The works of Bruce Grindal teach us many things about anthropology's humanistic tradition. With examples such as Redneck Girl and "Postmodernism as Seen by the Boys at Downhome Auto Repair," Bruce Grindal demonstrated how we can creatively engage our ethnographic writing to reflect lived experiences. In this article, I examine Bruce's influence on my ethnographic writing and collaborative research in the Maya community of San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala. Since 2006, I have worked collaboratively with a group of Chamelqueños to investigate the story of their local hero, Aj Pop B'atz'. In the 16th century, Aj Pop B'atz' welcomed Spanish invaders to Chamelco in peace, avoiding the death and destruction suffered by indigenous communities elsewhere. Today, he is revered as a model of indigenous identity. Throughout our work together, my collaborators and I sought outlets to share the information learned through our research with the community. In 2012, we co-wrote a bilingual children's book about Aj Pop B'atz' for use in Chamelco's schools. This book offered school children a chance to reconnect with their history, lost through decades of state-sponsored violence. The Aj Pop B'atz' project, inspired by Bruce Grindal's legacy, reveals that ethnographic writing can inform creative collaborative projects, making them accessible to those outside of academia and those with whom we work in the field. [Ethnographic writing, humanism, collaborative research, Maya, Guatemala]The marimba played loudly as I looked around the table at which I sat with my friends and colleagues, nestled in the side of the municipal hall of San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala. On this cool night in June 2012, we joined Chamelco's political leaders and most prominent residents at a gala celebrating the town fair. The event, sponsored by the municipal government each year, celebrates Chamelco's history and honors a select group of Chamelqueños who have contributed to the preservation of Q'eqchi'-Maya culture. The event was an important one not only for residents of Chamelco but also for my colleagues and me who had begun our collaborative research more than six years before. My return to Chamelco twenty-four hours before the gala was fortuitous: we had not anticipated the invitation to present our work-a bilingual children's book about Chamelco's founder-at the event. When news of our project reached the mayor, we received an invitation to speak at the gala.As I sat with my friends, nervously waiting for the moment we would speak to the crowd, I took in the scene around me. The marimba played cheerfully to mark the occasion. The aroma of the pine branches decorating the room bs_bs_banner
