Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 411 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

Major RPCV Writers Publishing Books In February

Feb 04 2010

Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler (China 1996–98) Harper’s 448 pages February 2010 $27.99 • Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso 1975–77) Pocket 368 pages February 2010 $15.00 • Poison of Love: Are We Frying Our Children’s Brains (novel) by Ruth Moss (Kazakhstan 1996–98) Eloquent Books 250 pages January 2010 $14.95 • A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta by Paul Theroux (Malawai 1963–65) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 288 pages February 2010 $26.00 • Tiptoe Through the Tombstones: Oakhill Cemetery, Vol. 1 by Ghlee E. Woodworth (Comoros Islands 1991–93); edited by Jane Uscilka Self-Published 240 pages July 2009 $35.00

RPCV Hessler Completes Chinese Trilogy

Feb 04 2010

Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory is Peter Hessler’s (China 1996-98) third book on his host Peace Corps country. It is being published on Tuesday, February 9. Peter, who went to China first as a Rhodes Scholar, then returned as a PCV, has lived on and off, mostly on, in China for over a decade. In the summer of 2001 he acquired a Chinese driver’s license and took his first road trip across the north of the country, following the route of the Great Wall and camping along the way. Peter made two such journeys, one in the spring and one in the autumn; he traveled over 7,436 miles and went all the way to the Tibetan Plateau. The second part of the book is focus on a family north of Beijing that has shifted from farming to business after their local road is paved. The third section . . .

100 Days (Or Less) Part Eight: Day Three

Feb 03 2010

Day Three Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense. Mark Twain Most novels are written to a formula, especially big best sellers. For example, John Baldwin, co-author of The Eleventh Plague: A Novel of Medical Terror, developed a simple formula that he used to structure his novel. His ten-step formula is: 1. The hero is an expert. 2. The villain is an expert. 3. You must watch all of the villainy over the shoulder of the villain. 4. The hero has a team of experts in various fields behind him. 5. Two or more on the team must fall in love. 6. Two or more on the team must die. 7. The villain must turn his attention from his initial goal to the team. 8. The villain and the hero must live to do battle again in the sequel. 9. All deaths . . .

Peace Corps At Day One, # 4

Feb 03 2010

In the very early days of 1961, the experts had concluded that a Peace Corps of 300 to 500 Volunteers would be a realistic and worthwhile pilot program. The estimate was revised when Shriver and a Peace Corps “team” (then Presidential Assistant Harris Wofford and Peace Corps Assistant Franklin H. Williams and Edwin Bayley, among others) returned from a trip to Africa and Asia in May of 1961. Requests from world leaders for Peace Corps Volunteers, plus demonstrated interest at home, led to a revised estimate of 500 to 1,000 Volunteers by December 31, 1961, and 2,400 by June 30, 1962, the end of the Peace Corps’s first fiscal year. The governments of Ghana, Nigeria, Tanganyika, India, Pakistan, Malaya, Thailand, Colombia, Chile, St. Lucia and the Philippines were the first to request Volunteers. These requests covered much of what, in the first years, had come to be considered the Peace Corps . . .

100 Days (Or Less) Part Seven: Day Two

Feb 02 2010

Day Two It’s very excruciating life facing that piece of paper every day and having to reach up somewhere into the clouds and bring something down out of them. Truman Capote In the first week, you will decide the story you are going to tell. My guess is that you have been thinking of your story for quite some time. It is the book you have always wanted to write. It doesn’t matter what kind of novel or memoir you write. There are no rules other than that the book has to be interesting. It can be exciting, scary, fun, funny, romantic, sad, or true down to the very last word – but it must not bore the reader. You will not know every detail of your book, or even how it ends, but today you are going to begin the process of finding out. You are not going to . . .

