Bøger udgivet af Peace Corps Writers

The summation of a distinguished career in writing fiction, writing for film, travel writing, and teaching, P.F. Kluge's WORDMAN is a source book for emerging writers and a memorable set of reflections upon a life spent as a journalist, author, and teacher. Kluge's service in the Peace Corps in the early 1960s provided an unexpected geographic focus that has accrued to a lifetime of novels and creative nonfiction.

Technology first rocked our world when a lightning bolt zapped a bush at the entrance to a cave, and First Man crawled out and stuck his hand into the mystical blaze. Centuries later, we still find technology fascinating, mysterious, distracting, vital and Wow! Shiny!--and it still fries our grasping, hapless human hands, not to mention our grasping, hapless human brains. These short essays are all about that tender point where the finger meets the flame, where the ecstasy and the pain live--and where the sweet, dark humor so often lurks. Most of them simply examine the craziness of everyday life. Some spring from weird travel experiences. Some pick at politics, niggle at religion, worry at war. They're set in Starbucks, in my kitchen, in Viet Nam, in India, on a Russian train and a Greyhound bus; in Massachusetts, Indiana, Brooklyn and Times Square; in WalMart and Golden Corral, and at the second inauguration of Barack Obama. All have been published somewhere before. In all the pieces, there is a tie to technology, be it as strong as an anchor cable, or as tenuous as a spiderweb. This gives me a lot of leeway--because what, in this modern world, *isn't* tied to technology? A final disclaimer: you certainly don't have to be tech savvy to enjoy this book. You just have to be a human being with bandaids on your fingers. Which pretty much describes us all.

I've left him. It's over. If you still want what we've been talking about, I'm ready. When university professor Markus Thorsen reads these words from the love of his life, Marisa, he abandons his work and flies to war-torn Peru, where government forces are battling a brutal insurgent organization known as the Shining Path. Once there, Markus hopes to whisk Marisa to safety-far away from her Peruvian husband. His plans fall apart as soon as he arrives, however, when a Peruvian general shows up at his hotel room with a host of accusations. Markus has to face the truth: Marisa has connections to the Shining Path. But is her involvement by choice or coercion? Desperate to learn the truth and get her out of the country, Markus sets off on a dangerous journey with Marisa that takes them from Lima to the Andes and on into the eastern jungle. Along the way, they are pursued by counter-insurgency agents, elite soldiers, hostile natives, Marisa's husband, and even a man with a large jungle cat. Markus planned on his Peruvian reunion resulting in happily ever after, but now he simply hopes he and Marisa make it out of the country alive.

Africa's Embrace is author Mark Wentling's fictional account about the adventures of a young man from Kansas who travels to Africa and becomes caught up in a mystical larger-than-life adventure. This well-crafted novel revolves around the main character of "David," who abruptly leaves his home in Kansas in order to follow his destiny in Africa. Upon arrival, he is renamed "Bobovovi" and chosen by the spirit world to ride the "mountain moonbeam" and become "transformed" by an ancient baobab tree. Bobovovi does his best to make his goodwill prevail, but his humanitarian work is fraught with unforeseen, unusual challenges. He moves from one surprising adventure to another, telling an African story unlike any the reader has ever heard before. Africa changes him in unimaginable ways, and those changes are inculcated into the reader and teach a variety of lessons. Although Africa's Embrace is literary fiction, the novel is, in actuality, a thinly-veiled autobiographical account of the author's three years of working in an African village back in the 1970s. The clever and gripping plot of the novel is a powerful, emotional story, combining magical realism with a colorful description of the practical challenges of living and working in Africa. The book introduces a cast of unforgettable characters and forces the reader to enter deep into the heart of Africa, and to consider the spiritual implications of introducing change. Mark Wentling is one of the rare people on Earth who has visited or worked in all fifty-four African countries.

Situated in Central Africa, the nation of Gabon is a vibrant and mysterious place full of rich history, diverse culture, and stunning biodiversity. In the midst of the African rainforest, a Peace Corps volunteer from Montana is thrust into a new life of adventure and discovery. From close encounters with forest elephants to classroom teaching challenges, this vivid retelling of one man's experiences takes readers on an extraordinary journey through daily life, cultural events, and ongoing conservation efforts, and shares his love affair with a country that will forever own a piece of his heart. An enthralling account of life in Gabon, particularly around the Ndougou Lagoon, this new book by Jason Gray leaves us with a powerful impression of having shared in his experiences. Gray's underlying reverence for Gabon and its people comes out strongly in this recounting of his three years of work there with the Peace Corps and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF International), and shows the importance of understanding other cultures while enhancing individual awareness of the global community. Glimpses through the Forest: Memories of Gabon is an engaging read for eco and cultural travel enthusiasts, conservationists, nature lovers, and other adventure seekers.

