Archive - November 21, 2012

Never Gonna Cease My Wanderin’: Letters Between Friends by Ruth Kesselring Royal (Philippines 1962-64) and Beryl A. Brinkman (Afghanistan 1967-69) Peace Corps Writers $15.00 September 2012 Reviewed by  Douglas Foley (Philippines 1962-64) Never Gonna Cease my Wanderin’ is a lovely, heartfelt coming-of-age story of friendship between two female Peace Corps Volunteers. The principal author, Ruth Kesselring Royal (Philippines 1962-64) reconstructs her friendship with Beryl Brinkman (Afghanistan 1967-69) through their extensive correspondence. She supplements the letters with recollections from her journal. To her credit, the edited letters retain much of their original language and tone. I must forewarn the readers that a long string of raw letters may present some reading challenges. The letters meander over many topics and contain a great deal of mundane information. But if readers plunge into the detail, they will find the fascinating narrative threads I am about to suggest. First, Ms. Royal is telling a . . .

David Mather discusses his book, One for the Road, a fictionalized account of a young Peace Corps Volunteer living in Cufeo, Chile, and supervising a reforestation project to help save the community in Gainesville, Florida, at 1:30 p.m., on January 22, 2013 in the Headquarters Branch Library at 401 University Avenue. Mather, who served in southern Chile with the Peace Corps from 1968 to 1970, has lived off-grid for more than 40 years. He and his wife divide their time between Lyme, New Hampshire, and Florida’s Gulf Coast. David Mather grew up in Sarasota, Florida, before attending school in New England where he graduated from Deerfield Academy (’64) and Bowdoin College (’68). He then served in southern Chile with the Peace Corps from 1968 – 70. He was the most isolated volunteer in his program, and the two years in the Peace Corps strongly influenced him. Upon his return, he . . .