Daniel V. Meier Jr.'s Blog, page 2

The Dung Beetles of Liberia ........ is now RELEASED !!!

i am extremely happy to announce that my book, THE DUNG BEETLES OF LIBERIA, A Novel Based on True Events, is now available in all major bookstores and online. I would like to thank everyone for your encouragement and goo...

Why: "Smell No Taste"

When doing research for a book, especially for a book set in Africa, one digs up lots of esoteric information that makes you wonder WHY.

Diamonds in the Rough

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We all know the term ���blood diamonds.��� They are diamonds that have been used to finance African warlords, fund a military coup or support any rebel faction intent on killing their opposition. During our hero���s time in Li...

The Fernando Po Scandal

The society set up by the Americo-Liberians is ���elitist power��� in its purist form.

Folktales Told Here

It is well known that communities all over the world use folktales to teach cultural beliefs and practices to their young. In Liberia, much of this storytelling takes place in the Palaver Hut, a circular structure of cla...

Why is Matilda still around?

And, then again, was she ever here in the first place?

Bug-a-bug and the Peace Corps

John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961 as one of his first acts as President of the U.S. His thinking was both idealistic and pragmatic. No one could argue against helping poorer countries combat poverty, hunge...

The Why: The Sande Secret Society.

The question is, why would any culture inflict female genital mutilation (FMG) on its little girls?

The Why: How it all started (cont.)

The American settlers at Cape Mesurado were, for the most part, easily identifiable when compared to the native Liberian population. Generations of interracial relations, whether rape or consensual, had produced various ...

The Why: How it all started

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me an incredible story about his time in Africa in the 1960’s.

· He’d crashed his plane in the middle of the Liberian jungle and survived. Then he told me some more stories:
· His friend was almost run over by an elephant.
· Smuggling diamonds was easy!
· He’d seen ant hills that were taller than him.
· He saw people EATING the ants!

Over and over again, I said, “You have to write this stuff down! These are great stories, and people should hear them!”

Well, finally it occurred to me that with his permission and his stories that I could write the book. Over a period of a year and a half we would go to lunch and he would regale me with one incredible story after another; and I would take notes.

It was a fun book to write but it soon became apparent that in order to write a cohesive and thematic account of his adventures, I had to rearrange his story into a novel. Most of my hero’s adventures and the Liberian political scene at the time are true, the characters and dialogue are not.

While researching Liberia, both its history and what it was like in the 1960’s I became increasingly fascinated with this country who is our African sister. This is a story that I think everyone should hear. Most have heard it, but have forgotten.

In the posts that follow I shall be showing how my new book, THE DUNG BEETLES OF LIBERIA captures the start of Liberia's tragic path toward civil war and destruction.