Fascinated by a mysterious novella, aspiring journalist Robin Fletcher is determined to find out more about the book's main character, a man known only as J.B. His quest leads him from the wheat fields of Kansas to a small, disadvantaged country in Africa. Thousands of miles from Kansas, in the small village of Ataku, half-caste chief Letivi grapples with his village's problems. The villagers' main source of income, subsistence cocoa farming, cannot compete with global companies. Young people are leaving the village, and the village's only store is under the control of a foreign businessman. Letivi also has personal problems. Wifeless and childless, his ability to understand the family struggles of his village is under question. His supernaturally sensitive mother is dying, a tragedy coinciding with the death of the enormous baobab tree into which Letivi's father disappeared years ago. As Letivi and the villagers plan the development of a cocoa processing plant, Fletcher traces J.B. to Ataku, prompting a spontaneous trip to Africa with Molly, a ravishing but erratic woman with family ties to the elusive J.B. When Letivi, Molly, and Robin meet, cultures clash and calamitous events are set in motion that change Ataku forever.

Early 1990 Susan is a guileless young graduate out to save the world. Except, that doesn't work out as planned. Nor can she hold her liquor, but not for lack of trying. In a land of five-foot-tall Thai men, her search for a Western man becomes almost as desperate as her longing for a cheeseburger. Christine, the ladyboy, is a transgender Thai prostitute who has plenty of suitors. Oblivious to her cringe-worthy curiosity about Americans, Christine shares her own world, exposing the quirks and complexities of life and love in Thailand. Together, starting in a remote fishing village filled with both lovable and annoying characters, Susan and Christine embark on adventures that lead to loud arguments, a mysterious briefcase, alluring men and bittersweet enlightenment.

She hadn't seen it coming. Her new Chilean husband changed his mind, or, rather, the military coup changed it. Instead of their relocating to her native California as planned, he now wanted to give his country a chance. That was over four decades ago. Raised surrounded by the lush landscape of Marin County, Suzanne Adam hadn't expected to settle in Santiago, a city of over five million people, where she faced a series of daunting challenges: food shortages, a military dictatorship, heartbroken parents, maids and machismo. After a visit back home, she returned to Chile with a California redwood seedling in her pocket, and together they would push down their roots into that distant soil, where she discovered the truth in Wallace Stegner's statement: "Whatever landscape a child is exposed to early on, that will be the sort of gauze through which he or she will see the world afterwards."

In 1975, when noted conservationist Dr. Richard W. Carroll made his thru-hike of the two-thousand-mile-long Appalachian Trail, he had a bachelor's degree in biology, but his real education about nature's splendors began long before any formal training. In Cheshire, Connecticut, his mother was known as "Lill, the Flower Lady," the naturalist-in-residence. 2,000 Miles around the Tree of Life: A Naturalist Hikes the Appalachian Trail is dedicated to her. Richard began his journey from Springer Mountain, Georgia, on April 14, and on September 15, he climbed Mt. Katahdin at the northern terminus of the historic trail. Along the way, he kept a journal that his local newspaper based a series of articles on. Now, he has adapted his writings and observations into this moving memoir. Though numerous books have been written about hiking the Appalachian Trail, none have captured the exhilarating sense of awe that comes from encounters with nature in quite the same way that this lifelong naturalist has-imbuing his writing with a poetic sensibility that speaks to the heart and stirs the soul. So come along and travel deep into the heart of the ancient Appalachians, stopping to smell the flowers and ponder the majesty of the eastern woodlands as you immerse yourself in a remarkable and inspiring journey.

