Author - Marian Haley Beil

The following review, written by David Strain (Nigeria 1963–65), of Uhuru Revisited: Interviews with African Pro-Democracy Leaders by Ron Singer (Nigeria 1964–67) was first published in the Friends of Nigeria quarterly newsletter. • Readers of Ron Singer’s many articles in this quarterly over the years will be greatly interested in his 2011-2012 interviews with 18 African “pro-democracy leaders.” I should emphasize that the range of people who fall within this rubric is quite wide. For examples, Puleng Matsoeneng, who as a daughter of a rural farmer in South Africa, struggled even to obtain an education, has led the fight to bring teachers and education to rural farm children. Kan Dapaah, abandoned by his father, has proceeded through the efforts of his mother and mother’s village to a career in accounting which led to multiple head of ministry posts in the Ghanaian government – he now leads an anti-corruption non-governmental organization . . .

The Keys to the Congo: and Further Travels: Memoir of a 2x Peace Corps Volunteer by Irene Brammertz (Zaire 1988-90; Malawi 2011-12) Self-published October 2015 207 pages $30.00 (hardcover), $8.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Leita Kaldi Davis (Senegal 1993–96) • Irene Brammertz has written a diary type memoir, drawing on journals and letters she wrote and subsequently edited intermittently for ten years after her first service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire. When Irene was 70-years-old she returned to Africa as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer for nine months in Malawi. Then she participated in a mission trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in 2013, when she revisited the people and places she had left behind in 1990. In her memoir, Irene recalls all the tribulations of culture shock that every PCV experiences: It’s a wonder that anybody gets anything done to earn a living since it . . .

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com, click on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards.   • The Keys to the Congo: and Further Travels: Memoir of a 2x Peace Corps Volunteer Irene Brammertz (Zaire 1988–90; Malawi 2011–12) Self-published October 2015 207 pages $30.00 (hardcover), $8.99 (Kindle) . • One of Windsor: The Untold Story of America’s First Witch Hanging (historical fiction) Beth M. Caruso (Thailand 1989–91); editor: Susanne Aspley (Thailand 1989–91) Lady Slipper Press October 2015 386 pages $17.95 (paperback); $9.99 (Kindle) • A Stone House in Pokhara and Other Tales (Peace Corps letters) Mike  Frame (Nepal 1962-66) Larchill Press 2011 250 pages $25.00 from Larchhill Press . • Mike’s Breakfast Cooking in Nepal . . .

Renewable: One Woman’s Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope Eileen Flanagan (Botswana 1984-86) She Writes Press March 2015 186 pages $16.95 (paperback), $9.95 (Kindle) Reviewed by Julie R. Dargis (Morocco 1984-87) • When Eileen Flanagan arrived in Botswana in 1984, “the same year that Apple introduced the Macintosh and Daryl Hannah starred in Splash with Tom Hanks,” global warming had yet to hit the global scene. Yet, that same year, as I arrived to my Peace Corps site in the south of Morocco, the population had been experiencing a severe drought. So much so, when the rains finally came with abandon, my students rejoiced for days. Twenty-five years later, as a result of global warming, Flanagan would be reporting similar news from her village in Botswana. Flanagan had entered the village of Bobonong atop a dusty road, rattling past round huts of mud and dung in a rusted-out Ford pickup . . .

Breathing the Same Air: A Peace Corps Romance Girard R. Christmas (Thailand 1973–76; Western Samoa 1976–78) Lulu April 2015 366 pages $22.99 (paperback), $8.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Tino Calabia (Peru1963–65) • “I never looked at the Peace Corps as a two- or three-year excursion into the Valley of Riotous Romance,” writes Gerry Christmas, a Volunteer in the late 1970s.  And from Christmas’ epistolary memoir Breathing the Same Air: A Peace Corps Romance, his three-year tour in Thailand followed by two years in Samoa proved neither riotous nor a steamy, bodice-ripping romance. In 330 pages, 68 letters (49 to his mother and father) trace the on-again, off-again travails of Volunteer Christmas’s love sparked by a woman named Aied in Thailand. Later, 6,200 miles away in Samoa, his heart still pines for her. Through it all, his mounting success teaching English would match his success as a writer, one especially adept in . . .

