained the lives of women in multiple ways. When I reflect on Annie’s life story, I conclude that in some ways Annie was the product of her times, but in others she resisted the oppression of her gender.

  It is hard to believe that it is the year 2025 and we are still seeing that so many people still believe women are inferior to men, even when they are qualified and have a background of honesty and hard work… and it is disturbing to see that men are rewarded for bad behaviors.

   As I read about Annie, however, I feel thankful that I don’t need to wear those ridiculous bloomers when I ride my own bike. I appreciate my freedom to choose comfortable leggings to go cycling.  Unsurprisingly, the twenty first century still has people questioning the right of women to wear leggings. Yes, seriously, I am not making it up: you can learn about this here.

  Oh, well. Stay tuned, because the bigots are empowered.

 

 If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check my writing on the following books:

 

Running for Good by Fiona Oakes

Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman

 

  Enjoy your reading adventures, and thank you for visiting My Writing Life Blog: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration.

 

 

Borges and Me: An Encounter by Jay Parini

 

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love...” Walt Whitman

 What a gift from the universe this book is! I am mesmerized at this encounter. I found Borges and Me in a Free Little Library in the city where I live. If you don’t know what free little libraries are, feel free to learn about them here. This incredible book by Jay Parini was published in the year 2020, but I came across it recently. I did not know anything about its existence.

  Borges and Me starts with the narrator learning about the death of Jorge Luis Borges at age 86 in June, 1986. Strangely enough, Borges’s wife, whom he married a few months before his death, also died at age 86 in the year 2023.

  Her name was Maria Kodama.

   The pain of learning about Borges’s death is palpable. He had met Borges in 1971 and they became friends during the week they spent together in Scotland. The newscaster described Borges as “a writer who blended fact and fiction in a peerless sequence of narratives that defied all boundaries… as a writer, he explored the most idiosyncratic spaces in the human experience, a lover of labyrinths and mirrors, a shapeshifting writer who could never be defined.” From that point on Jay Parini transports us to the year 1970, when he was a young man trying to find his place in the world.

  Originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jay Parini wanted to make a living as a writer. After many conflicts and deliberations, he applied for post-graduate study at the University of St. Andrews, where he was admitted into the doctoral program. His parents supported him reluctantly. They all agreed on one point, however: joining the Vietnam war was not a good idea. The stay in St. Andrews, Scotland, would be a better choice.

   Jay Parini was not sure what his future as a writer would be like, but he had a special interest in writing poetry, and he took it seriously, so, while he was in St. Andrews, somebody introduced him to a poet. His name was Alastair Reid, a man who made translations of Borges’s literary works. Alastair became Jay Parini’s friend and mentor, and he was the one who introduced him to Jorge Luis Borges, who at that time was already blind.

   Alastair asked Jay to stay with Borges for a week. Borges would not be able to stay by himself due to his blindness, and Jay Parini agreed to do so.

  Jay had a vehicle and Borges asked him if he could tour the Highlands of Scotland with him. Borge was excited to see the places there. “Just to read the map of the Highlands is to recite poetry,” Borges said. “Take me around Scotland. I want to see the Highlands.”

“But you are blind, Borges.”

Borges responded with another question: “Are you blind, too?”

 Parini replied that he was not blind, so Borges responded that he would be his eyes and that they would discover that wonderland together. Borges referred to him as “Giuseppe” because of the poet Giuseppe Parini.

 “We must take the plunge. What we discover, as within any labyrinth, will always be ourselves. Wherever you go, Giuseppe, there is Giuseppe. I go where Borges goes.”

  Off they went on their amazing adventures through Scotland. Every conversation and encounter they had was entertaining and even thought-provoking. Borges had an irresistible sense of humor, and he offered whimsical insights and literary references in the most unexpected situations. The emotional rollercoaster of Jay Parini falling in love with a woman in St. Andrews adds more to the tension and intrigue of this memoir in which Jay Parini discovers that he has a lot in common with Jorge Luis Borges, and sharing their life experiences connects them in mysterious ways.

  It was sad to finish this book. I wanted to stay with these characters, to keep listening to their quaint conversations. I could not get enough of Borges’s wit and eccentricities. Besides, their literary exchanges, which were rooted to their historical context, continue to have relevance in today’s conflicts and social and political situations. It has been truly magical to find this book, and I highly recommend it.

  For Parini, meeting Borges was a life transforming experience, “Our encounter lasted a week or so, but it forced a shift in me, a change of perspective, hitting me at just the right time. And all I knew for sure was that my way of being in the world was never quite the same after Borges.”

  It made me think about how an interaction with somebody can touch and transform us in so many ways when one is open to that change.   

  I marveled at the way Borges navigated his blindness. The richness of his inner world made up for the lack of eyesight. “Like Crusoe, I wished to isolate myself on a remote island, but one must be careful, as they say, of what one wishes for. Blindness is my very own island.” Literature is perhaps the bridge to paths of understanding and meaningful connections, and his fascination for libraries is something that I share with him.

  Borges carried inside himself the sensations of every place he had been to, the stories and poems of every book he had read, the reflections of life experiences and even the frustrations that take a toll on the soul but never stop oneself from moving forward. His inner world manifested in the vibrant memory of what he had seen, read and experienced. He made me laugh a lot throughout this story, and I confess that I wept a couple of times with Borges and Me: at the beginning and close to the end.

   I entered the book with overwhelming curiosity, and I ended it as if floating in a cloud of melancholy, immersed in a sense of longing and intrigued by embers of hope. The night I finished it, my mind was loaded with the vivid landscapes of Scotland and the musical rhythm of the Scottish dance lessons of my childhood, images flashing like lightning, buoying me up in my own world of night dreams.

   I will keep this book to return to it. It continues to haunt me. There is also a book by Borges in my book shelf that I haven’t read yet. It will be part of my list this year.