It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Lauri Fitz-Pegado, author of Dancing in the Dash: My Story of Empowerment, Diplomacy, and Resilience

Author’s Bio: Cultural and commercial diplomacy are the hallmarks of Lauri Fitz-Pegado’s career in the public sector, private sector, with nonprofits and in the arts. She has worked at the Voice of America, served in the Foreign Service in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, and appointed Assistant Secretary and Director General of the Foreign Commercial Service. Lauri held senior positions at Iridium and several public affairs companies.

Grounded in ballet training and performance early in her life, she has returned to teaching ballet and mentoring, applying her communications and public relations skills to promoting artists, and her business and leadership experience to advising dance institutions sharing her commitment to social change, empowerment and inclusion. In Dancing in the Dash, she tells her story and the relevance to her career achievements of skills acquired through ballet training.

Lauri received her M.A from the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies and a B.A. from Vassar College. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese. 

Note: Lauri can’t live without faith, hope, and laughter. 

Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book?

Lauri Fitz-Pegado: After retiring from my day job in 2018, and returning to my passions in the creative sector, I wanted to memorialize my rich professional and personal experiences originally for my children, grandchildren and close friends. I began looking at journals I kept throughout the years and things I had written about events in my life. Encouraged for years to write a book for a much broader audience by a good friend, Karen Cox (she wrote the beautiful Foreword to my book), I shifted to write a more creative and comprehensive book. 

DL: Describe your writing process?

LFP: I jotted down my memories and thoughts I wanted to include in my book. I reread journals I kept throughout my life, read old letters from family and friends and engaged in conversations about the past, and current events. I raised questions and initiated conversations about subjects not previously discussed. I was very introspective and enjoyed formulating thoughts, themes, writing in my head before putting it on paper. 

DL: What do you think makes a good story?

LFP: One that is relatable to its readers, engaging, easy to follow and memorable. 

DL: Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

LFP: As an adult, James Baldwin, a brilliant writer who wrote with purpose. My mother was an English teacher, loved books, and instilled in me a love of reading. She introduced me to the poems of Robert Frost, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes and Edgar Allen Poe. The Wind in the Willows, Little Women, The Secret Garden and The Bluest Eye are among my favorite books. 

I appreciated the opportunity to read so many books and poems in Spanish, required to major in Hispanic Studies at Vassar College, by writers like Federico Garcia Lorca, Gabriel Garcia Marques and Alejo Carpentier.  Also, in my Africana Studies classes I was introduced to Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott, Aime Cesaire and C.L.R. James. 

DL: What was the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?

LFP: Bleed on the page. Paint a picture describing every aspect of the moment--smell, taste, scenery, and feelings. 

DL: If you were hosting a dinner party which three authors would be your dream guests and why?

LFP: James Baldwin and William F. Buckley, Jr., to revisit today their legendary debate at Oxford in 1965. The debate has such relevance and resonance today. Their views on then and now would be fascinating. 

DL: What are the keys to success in marketing your book(s)?

LFP: My book was released less than two months ago. So far, the generosity of people who have hosted book parties in an interview format, combined with book signings, have been successful. Social media is critical today. Good reviews online are critical and people buying the books at bookstores and asking for your book at those not yet carrying it is important, too. It doesn’t hurt to know and maintain good relationships with a lot of people, keep updated data bases, and have a vast network of friends and family who are supportive. 

DL: Would you like to share an excerpt from Dancing in the Dance: My Story of Empowerment, Diplomacy, and Resilience?

LFP: Sure thing. Here you go: 

…my life became a series of sprints to cross a finish

line that kept reemerging farther down the road. Upon

seeing the finish line a few strides away, I found myself

digging deep for that second wind to tackle the next one

without stopping to catch my breath. I worked equally

hard to prepare myself for the preliminary heats, striving

to finish first in the qualifying rounds. My guiding

beacon was that failure was never an option; that I

would prevail not only for myself but also for those behind,

beside, and even in front of me, should they falter.

It seemed I was destined to become “the exception,” defying

the stereotypes associated with who I appeared

to be to that club in which I would never really attain

full membership. I endured lifelong pressure, especially

when I sometimes was the first and often was the only

one (Black and/or woman) in the room. I developed coping mechanisms early:

mental, physical, and emotional, which worked well, until

they didn’t. Then, one day I finally broke through the

tape at the finish line of what always felt to me like the

hundred-yard dash—liberated and free for the first time

to breathe and pursue my passions: to stop running that

dash; instead, letting go and embracing the present—the

period indicated by the line between the years of birth

and death—fully living in my dash 

DL: What new projects are you currently working on?

LFP: For my book, I want to get the audio book produced. My Dad, who is 89 years old and has a beautiful bass voice, already has recorded excerpts from the book. I also want to have the book translated to Spanish for the many audiences in the U.S. and in Latin America and the Caribbean.

I am working with Canada’s National Ballet School on a virtual symposium, January 28-29 and February 3-4, 2022 “Addressing Racialization in Ballet: Four Days, Two Countries, One Shared Purpose.” I am excited to join as a sponsor of Canada’s National Ballet School and the Dance Institute of Washington. The Symposium is timely and critical to the future of ballet. 

DL: Where can readers learn more about you and your work?

LFP: They can learn more about me and my work here:

• Website: https://inthedash.live
• Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3GPBKKB
• Facebook: Lauri Fitz-Pegado | Facebook
• Instagram: @laurifitzpegado @dancinginthedash
• Twitter: @laurifitzpegado
• Book Buy Links: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954805047
• https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dancing-in-the-dash-lauri-fitz-pegado/1140131808
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58938761-dancing-in-the-dash
• https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781954805040 

DL: Thanks so much for being here with us today. I know my readers will enjoy getting to know you and your work.

LFP: Thanks for having me!