Through the Eyes of My Children is a delightful read for any young adult readers, from middle school on up, interested in true life adventures about young people. This is the story of a family that becomes Peace Corps Volunteers and most important it is told in the voices of the children. Daniel the oldest sees it as a grand adventure, Nancy sees the many ways we are the same but different, Peter has lots of fun--but finds it just plain too hot, and Matthew at three years is along for the ride holding up under affectionate cheek pinches. It is these four children who tell about living in a third world country as volunteers. The friends they make, the adventures they have, and how they adjust to another culture. They tell of the things they had to cope with, the things they had to learn to live with, and do without. What was it like to eat dog meat? What was it like not to have good water to drink? What was it like to be the different one? But most important while learning about all the differences, they learned about all the ways as a people we are all the same. The experience of learning about, living within, and identifying with another culture would help prepare them to become citizens of the world. During the 1970's the U.S. Peace Corps began taking families as volunteers. Taking families lasted for only a brief period in the '70's, and has been pretty much lost in Peace Corps' history. During that brief period Frances and Paul eagerly made the decision to sign up for the program as a way of serving their country oversea for two years. They were among the first families to join. They went to the Philippines for two years with their four children to share their expertise in agriculture and education while keeping up with their four energetic, enthusiastic youngsters.

Dancing with Gogos is the story of one man's effort to make a difference in a collection of Zulu villages in rural South Africa, while fulfilling a life-long dream of serving in the United States Peace Corps. It's the story of learning a new language, of immersing oneself in a different culture, of leaving a love 15,000 kilometers behind and discovering the unexpected chance to find a new one half a world away. It's the story of South Africa's history of apartheid and the effects of that sorry legacy on tens of millions of black Africans who to this day struggle to leave behind 500 years of oppression. Gary Cornelius and 35 other would-be volunteers find themselves in a remote village in Mpumalanga Province as "trainees" for nine weeks of grueling learning before they can be sworn in as volunteers in "CHOP" - Peace Corps South Africa's Community HIV-AIDS Outreach Program - to assume front-line positions in the battle to reduce spread of the disease in a country with one of the highest rates in the world. It's an adventure none will ever forget.

West meets Middle East in this engaging story of a young American woman who follows her dream of joining the Peace Corps and is sent to live and work in a Muslim country for two years. Her Peace Corps "dream" never included random marriage proposals, or World Heritage Sites caving in on her, or run-ins with the CIA, or war. This culture shockingly fascinating story will take readers on a very personal journey to a land--to a people--few Americans know.

Tom Young wants to make a difference in the world. He joins the Peace Corps and is sent to an impoverished farm community in remote southern Chile where a reforestation project is the campesinos' only hope for a better future. Tom finds himself in a breathtakingly beautiful land from a bygone era. Horses and oxen provide transportation, light is from kerosene lamps, and water is fetched with buckets from springs. He is drawn to the closeness of Chilean family life, and desperately wants to fit in as he struggles with the language and customs. Fighting depression and loneliness, he slowly adapts, but is shocked when brutal acts of violence rock the community. Tom's bonds are truly forged with this forgotten world when he embarks on the seemingly impossible task of building a new road into the campo. What he doesn't anticipate is the relationship that develops with a beautiful young woman, a relationship that will provide the key to Tom's heartwarming - and heartbreaking - acceptance into the community.

"Tories and Patriots" continues the saga of Private Will Stoner of the Massachusetts Artillery as the British fleet arrives in New York harbor in the summer of 1776. Under fire for the first time, Will barely escapes the disastrous defeat of the American Army at the Battle of Brooklyn. Fighting alongside the Marblehead Mariners, Will and his gun crew inflict heavy losses on the Hessians at the Battle of Pelham Bay, and then retreat the length of the New Jersey, hotly pursued by the advancing British Army.New Jersey itself is a colony of divided loyalties. Will's brother, John, with the British Light Dragoons finds opportunities to enrich himself while helping local Tories settle scores with their Rebel neighbors. "Tories and Patriots," is also a story told from the viewpoint of Will's friend, Adam Cooper, a free African American and a Private with the Marblehead Mariners who bridles at the hypocrisy of slave owning patriots fighting for their liberty from England while Britain offers freedom to slaves who join the Tory cause; a Hessian soldier, Private Georg Engelhard who uses his bayonet without any mercy against Rebel riflemen and seeks to make his fortune in booty and plunder and return to Hesse a rich man; and Peter Bant, a young New Jersey rifleman who witnesses a horrible crime and seeks only revenge against the hated Redcoats.It is a novel of hunger and hardship, courage and cowardice, young love and loneliness in the fateful fall and winter of 1776 when the very survival of the cause of independence hung in the balance. "Tories and Patriots," is a thoroughly researched and historically accurate novel of the American Revolution. The author has included End Notes citing historical sources and quotes from correspondence by participants in the actual events described. These enable the reader to learn more about this crucial time in our history and to recognize the human side of the men and women of that period as distinguished from the myths which have arisen over the years."Tories and Patriots" is a sequel to the acclaimed first novel, "Cannons for the Cause." Although each novel stands on its own, readers may want to become acquainted with Will Stoner, Nat Holmes, Adam Cooper, Samuel Hadley and others when they first become friends and compatriots in "Cannons for the Cause." The third novel in the series, "Blood Upon the Snow," will be published in early 2016.