Peace Corps At Day One, # 3

Feb 02 2010

According to the 1st Annual Report to Congress for the Fiscal Year that ended on June 30, 1962 there were 7 major problems facing the Peace Corps in March 1961, the day President Kennedy signed the Executive Order establishing the agency. 1) Were there enough qualified and talented Americans willing to respond to the Peace Corps invitation to service? 2) Would foreign governments request these Volunteers to fill their middle-level manpower needs? 3) Could the right Volunteers be selected? 4) Could they be adequately trained to avoid the pitfalls of Americans who had failed overseas before? 5) Would they have the stamina to stay on the job? 6) Could the Peace Corps undertake its mission independently or would it be entangled in existing red tape? 7) Would Congress approve the Corps at all, an even if it did, would enough money be appropriate for a new world-wide undertaking involving thousands . . .

Peace Corps At Day One, # 2

Feb 01 2010

A small group of Peace Corps planners began to gather in the two-room suite at the Mayflower Hotel in February 1961 to develop the concept of a Peace Corps. At first with Shriver was Harris Wofford, then a Presidential Aide, and Richard Goodwin, also a Presidential Aide who went onto become a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. They were soon joined by others recruited by Shriver and Wofford: Edwin Bayley, Executive Assistant to the Governor of Wisconsin; Bradley Patterson, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Eisenhower Cabinet. He would become the Peace Corps Executive Secretary. Gordon Boyce, President of the Experiment in International Living; Bill Moyers, then Vice President Johnson’s Administrative Assistant; Lawrence Dennis, the Vice President of Pennsylvania State University, William Haddad, a newspaper reporter and former assistant to Robert Kennedy and Estes Kefauver; Atlanta lawyer Morris Abram; Al Sims, Vice President of the International Institute of Education; psychologist, Dr. Nicholas Hobbs, state government executive . . .

Support Our RPCVs On The Ground In Haiti

Feb 01 2010

Dr. Jack Allison (Malawi 1967-69) is back from Haiti, but the Malawi Contingent of RPCVs and Peace Corps Staff continue their work in-country. Dr. Tom Powers (Malawi 1967-69) and Andrew Oerke (PC Staff: Tanzania, Uganda, CD Malawi, CD Jamaica 1966-71) with Dr. Anitra Thorhaug are still on the ground. Jack has returned to raise funds for their work. Over the weekend, Anita wrote me, “Today the United Nations water and food started flowing to a group of more than 500 families in the epicenter village of Gressier where no supplies or medical care had previously occurred since the quake. Dr. Powers, who is assessing medical needs, has recently been in disasters in Central and South America. We have disaster coordinator Livio Valenti on the ground from FAO who was instrumental in mapping groups and getting the food and water flowing. From Dr. Jack Allison I hear, “we literally treated hundreds of . . .

E-Mail Letter Sent To RPCVs By Crisis Corps (a.k.a. Peace Corps Response)

Jan 31 2010

[The Peace Corps, as an agency, was created in 30 days, but those were the days when the Kennedy Kids knew how to get things done! By the time this Response Corps gets its act together and sends its first RPCVs to Haiti the children needing food and medical attention will be in college. “It will take time for us to assess what Peace Corps can do in Haiti,” writes Laura Smail in her form e-mail to RPCVs calling the Peace Corps. Really? Don’t tell that to Shriver, Wofford, and Wiggins. In February of 1961 they met in two-rooms at the Mayflower and with a handful of people inside and out of government created a whole new organization that was signed into law by March 1, 1961. Maybe if the Peace Corps saw the situation in Haiti as a ‘crisis’ and now simply something to ‘response to’ we’d have some action at HQ.] Laura’s . . .

Peace Corps At Day One, # 1

Jan 31 2010

Over the next year, leading up to the 50th Anniversary, I’ll be blogging short pieces of background information on the creation of the agency. I’ve done some of this already, as you know, but what follows is more details and facts on the ‘idea’ of a Peace Corps, and the first group of staff and PCVs. So, here’s # 1 Beginning in March of 1961, the Peace Corps had no Volunteers, little staff, no application form, no tests or testing centers, no selection process, no training program, no projects, no evaluation system, and no agreements with nations wanting Peace Corps Volunteers. There was intense interest–30 to 40,000 letters following the JFK’s speeches outlining the idea for a Peace Corps. There was authority, the March 1, 1961 Presidential Executive Order, 10924. And there was some research. Remember the Colorado State study Congress had conducted? There were also criticism, skepticism, disbelief and fear. It was between . . .