Marrying Santiago by Suzanne Adam (Colombia 1964–66) Peace Corps Writers May 2015 $15.00 (paperback), $3.49 (Kindle) Reviewed by Bob Arias (Colombia 1964–66) • A Journey within a Journey I feel that Suzanne is very much the same beautiful individual that she was when she became a Peace Corps Volunteer along with me in 1964 in Colombia. And like her move in 1971 to Santiago, Chile to be with her soon-to-be husband, Santiago, Suzanne took California with her when she went into the Peace Corps. One tough lady, always proud of who she was, and ready to go over the next hill to see if things are different, or perhaps to find a new flower or one of natures creatures. I agree with her, she would have made a great California Forest Ranger with a Smokey the Bear hat! Moving to Chile to follow Santiago was much more than changing homes . . .

In January of this year David Edmonds (Chile  1963-65) published his “romance thriller” Lily of Peru with the Peace Corps Writers imprint. David has written that since then the book has received a “good deal of love.” The attention that the book has received includes: Latino Literacy: International Latino Book Awards – Honorable Mention: Best Novel – Adventure or Drama – English Article on the Tampa Bay “Creative Loafing” website, “Local author named an International Latino Book Awards finalist“ 2015 Readers’ Favorite: Silver Award for “Fiction – Thriller – Terrorist” category . Florida Writers Association‘s 2015 Royal Palms Literary Awards: Finalist in the fiction category. (winners to be announced Oct 15-18) Latino Literacy: Latino Books into Movies Awards:  Finalist. Favorable reviews and interviews in blogs, newspapers and writers’ magazines. One of those reviews of Lily of Peru, written by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers’ Favorite, follows: Sigh. That was my . . .

Talk about the ultimate Third Goal Project! Andrew Tadross (Ethiopia 20011–13) writes about co-authoring language guides for two Ethiopian languages, Amharic and Tigriyya: The Essential Guide to Amharic: The National Language of Ethiopia [Peace Corps Writers, September 2015] is the second project I’ve worked on with my friend Abraham Teklu, the first being The Essential Guide to Tigrinya. I began both of these projects within a few months of arriving in Ethiopia as a Peace Corps Volunteer, not knowing that my ever-growing vocabulary list would become, what I believe now, are the best resources available on either language. I met Abraham, an outgoing Ethiopian man in his early 50s, on one of my first visits to Mekele in northern Ethiopia. His wife, Hruti, owned the simple hotel I wandered into one sunny day. Both had lived in America for many years and had returned to their homeland for a simpler . . .

The Unspoken: The Lost Novel by Christopher Conlon (Botswana 1988–90) CreateSpace January 2015 776 pages $25.95 (paperback), $7.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Tom Coyne (Morocco 1981–83) • What to say about a debut novel, unpublished until about a quarter century after it was written? First, The Unspoken: The Lost Novel was not really lost. Over a six-year period, author Christopher Conlon started this novel in college, continued writing it in Peace Corps (Botswana), and finished it in several other locales. Then, it languished on paper and floppy disks until this year. Second, Conlon was apparently loath to cut any bit of it. At 750+ pages, The Unspoken is a behemoth. Third, to use the author’s favored character description, this is a very glum story. Conlon is now an established writer — a winner of awards.* In his informative new introduction to the book, he observes: The Unspoken is a young man’s . . .

Three Hundred Cups of Tea and The Toughest Job: Riding the Peace Corps Rollercoaster in Mali, West Africa A Side-by-Side Memoir by Asifa Kanji and David Drury (both: Mali 2011–12; PCResponse Ghana 2012–13; PCResponse South Africa 2013) CreateSpace May, 2015 290 pages $14.95 (paperback), $5.99 (Kindle) .Reviewed by Wayne and Laurie Kessler (Ethiopia 1964–66) • I love bath time — the feel of cool water drizzling down my sweaty back is absolutely delicious. I don’t even dry myself. I let the breeze cool me down. It feels sooooo good. My village life is so simple, it is beautiful. Asifa Kanji expresses delight in this Peace Corps memoir. But it’s more than a memoir. It’s a splendid read with insights into Asifa and David’s views on life, and glimpses of their earlier adventures in East and South Africa, India, Eritrea, and Norway. These adventures provided a base for understanding and interpretation . . .