Archive - 2011

Books about the Peace Corps and your experiences will be included in a permanent Peace Corps Collection of the Library of Congress and displayed at the Library on the September weekend celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the agency. To have your book included in the collection (whether you will be attending the luncheon or not) please send a copy before July 1, 2011, to the Washington, D.C. Congressional Office of U.S. Representative John Garamendi. Mark the envelope Peace Corps Collection and address it to: Ms. Mayra Chavez Executive Assistant 228 Cannon HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 ALSO — please send a note to Marian Haley Beil (marian@haleybeil.com)  that you have sent your book to Ms. Chavez so that Peace Corps Worldwide can have a complete listing of the books in the Collection.

A Peace Corps Writers Luncheon will be held on Thursday, September 22, in the Library of Congress to celebrate the establishment of the Peace Corps Collection at the Library. The luncheon guests will include Peace Corps writers who have published books about their Peace Corps experience, and invited friends of our newsletter and websites who have supported us over the years. Because seating is limited, reservations must be made. Writers whose books qualify to be included in the Library of Congress Peace Corps Collection (click here for details) should contact Marian Haley Beil to R.S.V.P. no later than July 1, 2011 (or until the dining room reaches its capacity, whatever comes first). She will prepare a listing of those attending that will be posted at Peace Corps Worldwide>Peace Corps Writers. To make a reservation, writers should email Marian at marian@haleybeil.com with the following information — I will be attending the Peace . . .

DURING THE WEEKEND CELEBRATION of Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary, September 22-25, the Library of Congress will honor Peace Corps writers – both Volunteers and staff – who have published books about their Peace Corps experience with a display of their books of poetry, fiction, memoirs, and photography. Each book (whether academic, commercial or self-published but must have an ISBN number) will then become part of a new permanent Peace Corps Collection of the Library of Congress. In addition, the Library will establish a link from their web site to the Bibliography of Peace Corps Writers created by Marian Haley Beil (Ethiopia 1962-64), publisher of Peace Corps Worldwide. To celebrate this special occasion, a luncheon will be held on Thursday, September 22, in the Library hosted by Congressman John Garamendi (Ethiopia 1965-67) and his wife, Patricia (Ethiopia 1965-67). Co-hosts for the luncheon, with Patricia and John Garamendi, will be Marian Haley Beil, publisher of . . .

Big Dogs of Tibet and the Himalayas by Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963–65) Orchid Press October 2010 266 pages Reviewed by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000-02, Madagascar 2002-03) Don Messerschmidt’s Big Dogs of Tibet and the Himalayas is a good example of a lifelong passion distilled into print. The title describes what the book contains: a lengthy and detailed analysis of large Tibetan dogs. An anthropologist and Himalayan specialist, Messerschmidt served in the Peace Corps in Nepal in the 1960s, was aware of the existence of an almost “mythical” breed of large dogs that were companions and protectors of Tibetan yak herdsman. He spent a considerable amount of his free time during service — and indeed the rest of his life — finding and pursuing a deeper understanding of these animals. The focused subject matter of Big Dogs is not for everyone, but canine and Himalaya fans will welcome the addition . . .

Voices from The Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers by Angene Wilson and Jack Wilson (Liberia 1962–64) The University of Kentucky Press $35.00 400 pages March 2011 Reviewed by P. David Searles (CD Philippines 1971–74; Regional Director NANEAP and Deputy Director Peace Corps HQ 1974–76). HERE IS A BOOK THAT TELLS THE PEACE CORPS STORY in the most meaningful way one can imagine: using the voices of Volunteers who have served in many countries at different times to collectively present a picture of the Peace Corps experience that has the ring of truth to it. What one reads in the book are the heartfelt reminiscences of dozens of former Volunteers as they discuss their personal experiences relative to eleven topics selected by the authors, beginning with “Why We Went” (the title of Chapter 1), then on through “training,” “settling in,” “jobs,” and all of the other aspects of Peace . . .

I went to the Association of Writers & Writers Programs last week in Washington, D.C. I sat in on a panel featuring  Peace Corps poets. The panel was entitled, Broadening the Poet’s Vision Through the Peace Corps Experience. A small group of RPCV poets, gathered by Virginia Gilbert (Korea 1971-73), addressed a small crowd of mostly women graduate students and young academics, all would-be poets and professors. Nice people. The published Peace Corps poets on the panel were an impressive lot, all award winners themselves: Sandra Meek (Botswana 1989-91); John Isles (Estonia 1992-94); Ann Neelon (Senegal 1978-79); Derick Burleson (Rwanda 1991-93), plus Virginia.  I had never met any of them before, though Virginia and I have a passing connections after all these years, and I know, by emails, Ann and Sandra. The panel discussion took place in mid-afternoon in one of those endless mall meeting rooms of this huge downtown D.C. hotel. About 30 attended . . .

For those of you living in the DC area, Stan Meisler will be talking about his new book, When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years, at Politics and Prose — 5015 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington — on Sunday, February 27, at 5 p.m.

Laurence Leamer’s (Nepal 1965-67) next book will be The Price of Justice,  a nonfiction legal thriller telling the story of a coal giant CEO who sets out to destroy a small mine owner in West Virginia.

Being First: An Informal History of the Early Peace Corps by Robert Klein (Ghana 1961–63) Wheatmark, Inc $19.95 182 pages 2010 Reviewed by Kevin Lowther (Sierra Leone 1963–65) GHANA I — Peace Corps groups were Roman-numeraled in the early years  — began with 58 trainees at the University of California at Berkeley. It was July 1961, four months after President John F. Kennedy asked R. Sargent Shriver to establish the Peace Corps. The 58 guinea pigs and their trainers were all too aware that the experiment could rise or fall on the basis of their performance. “That challenge,” Robert Klein writes in Being First, “created a sense of uniqueness which has lasted through the years.” Fifty years, of course, and counting. Klein was a 32-year-old teacher in Harlem when he volunteered. Kennedy’s summons “added a moral dimension” to Klein’s “restless romanticized adventurism.” The group supposedly had been sifted through a . . .

A group of RPCV poets, gathered by Virginia Gilbert (Korea 1971-73), will have a panel discussion entitled,” Broadening the Poet’s Vision Through the Peace Corps Experience” at the 2011 Annual Conference of the Assocation of Writers & Writing Programs on February 2-5, 2011.  The panel is scheduled (subject to changes, of course) on Thursday from 1:30-2:45 in the Harding Room of the Marriott Wardman Park, (Mezzanine Level). Here are the details, if  you are attending the conference: R167. Broadening the Poet’s Vision Through the Peace Corps Experience. (Virginia Gilbert (Korea 1971-73); Sandra Meek (Botswana 1989-91); John Isles (Estonia 1992-94); Ann Neelon (Senagal 1978-79); Derick Burleson (Rwanda 1991-93). “How does a stint in the Peace Corps influence a writing life? This panel investigates the question of how living in a developing country as a volunteer contributes to the growth of a poetic voice. Five award-winning poets who served in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe discuss . . .