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Gloryland: A Novel by Shelton Johnson (Liberia 1982-83) Sierra Club/Counterpoint $15.95 288 pages 2010 Reviewed by Andy Trincia (Romania 2002-04) I REMEMBER SHELTON JOHNSON from the Ken Burns film “The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea” on PBS a couple years ago. Johnson, a park ranger at Yosemite, was featured prominently in the acclaimed documentary series, speaking eloquently and passionately about our great parks. What I didn’t know was that he was a Peace Corps Volunteer and wrote a book, Gloryland. Indeed, it was a pleasure to dive into this man’s debut novel. In the fictional but historically based memoir Gloryland, Johnson takes us on the life journey of Elijah Yancy, a sharecropper’s son from Spartanburg, South Carolina, born on Emancipation Day in 1863. Elijah is a feisty kid whose African and Seminole blood — and poor but close-knit family — give him a fierce pride despite the difficult post-Civil War . . .

The Civilized World:  A Novel in Stories by Susi Wyss (Central African Republic, 1990–92) Henry Holt and Company $15.00 226 pages March, 2011 Reviewed by  Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Cameroon 1965–67) IN HER DEBUT NOVEL, The Civilized World:  A Novel in Stories, Susi Wyss infuses her characters with the same affability and intimate pain that Alexander McCall Smith infused Precious Ramotswe, his #1 Private Lady Detective, but on a much wider and nuanced scale. Wyss has created contemporary African characters who are not look-alike, one-size-fits-all pieces of cardboard and too, American characters with equally distinguishable lives. The Americans live side-by-side with the Africans under circumstances both provocative and reasonable. Whether Ghanaian or U.S. military brat, Malawian or Washingtonian, each is a unique personality facing conflicts and heartbreaks and successes, sagas which will pull you into the page. Here is Ophelia, newly arrived in Malawi, wife of an American Embassy drone, making plans . . .

Christopher Beale (Eastern Caribbean 2005-07 ) has done an amazing thing for RPCV writers. He had built a book publishing company–Other Places Publishing–located in North Carolina that publishes travel guides written by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who, as he says, “Few travelers (or travel guides) have the experience and local knowledge that an RPCV has about his or her country.” Chris started in early 2009 to develop his travel guides written and researched by RPCVs. To date, they had published eight book with another 10 coming out within the next few months. With a few exceptions, everyone who works with Chris, from editors, writers, researchers andphotographers, are RPCVs. Today, Other Places Publishing has guide books for Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Pacific. The newest publication is Making Peace with the World Photographs of Peace Corps Volunteers by Richard Sitler (Jamaica 2000-02). Sitler, who worked at newspapers in Ohio, Indiana, New Hampshire . . .

Answering Kennedy’s Call: Pioneering the Peace Corps in the Philippines Edited by Parker W. Borg, Maureen J. Carroll, Patricia MacDermot Kasdan, Stephen W. Wells (all Philippines (1961-63) A Peace Corps Writers Book $25.00 498 pages March 2011 Reviewed by P. David Searles (CD Philippines 1971-74; Regional Director NANEAP and Deputy Director Peace Corps HQ 1974-76) IF ANY ADDITIONAL PROOF IS NEEDED, the early groups of Peace Corps Volunteers in the Philippines achieved a remarkable level of unit cohesion, as this massive collection of essays shows.  In all, 110 of those involved in the first three groups — 96 of whom are returned Volunteers — have joined  together to produce a remarkable and historically valuable set of reminiscences focusing on their experiences in the Philippines during 1961–63. The overriding impression one gets from reading them all is that the experience was life altering, life altering in a very positive and long . . .

Publisher Marian Haley Beil writes — FOUR MEMBERS from the first groups of Peace Corps Volunteers to arrive in the Philippines in 1961 have just publish Answering Kennedy’s Call: Pioneering the Peace Corps in the Philippines — Parker Borg, Maureen Carroll, Patricia MacDermot Kasdan and Steve Wells. These four tackled the huge task of editing submissions from 91 RPCVs who served in that era, and preparing two print-ready photos from each of the essayist to produce a 500-page look at the lives of PCVs and the long-term effect of their service. It is a book that will be loved by those who contributed to it, will provide much to researchers looking at what the Peace Corps was all about in its early years, and will be a wonderful resource for those interested in the Peace Corps as a life choice. For me, it is a book I enjoy picking up, . . .

Ruffling the Peacock’s Feathers by David Howard Day (Kenya 1965–1966, India 1967–68) Xlibris September 2010 402 pages Paperback $23.99, ebook $9.99 Reviewed by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000–02, Madagascar 2002–03) RUFFLING THE PEACOCK’S FEATHERS, anthropologist David Howard Day’s memoir of his two years living in Saratpur, a north Indian village “on the broad Gangetic plain” during the late 1960s as a Peace Corps Volunteer, is a hefty tome, and touches on all the familiar experiences encountered by Vols in the field. Day recalls the heat and rigors of daily life, what it’s like to be under the microscope of a foreign culture little exposed to Westerners, the difficulties of dealing with cooks, rickshaw drivers, minor bureaucrats, and nosy neighbors, while at the same time making lasting friendships with a few select individuals who are often poorer and less educated than the upper class strivers who would impose themselves on him . . .