Bobby Jones always hoped that someday an amateur would win the Masters. In this novel, bestselling author John Coyne-The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan and The Caddie Who Played With Hickory-tells the story of Tim Alexander, an amateur from the public links courses in Southern Illinois, who qualifies for the Masters and has a chance to fulfill Jones' dream. In The Caddie Who Won The Masters, Coyne blends his skill at the supernatural (he's a bestselling author of novels of the occult) with his vast knowledge of golf and its history. The riveting result: a Field of Dreams-like tale that brings the greatest of golf's ghosts and legends back to Augusta for one more brilliant game. The novel opens, as all Masters stories must, at Amen Corner, that famed cluster of holes, when Tim Alexander meets one of Augusta's most famous members, a mysterious stranger who changes the rules of golf and reality-and offers to save Tim's wife if Tim will set him free by winning the tournament. This novel is a story of what happens when an amateur like Tim Alexander battles his own age, the history and slick greens of Augusta National, and the PGA's best players, from Tiger Woods to the young guns, in a tournament where winning means more than a green jacket to Tim-it means saving the life of his wife. Any golfer who has had Augusta fantasies will be fascinated to spend a week in Georgia, immersed in the traditions, and the suspense, of the Masters, as time is turned back and an amateur, summoning the ghosts of Augusta, plays the greatest tournament of his life.

The Nigerian people hold strong ties to their families, clans, tribes, and country, and it doesn't take long for foreign residents to feel the same bond. So in 1962, when twenty-one-year-old Catherine Onyemelukwe launches her two-year adventure with the brand-new Peace Corps, she has no idea what the African country has in store. Catherine's heartfelt memoir revisits her two years overseas that become twenty-four, during which her experiences brim with friendships, students, travels around the country, and love. It recalls how her future Nigerian husband contrives to meet her, their falling for each other, and their controversial wedding that becomes world news and a spread in Life Magazine. It is also a deep look into the coups and wars that leave their family without electricity and running water, as they struggle to keep their children safe and healthy. When it becomes too much, they flee to the United States, only to be greeted with scorn for their mixed-race children. This story of adapting to cultures, taking risks, surviving, and embracing differences will inspire the reader to venture beyond perceived horizons and see the world in a whole new light.

A story of the unlikely friendship between an elderly Jewish lady and the young Somali nurse who cares for her. Helen and Amina develop a special bond as they confront their troubled pasts and the realities of life in a divided post 9-11 world.A touching meditation on displacement and cultural difference, The Orange Tree paints an insightful portrait of two friends and the shared humanity that binds them together.

The Gambling Master of Shanghai and Other Tales of Suspense is a collection of seventeen stories that will take the reader on a suspenseful journey to places near and far -- to Shanghai and Prague, Africa, Cambodia, and the United States. The title story starts out in Las Vegas, but spirals its way back in time, to a hidden cave in Shanghai where a child was lost, and a longed-for rendezvous is darkly doubtful. In Love and Death in Africa an American returns to Nairobi, and by sheer chance sees someone he had been hoping to see again. Things turn sinister, when a murder occurs. Elsewhere in Africa, The Prisoner of Zemu Island takes place on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, near Zanzibar. On her arrival a young American woman seeks out a childhood friend with whom she had played marbles and drank orange fanta in the quiet shade of a mango tree, and finds herself caught up in a revolution. Recipe Secrets is set in an upscale neighborhood of Philadelphia, where a recent widower is planning to sell his house. Deeply troubled by his wife's unexplained suicide, he wanders from room to room, reliving old memories. A life of deception and betrayal unfolds, with unexpected and explosive consequences. The Dance of the Apsara takes place in Cambodia, twenty years after the brutal terror of Pol Pot's regime, amidst the trauma that still lingers. The Apsara is an icon in Cambodia, a dancer who performed in the courts of kings. Images of Apsaras are carved on the walls of the ancient temples of Angor Wat. Two American journalists, a man and a woman, travel upcountry together, in search of clues that will provide some answers to a mystery that confounds them both, and find more than they had bargained for. The Oak's Long Shadow is a story set in the American South. A young woman who has gone to work in New York City, receives news that her aging father has died. As she flies to her family home in North Carolina, where she grew up, the ords of her old nanny echo in her ears. "Your Daddy didn't die no natural death." Other authors comment: Stanley Meisler: Joan Richter conjures up mysterious tales of puzzlement, of heartfelt realism, of exotic twists and turns." Ann McLaughlin: "Memorable characters people these scenes, as the author wraps the joy and sorrow of each story in a veil of intriguing mystery."

