May 3, 2012 – Peace Corps Worldwide

The Power and the Glorious in the NYTIMES

May 03 2012

This morning’s NYTIMES edition has a piece in the “Scene City” section about all the parties after the White House correspondents’ Association Dinner, including one at the French ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. Bob Morris writes: “If the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is a prom, as President Obama called it in his speech last Saturday night, then the mosh of parties here last weekend was something between Oscars Week and spring break. There were dozens around town, with old media companies like The New Yorker joined by new ones like The Huffington Post, each airlifting stars in to upgrade the glitter quota.” Here is our own Maureen Orth (Colombia 1964-66) with the Mayor New York Michael Bloomberg. Maureen is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

Review of Travis Hellstrom's The Unofficial Peace Corps Handbook

May 03 2012

The Unofficial Peace Corps Handbook by Travis Hellstrom (Mongolia 2008–11) Advance Humanity Publishing 2010 234 pages $15.95 paperback Review by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras, 1975-77) HELLSTROM’S GUIDE IS OF THE MYSTICAL GENRE, much like Zen In the Art of Archery, for this is a book about acceptance. Unlike recent guides which outline application, training, service and homecoming, this book offers very few lists. It offers comfort. “The happiest Peace Corps Volunteers are the ones who make peace,” explains the author. Be forewarned that if you are concerned about our voracious appetite for paper and the disappearance of forests, the format might disturb you: it contains 97 blank pages (more than one third of the book). The blank pages are for volunteers to write on. Of the pages with print, many contain less than 20 lines like a poetry book. I imagine that the author’s intent is akin to poetry — . . .

Archive - May 3, 2012