November 15, 2017 – Peace Corps Worldwide

The Peace Corps in Vanity Fair magazine

Nov 15 2017

The October 2017 issue of Vanity Fair carries an article by Meryl Gordon from her upcoming book The Life of an American Style Legend being published by Grand Central Publishing. It is the story of how Jacqueline Kennedy turned to her friend Bunny Mellon to help Jackie fix up the White House Rose Garden, JFK’s favorite spot. The new Rose Garden was finished in June 1962 and began to be used by Kennedy for ceremonial occasions. One of the very first events in the garden was in August. Kennedy welcomed to the garden the PCVs for Ghana and (then) Tanganyika the day before they left for their assignments. That summer there were other PCVs in Training in the DC area who would meet the president on the White House lawns. They were at Georgetown, Howard, American, Catholic, George Washington, and the University of Maryland, over 600 in all. To read the whole article go to: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/09/how-bunny-mellon-invented-the-white-house-rose-garden Using . . .

Review: PEACE CORPS EPIPHANIES by Anson K. Lihosit (Panama)

Nov 15 2017

Peace Corps Epiphanies: Panama by Anson K. Lihosit (Panama 2015–17) Peace Corps Writers July 2017 132 pages $13.95 (paperback) Reviewed by D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974–76; Costa Rica 1976–77) • Anson Lihosit was a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Panama from 2015 to 2017. He taught English in the small rural town of Torti. Lihosit is second generation Peace Corps. His RPCV (Returned PCV) father who served in Honduras in the ’70s strongly encouraged him to write about his experiences. This well-written, interesting and often humorous book is the result. If you are thinking about joining the Peace Corps, you should read this book. Also, if you served in the Peace Corps 30, 40 or 50 years ago and want to know what is different and what is the same for those in the Peace Corps today, this is the book for you. Even if you have no connection to the . . .

Review: HIDDEN PLACES by James Heaton (Malawi)

Nov 15 2017

Hidden Places: A Journey from Kansas to Kilimanjaro (Peace Corps creative non-fiction) by James Heaton (Malawi [Nyasaland] 1962–64) Xlibris, 2016 May 2016 118 pages $19.95 (paperback), $29.99 (hardcover), $3.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Mary M. Flad (Thailand 1963–65) • James Heaton’s Hidden Places: a Journey from Kansas to Kilimanjaro is a beautifully written, and frequently hilarious, book. Heaton seems to have the gift of total recall of all of the details, and many of the misadventures, of his Peace Corps stint in Nyasaland in 1962 to 1964. Nyasaland was in transition to becoming the independent nation of Malawi. Heaton conjures up the mix of idealism, naiveté, escapism, and longing for adventure that characterized so many of us who entered service in “the Kennedy era.” His time in Africa was spent teaching science and English on the secondary-school level. In a little more than a hundred pages, he describes the memorable moments, . . .

Archive - November 15, 2017