Leonide (Lennie) Martin: Award winning author, editor, California State University Professor Emeritus, former Family Nurse Practitioner, Research Member Maya Exploration Center. Her works include narrative nonfiction, historical fiction, nursing textbooks, and holistic health.

Dr. Martin’s recent books include family genealogy and historical fiction portraying ancient Maya culture and civilization. The genealogy book traces her South Louisiana family to its Acadian roots in 1600s Nova Scotia. Her interest in ancient Mayan women led to the 4-book series about historic Mayan queens, powerful women who shaped the destinies of their people as rulers themselves, or wives of rulers.

Martin studied Maya culture and history from both scientific and indigenous viewpoints. She lived five years in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, apprenticed with Maya Elder Hunbatz Men and became a Solar Initiate and Maya Fire Women in the Itzá Maya tradition. Indigenous teachers in Guatemala included Maya Daykeeper Aum Rak Sapper and Maya elder Tata Pedro. The ancient Mayas created the most highly advanced civilization in the Western hemisphere, and Martin’s books depict their wisdom, spirituality, scientific, and cultural accomplishments through compelling historical novels.

Interest in describing the genealogical and historical background of her South Louisiana family grew out of the Acadian ancestor quest undertaken with her daughter Katherine Bonnabel in 2013. Nearly a decade of research revealed the 14-generation lineage back to Acadia, mostly through maternal lines. This process reconnected many cousins in a shared exploration of roots and heritage, bringing us closer together as a family.

Presently Dr. Martin lives with her husband David Gortner and their white cat in Temecula Valley, CA wine country, where she enjoys reading, gardening, nature walks, music, and wine tasting.