Archive - 2012

Charles Ipcar (Ethiopia 1965-68) has co-edited The Complete Poetry of Cicely Fox Smith with James Saville. They collected 640 poems of this British poet from the early 20th century, 90 of which have been adapted for singing and recorded by members of the folk music community around the world. The book is available for sale via Amazon. com. Cicely Fox Smith was described by a reviewer as the “poet of the sea.” This accolade was not casually given or thinly deserved, it was a considered evaluation of the immense body of work that was admired universally by all, and in particular those who sailed and were of the sea. For the first time, this book, “The Complete Poetry of Cicely Fox Smith,” brings all her poetry together in one book for all to see not only the quantity, but the quality of her poetry. Cicely Fox Smith was born February . . .

Lora, where and when were you in the Peace Corps? I was in the Peace Corps twice. In Tunisia from 1989–1991 and in Papua New Guinea for a year in 1996. What was your Tunisia assignment? I served my first year in the capital, Tunis, as an English Professor at Institut Des Langues Vivantes, Tunis (the University of Tunis). For my second year, I moved two hours west to the town of Beja to teach in a satellite school for the university. For my special project (a requirement for teachers during summer season) I directed a teacher training program for several of my co-volunteers. The program allowed over 150 Tunisian students access to free English lessons. And in Papua New Guinea? I lived in the extremely remote village of Kantobo in the Southern Highlands Province. I worked on an eco-tourism/rainforest conservation project with the World Wildlife Fund. I also worked . . .

This review by Richard Lipez (Ethiopia 1962-64)  appeared today, July 31, 2012, in The Washington Post. • Book review: ‘The Lower River,’ by Paul Theroux By Richard Lipez Former Peace Corps volunteers sometimes like to take sentimental journeys back to the towns and villages where they spent a couple of years expanding their world views and doing useful work. I’ve gone on such a visit myself, and it’s gratifying. But Ellis Hock isn’t so lucky. He’s the protagonist in “The Lower River,” a grim-spirited and rattlingly suspenseful new novel by Paul Theroux, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s. When Hock returns to Malawi after 40 years, instead of enjoying a happy reunion he is taken captive by his erstwhile hosts and treated to a long, hideous look at Africa at its phantasmagoric worst. The strengths of this novel, Theroux’s 29th work of fiction, are numerous. For deep-in-the-bush . . .

An interview with Will Lutwick (Fiji 1968–70) about his book Dodging Machetes: How I Survived Forbidden Love, Bad Behavior, and the Peace Corps in Fiji that was published in May of this year by Peace Corps Writers. • Will, where did you go to college? I got my BA from Duke in ’67, then an MBA from the University Michigan in 1968. What was your job in the Peace Corps, Will? For the first six months credit union co-op, wholesale food co-op. Last 14 months: working for the Fiji government doing marketing: pushing passion fruit and handicrafts (tapa cloth, cannibal forks, war clubs et. al.) to the American market, and internal marketing of oranges from the most remote island  (Rotuma) to the largest, most populous island (Viti Levu). My language training was in Hindi as 51% of the population then was Indian (mostly descendants of indentured servants who opted to . . .

Randall Wood (Nicaragua 1998-’00) is an engineer, author, teacher and author of two books, Moon Nicaragua (a best-selling travel guidebook to Nicaragua) and Living Abroad in Nicaragua. Randy and his Nicaraguan wife Ericka and their two children live today in Dakar, Senegal where he works for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, thought he is still president of the Amigos de Nicaragua RPCV group and in many ways he will never leave Central America. He wrote me recently about his new book, The Dictator’s Handbook: a practical manual for the aspiring tyrant, “I wanted to dedicate the book to Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega because watching that guy in action really nailed down the difficulty of helping poor people when their government is doing everything in its power to prevent it,” he said. “Studying Ortega and then other dictators made clear these clowns are all doing the same things – subverting the constitution, . . .

The Raft S.A. Bodeen (Tanzania 1989-90) Feiwel and Friends (an imprint of Macmillan) 231 pagesAugust $16.99 (Hardcover); $9.99 (Kindle) 2012 Reviewed by Reilly Ridgell (Micronesia 1971-73) I’m not much into reading “young adult” literature.  Oh I read some Hardy boys mysteries and maybe a  few others like that but by high school I gravitated quickly to the classics and works considered more “hip.”  So I wasn’t sure how I’d find S.A. Bodeen’s survival story, The Raft.  What a pleasant surprise it was.  The writing is strong and purposeful, the characters interesting, the situation fascinating.  The story is told in the first person, usually a red flag but Bodeen pulls it off well, by Robie Mitchell, a 15 year old girl who teeters between common sense and being a bit of an airhead.  But I guess that’s what comes with being 15.  She has spent much of her teen years isolated . . .

Michael McCone (Malawi CD 1963-64), who is on the board of this California publishing house founded in 1974 by Malcolm Margolin, has published a beautiful little book entitled: Everyday Dogs: A Perpetual Calendar for Birthday& Other Notable Dates by Mary Scott and Susan Snyder,Heybooks, $14.95 The contents are from the Bancraoft Library on the UC/Berkeley campus. As Mike writes, “What do Gertrude Stein, Jack London, John Muir, and Queen Victoria all have in common with us?” Well, they all have a “cherished unbreakable bond of friendship between canine and human graces all of our days.”  The photos are linked with literary quotes about canines.