author
William La Varre
1898–1991
Drawn to jungles, river expeditions, and political intrigue, this American explorer-journalist turned firsthand travel into adventure books and later wrote sharply about Latin America and communism. His life moved from treasure-hunting journeys in South America to magazine editing and government work.
1 Audiobook
Up the Mazaruni for Diamonds
by William La Varre
About the author
Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1898, William J. LaVarre became known as an American geographer, explorer, and journalist. He wrote books including Up the Mazaruni for Diamonds and Southward Ho! A Treasure Hunter in South America, both shaped by his travels in South America and his taste for difficult, far-off places.
His papers and library records show a career that stretched beyond travel writing. He worked on U.S. relations with Latin America, served as chief of the American Republics Unit in the United States Department of Commerce during the early 1940s, and later became editor-in-chief of American Mercury.
LaVarre died in 1991. The surviving record suggests a restless, wide-ranging life: part adventurer, part reporter, and part political writer, with a body of work that reflects both the romance of exploration and the anxieties of the twentieth century.