Archive - May 14, 2009

In the summer of 1964, Jack Prebis (Ethiopia 1962-64) returned from overseas and was responsible for putting the books together for the 3rd edition of the Peace Corps locker. Here is Jack’s recollection of that job and his collection of books for the famous Peace Corps book locker. Developing the Peace Corps booklocker was the best job I ever had. As sometimes happens with fun jobs, this one fell in my lap. Returning in 1964 from my secondary school teaching stint in Ethiopia, I headed to Our Nation’s Capital, hoping to land stateside Peace Corps work. Back in those days, the Peace Corps was fresh, free-wheeling and unbureaucratic, shot through with idealists. (Thanks in part to the five-year rule, it remains staffed with idealists.) To my good fortune, as I was being interviewed-was it by fifteen people?-the person who had begun work on “the booklocker” was heading back to Chile on staff. . . .