A Granddaughter’s Rite of Passage: Tales from the McCarthy Era by Julie Gilgoff (Nicaragua 2002–04) Allbook Books 176 pages 2010 Reviewed by Robert E. Hamilton (Ethiopia 1965–67) AN HOMAGE IS DEFINED AS “a show of respect to someone or something.”  In the feudal age, it was a declaration of fealty. Julie Gilgoff has written an homage, or tribute, to her grandfather, Max Gilgoff, and her father, Henry Gilgoff. The title makes reference to Max but the dedication is to Henry, “who continues to bring inspiration to those who loved him.” Research for the book occurred primarily after the death of Henry on July 30, 2006, of amyloidosis, which was just three days after Julie, a free-lance writer, returned from a research trip to Argentina. The family had always been very secretive regarding her grandfather Max’s life and work. This book chronicles her effort to uncover the truth about Max’s teaching . . .

The Family Goryachevix by Murray Davis (Russia 1996–99) Fine Images Printing January 2010 $12.00 154 pages Reviewed by Sharon Dirlam (Russian Far East 1996–98) MURRAY DAVIS AND I began our Peace Corps training together in rural West Virginia because our two groups — his heading for Western Russia and mine heading for the Russian Far East — were unable to get visas. Five weeks into training, Russia finally came through and the two groups went our separate ways. Davis writes that he took a roundabout way to get to his assignment in Western Russia: traveling to China, crossing the border and boarding the Trans-Siberian train. One of his traveling companions was Sergei Goryachev, a friendly fellow from the town of Vladimir who seemed eager to have Davis meet his daughter Tanya. (In an explanatory email, Davis writes that he took some literary license with this part of the story: the . . .

Thanks to the efforts of  Patti Garamendi (Ethiopia 1966–68), Assistant General Manager of the California Exposition & State Fair, RPCV writers living in California have been invited to sell their books at the Author’s Booth at the California State Fair in Sacramento this summer. The Fair, which runs from July 13th to July 31st, has a large Authors area with 6 stations where featured writers can sign and sell their books. This year one station will be dedicated to Peace Corps writers. The area, in the air-conditioned Counties Building, is in a busy location — and “right next to the cinnamon roll stand”! The Fair opens at noon on Monday through Thursday, and 10 am on Friday through Sunday, and has about 1 million visitors each year with 75% passing through this this building. The organizers would like to feature 14 Peace Corps writers — one on each day of the . . .

Novelist Patrick Breslin (Colombia 1963-65) who wrote the novel Interventions, published by Doubleday in 1980, and also wrote a development book published in 1987 for the Inter-American Foundation, the organization he retired from in Washington, D.C. Pat now lives with his wife in Kyiv, Ukraine, but he is briefly back in the States and he took a train out to my hometown in Pelham, New York, so we could have coffee and meet for the first time. He had been to see his older brother, a Jesuit priest, at nearby Fordham University, and I am close by that campus. Our conversation got me thinking of the short essay he wrote awhile back for Peace Corps Writers and I reread it again this afternoon and thought you might like to read it again, or for the first time. Patrick Breslin can write and he has something to say, and on this 50th year of the agency, it fits in well with what we are putting . . .

Following in the footsteps of the Korean RPCVs, the first groups of PCVs to the Philippines have produced a collection of essays and photos from their early years for the 50th anniversary. Unlike, Through Our Eyes: Peace Corps In Korea, 1966-1981, edited by Bill Harwood (Korea 1975-77), a book that focused on Korea, Koreans, and the amazing changes in that country, the RPCVs from the Philippines have, for the most part, compiled a manuscript of essays about their memories of “being first” in-country, and what has happened to them in the years since. It stretches to 500+ pages, and is entitled, Answering Kennedy’s Call: Pioneering the Peace Corps in the Philippines. This book (published this week and available for $25.00 at CreateSpace or under its title at Amazon.com) was edited by four RPCVs from those early years (1961–63): Parker W. Borg, Maureen J. Carroll, Patricia MacDermot Kasdan, Stephen W. Wells. About . . .

A new book published by our Peace Corps Writers imprint has just come out. Answering Kennedy’s Call: Pioneering the Peace Corps in the Philippines edited by four Philippines Volunteers from groups 1,2,3, (Parker W. Borg, Maureen J. Carroll, Patricia MacDermot Kasan, Stephen W. Wells). It weights in slightly less than 3 pounds and at 500+ pages. Their book is a series of essays by 90 Philippine Volunteers, plus a few essays from staff and a few Filipino observers. As Parker W. Bong, one of the four editors, wrote me, “These former Volunteers recount their personal crises, misadventures, apprehensions and foibles along with their sources of satisfaction and accomplishment. A common theme is humility and the sense they came back having gained far more than they were able to contribute. We believe we have not only created an interesting memoir for the former volunteers and their families, but a valuable history of the first Peace Corps years.” The book is available for . . .

Phil Hardberger recalls the impact the late Sargent Shriver had on the organization – and on him. Special To The Express-News Sunday, February 27, 2011  Former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger holds a photograph of himself and Sargent Shriver.Sargent Shriver died a few weeks ago – just short of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps. There were many tributes to him. Various columnists and pundits gave accounts of his triumphs with the Peace Corps, the Office of Economic Opportunity and as the U.S. ambassador to France. His failure as a candidate for national office was dissected. Careful analyses were made of his connections with the Kennedy family (he was married to Eunice, the sister of President John F. Kennedy) and whether this was an advantage or disadvantage. Phil Hardberger writes: My own thoughts were more personal, more filled with memories, more illustrated with vivid images undiminished by . . .