Peace Corps Worldwide

Don Gayton (Colombia 1966–69) is the winner of the Best Travel Book Award for Okanagan Odyssey: Journeys through Terrain, Terroir and Culture published in 2010 by Rocky Mountain Books. He is an ecologist and writer, whose twin interests focus on the dry landscapes of western North America. His writing includes award-winning books of popular non-fiction (Man Facing West, Okanagan Odyssey, Interwoven Wild, Kokanee, Landscapes of the Interior and The Wheatgrass Mechanism) as well as scientific articles dealing with grasslands and dry forests. Gayton served in the Peace Corps as an agricultural Volunteer in rural Colombia, and that experience had a profound influence on his life. He moved from the US to Canada during the Vietnam War years, and currently lives in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, where he works as an ecologist.  His awards include the Saskatchewan Writers Guild non-fiction award, the US National Outdoor Book Award, the Canadian Science Writers . . .

Matthew Davis (Mongolia 2000–02) is the winner of the Moritz Thomsen Peace Corps Writers Experience Award for his memoir  When Things Get Dark: A Mongolian Winter’s Tale published in 2010 by St. Martin’s Press.  Matt has just returned to the United States after a year as a Fulbright Fellow to Syria and Jordan.  He has an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa and a Master’s in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Kristine Huntley in Booklist wrote: In 2000, at the age of 23, Davis leaves Chicago, his hometown, to travel to Mongolia to work as a teacher for the Peace Corps. Once he arrives in the small town of Tsetserleg, Davis moves into a ger, the circular tent that will be his home for the next two years, and gets to know the family whose land he is living on. He . . .

Cynthia Morrison Phoel (Bulgaria 1994–96) is the winner of the Maria Thomas Fiction Award for Cold Snap: Bulgaria Stories published in 2010 by Southern Methodist University Press. She  served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a Bulgarian town not unlike the one in her stories. She holds degrees from Cornell University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. Her work has appeared in The Missouri Review, The Gettysburg Review, Harvard Review, and Cerise Press. She lives near Boston with her husband and their three children. In the review of Cold Snap in Booklist Donna Seaman wrote: “Phoel’s first collection of stories and a novella incisively dramatizes the interlocked lives of the beleaguered denizens of a Bulgarian town. Phoel spent time in Bulgaria as a Peace Corps volunteer, but one gets no sense of an outsider looking in. Instead, she fully inhabits the minds of her jittery characters as they grapple with various . . .

Eric Lax(Micronesia 1966-68) is the winner of the 2010 Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award for his book Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2010. Lax, who was born in British Columbia and grew up in San Diego, is a graduate of  Hobart College and served in Truk (now Chuuk), Eastern Caroline Islands, Micronesia. In 1968-69 he was a Peace Corps Fellow, and later held several posts in Peace Corps/Washington Headquarters. He is the author of eight books. Other recent books include Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking, and The Mold In Dr. Florey’s Coat: The Making of the Penicillin Miracle (a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2004). Others include the international best seller Woody Allen: A Biography and Life and Death on 10 West (both New York Times Notable Books). His books have been translated into 18 languages. His articles have appeared in many publications, including The . . .

The Gawker Guide to Fall Books has selected Mule: A Novel of Moving Weight by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000-02; Madagascar 2002-03)  as one of their top fall books. The book is being published this month. Gawker writes: What It Is: The recession leads a young California couple with a baby on the way to turn to cross-country marijuana-running in order to make some quick cash. On the trip from Cali to Florida (which has a marijuana shortage?) a kidnapping, a shootout, and other business risks occur. Themes: America is broken, danger, risk, “zeitgeist-capturing.” Should You Bother?: Yes, because this book shows how “respectable” people can and do turn to crime in times of desperation. Buy it for your relative who blames drug dealing on the Poors.

Red White Black and Blue (A Donald Strachey Mystery) by Richard Stevenson (i.e. Richard Lipez (Ethiopia 1962–64) Albion, NY: MLR Press $14.99 (paperback) 236 pages June 2011 Reviewed by  Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963–65) CREATE A PLOT focused around an upcoming state election, party politics and brinksmanship including some convoluted candidate-must-win-at-all-costs skullduggery, toss in a highly motivated gay P.I. who is not averse to taking risks to life and limb, place it all in the hands of a skilled novelist, and what you get is very readable, fast paced detective story with overtones of social consciousness and contemporary political gamesmanship complete with Tea Party operatives and a lot of New York state politics (some of it invented, with apologies from the author). Donald Strachey is a private investigator in the employ of a Democratic operative bent on getting the goods on his Tea-Party-supported Republican opponent. The choice of Strachey for the job . . .

Fiesta of Sunset: The Peace Corps, Guatemala, and a Search for Truth By Taylor Dibbert (Guatemala 2006–08) 192 Pages iUniverse July 2011 Reviewed by P. David Searles (CD Philippines 1971-74 & Regional Director NANEAP 1974–76) TAYLOR HAS DONE A GREAT FAVOR for people like me whose real knowledge of the lives Peace Corps Volunteers lead is based on what took place decades ago, and for those considering Peace Corps service as the next step in their lives. Dibbert served in Guatemala from 2006 to 2008 as a member of an Appropriate Technology group concentrating on bringing potable water to the poorest of the poor in rural Guatemala. Fortunately for us, he faithfully kept a journal of his time in-country and has now published a judiciously edited version of it in his book, Fiesta of Sunset. Dibbert tells his story with honesty, clarity, some humor, and always with a deeply felt . . .