Author - John Coyne

New book —  Australia by Bus by Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96) Independently published 313 pages April 2024 Kindle Unlimited $4.99 (Kindle)  • • •  Australia is an ideal country to explore by bus. While most visitors spend their time in the urban centers, Australia’s scenic gems, historic sites, and vibrant cultures, including those of native Aborigines and other Indigenous groups, are scattered along the coasts and in the vast interior of desert, mountains, and windswept brush of the Outback. Buses go to these places. Because of the time limitations that most visitors have for travel, and the extreme distances to many points of interest, bus travel might effectively be combined with flights to the nearest cities. Bus travel is more than transportation; it is part of the journey. A visitor can fly over and look down, hopefully on a clear day. He or she can whiz past by train and catch panoramic . . .

In the news — • • •  Christophe Andre Tocco nominated to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania   Christophe Andre Tocco (Morocco 1996-98), a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Career Minister, is currently the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Planning, Learning and Resource Management where he oversees the Office of Policy, and the Program Office. Previously, he served as Senior Development Counselor and U.S. Delegate to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee. Other assignments include USAID Mission Director, Democratic Republic of Congo; Deputy Mission Director, Democratic Republic of Congo; and Deputy Regional Mission Director, USAID Senegal. Earlier assignments include Supervisory Program Officer for USAID Senegal and for USAID Rwanda and Morocco Country Desk Officer. Before joining the Foreign Service, Tocco was a Peace Corps Volunteer in . . .

Here is our new list of RPCV & staff authors we know of who have published two or more books of any type. Currently—in April 2024–the count is 538. If you know of someone who has and their name is not on this list, then please email: jcoyneone@gmail.com. We know we don’t have all such writers who have served over these past 63 years. Thank you.’ Jerome R. Adams (Colombia 1963–65) Tom Adams (Togo 1974-76) Thomas “Taj” Ainlay, Jr. (Malaysia 1973–75) Elizabeth (Letts) Alalou (Morocco 1983–86) Jane Albritton (India 1967-69) Robert Albritton (Ethiopia 1963-65) Usha Alexander (Vanuatu 1996–97) James G. Alinder (Somalia 1964-66) Richard Alleman (Morocco 1968-70) Hayward Allen (Ethiopia 1962-64) Diane Demuth Allensworth (Panama 1964–66) Paul E. Allaire (Ethiopia 1964–66) Jack Allison (Malawi 1967-69) Allman (Nepal 1966-68) Nancy Amidei (Nigeria 1964–65) Gary Amo (Malawi 1962–64) David C. Anderson (Costa Rica 1964-66) Lauri Anderson (Nigeria 1963-65) Peggy Anderson (Togo 1962-64) James . . .

  I woke up this morning to rain on the roof. It was nearing six a.m., which is usually the hour Zorro, my puppy, begins to make sad little whines and stares at me through the mosquito net. As the rain started Zorro got up, walked over to a more secure corner of the floor, and curled himself up into a little ball. I rolled over and let the rain ease me back into half-sleep. I love how slow a rainy morning is. Certainly no need to leap out of bed. And when the sound of rain on the roof softens, my body is still so relaxed that climbing out of bed is a long enjoyable stretch. The plans for the day haven’t yet set on my shoulders. This slowness is especially luxurious after a few months during which time seemed to grow faster by the day. I’m stunned to . . .

Peace Corps history —   Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024, School for International Training (SIT) is kicking off a series of events spotlighting the institution’s unique history and its dynamic future as a 21st-century global university. As part of this series, SIT will hold a half-day event on the Brattleboro campus featuring special guest former Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy and his wife, Marcelle Leah. SIT was officially established in 1964, 32 years after the launch of World Learning’s foundational youth exchange program, The Experiment in International Living. When President John F. Kennedy tapped program alumnus Sargent Shriver to become the inaugural director of the Peace Corps, Shriver turned to the Experiment to train some of the first Peace Corps volunteers. Out of that activity, SIT was born.     Today, SIT is the only accredited institution of higher education in the United States that is part of an international . . .

April 4, 2024 • • • KATHMANDU: Today, twenty-two Peace Corps Volunteers were sworn in by Ambassador Dean R. Thompson and the Peace Corps/Nepal Country Director Troy Kofroth to begin their two-year service in Nepal. The new Volunteers join the nearly 4,000 Peace Corps Volunteers who have served in Nepal and are the 209th group of American Volunteers to come to Nepal since 1962 when the governments of Nepal and the United States of America signed an agreement to establish the Peace Corps program here in Nepal. “President Kennedy said at the program’s founding in 1961 that ‘Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed–doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language,” Ambassador Thompson recalled, adding, “It was true then and remains the same now – Peace Corps Volunteers live with Nepali host families, eating . . .