First Peace Corps Books, Pamphlets & A Play, A Book of Photos & A RPCV Memoir!

Jan 30 2010

In case you’re wondering (or want to do your PHD on the Peace Corps) the first books and pamphlets on the agency in the first five years came out in 1961. There were four published that year. In 1962 one play was produced; 1963 had five more books in print; 1964 six books; three in 1965. They are: 1961 An International Peace Corps: The Promise and Problems, by Samuel P. Hayes published by Public Affairs Institute. It cost $1.00 (1961) Complete Peace Corps Guide, by Ray Hoopes, with an intnroduction by R. Sargent Shriver published by Dial Press. It cost $3.50. (1961) New Frontiers for American Youth: Perspective on the Peace Corps by Maurice L. Albertson, Andrew E. Rice and Pauline E. Birkey published by Public Affairs Press. It cost $4.50. (1961) Peace Corps: Who, How and Where by Charles E. Wingenbach, with a foreword by Hubert H. Humphrey published by John Day Company. It . . .

100 Days (Or Less) Part Six: Day One

Jan 29 2010

Day One It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer. Those who do not do this remain amateurs. Gerald Brenan Writers write in different ways. Some writers write on computers, others on typewriters, or in long-hand. Agatha Christie said that the best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes. It doesn’t matter how you write. What matters is that you write. What you need to do first in these 100 days is create a routine for your writing. You do this by establishing a specific time to write. This is important because over the course of writing your novel, you will get discouraged, bored, angry, or otherwise fed up, and when you start feeling that way, you’ll need a clearly defined patterns to keep yourself writing. On occasion you may have to shift your writing times to deal with other . . .

Peace Corps Writers awards for books published in 2009

Jan 29 2010

It is time to nominate your favorite Peace Corps book published in 2009. Send your nomination(s) to John Coyne at: jpcoyne@cnr.edu. You may nominate your own book; books written by friends; books written by total strangers. The books can be about the Peace Corps or on any topic. However, the books must have been published in 2009. The awards will be announced this coming July. Thank you for nominating your favorite book written by a PCV, RPCV or Peace Corps Staff. Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award First given in 1990, the Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award was named to honor Paul Cowan, a Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Ecuador. Cowan wrote The Making of An Un-American about his experiences as a Volunteer in Latin America in the sixties. A longtime activist and political writer for The Village Voice, Cowan died of leukemia in 1988. Maria Thomas Fiction Award The Maria Thomas Fiction . . .

100 Days (Or Less) Part Five: Let Us Begin

Jan 28 2010

Sinclair Lewis was invited to talk to some students about the writer’s craft. He stood at the head of the class and asked, “How many of you here are really serious about being writers?” A sea of hands shot up. Lewis then asked, “Well, why aren’t you all home writing?” And with that he walked out of the room. It is time for you to become a writer. What follows is your daily log – each day has words of encouragement, advice, wisdom or a task for you to do to help you get your novel written. For the purpose of organization I am breaking the writing down into “days” but a day for you might be thirty minutes or a week’s time. What is important is that you keep at the task of writing something everyday and employ the ideas, methods, and words of wisdom from many successful writers . . .

Another Award Winning RPCV Writer–Ghlee E. Woodworth (Comoros Islands 1991-93)

Jan 28 2010

Using the unlikely topic of tombstones, Ghlee Woodworth, who spent some 13 years with the Peace Corps as a PCV in the Comoros Islands, and then as a Peace Corps Trainer for projects in Namibia, Swaziland, Niger, Bulgaria, Moldova, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh, traveling to a total of 45 countries before coming home to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where she pieced together a picture of 19th-century Newburyport through the stories of 80 people laid to rest in the Oak Hill Cemetery. And this is only her first volume. Tiptoe Through the Tombstones, which is self published, recently was named runner-up in the Biography/Autobiography category for the 2009 Book of the Year at the New England Book Festival (beating out the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s book, True Compass). It tells the stories of some of Newburyport’s 19th-century founders: ship captains, entrepreneurs and political leaders. “It takes many citizens to build a community, and some of the people I’ve written about were . . .