Little Women of Baghlan is the true account of an ordinary young woman who answers the call to service and adventure during an extraordinary time in world history. Her story rivals the excitement, intrigue, and suspense of any novel, unfolding against the backdrop of changing social mores, the Cold War, the Peace Corps, and a country at the crossroads of China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. When John F. Kennedy, delivers a speech in the Senate Chambers on a hot July day in 1957, a young girl named Joanne Carter listens from the Senate gallery. Ten years later Kennedy has been assassinated and America is mired in the Vietnam War. Jo remembers Kennedy's words and is inspired to join the Peace Corps. She flies into Afghanistan on March 21, 1968. From her plane window, the Hindu Kush Mountains appear desolate and barren, not unlike the surface of the moon. On the ground, Kabul explodes into color and sound. Taxis honk. Busses spew diesel fumes, sharing traffic lanes with donkeys and camels. The air is infused with the aroma of wool, dust, and dung. As the Volunteers tour the Blue Mosque in Mazar-e Sharif, three Russian MIGS buzz the courtyard, foreshadowing the Soviet invasion of 1989. With co-workers Nan and Mary, Jo starts a school of nursing for Afghan girls. The students are almost non-literate. The hospital lacks equipment, trained doctors, and a reliable source of water. Babies routinely expire from poor delivery practices. On Christmas Eve 1968, Jo walks the frozen mud streets of Baghlan. Overhead, the Apollo 8 astronauts orbit the moon. In January, the women travel on vacation to India, prompting the Peace Corps director in Kabul to dub them the "Little Women of Baghlan." They make a stop at Peshawar Air Base in Pakistan, and Jo attracts the attention of a handsome, charismatic airman. When they return, Jo reflects on the paradox that is Afghanistan. The Afghans are mired in poverty, yet generous to the point of embarrassment. The men are welcoming and solicitous of the Volunteers, yet capable of turning a blind eye to the suffering of their wives, daughters, and sisters. The climate is harsh and unforgiving; the Hindu Kush starkly beautiful. During her two-year deployment, Jo fills the pages of a small, compact diary, never dreaming her tiny handwriting will eventually become a significant historical account. Nearly a half century later, her journal is a bittersweet reminder of a country that has since vanished-a country on the brink of becoming a modern nation, moving toward the recognition of women's rights. The Volunteers live in safety. They celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr with their Afghan hosts; the Muslims bring a Christmas tree to their American guests. The Peace Corps workers are long gone, replaced by Soviet troops in 1979, mujahideen fighters ten years later, the Taliban in 1996, and the United States military in 2001, joined by NATO forces in 2003. Afghanistan is no longer the name of a country, it is the name of a war. The country Jo once called home has been buried under layers of recent history, and there is little evidence to suggest that such a time or place ever existed.

In November 1963, a bright Hawaiian morning is shattered by news of the assassination of the President. This marks the beginning of a journey to a remote Iranian village where a young American Peace Corps Volunteer sets out with rebellious tenacity to do what is right, unaware of America's loss of innocence-and his own. From a youthful determination to perpetuate Kennedy's legacy, to coping with the reality of America's faults and ambitions, to grappling with unfamiliar customs and languages, to discovering the friendship and love of Iranians, Tom Klobe discovers that being "Tom of Iran" is as fulfilling as being "American Tom."

Fifty years after President Kennedy signed the 1961 Executive Order creating the Peace Corps, nearly 100 former volunteers who joined the new organization in the first year for service in the Philippines recall why they joined, what they experienced, and how this service in the Philippines affected their lives. In addition a half dozen members of the Peace Corps staff in the Philippines and a similar number of Filipinos have contributed their recollections from the period. The book includes photos of individuals from both the 1960s and more recently as well as maps showing communities of service. The Peace Corps program in the Philippines was the first in Asia. Three factors set it apart from others during the early years of the Peace Corps' existence. First, it was the largest program in the world, absorbing 25 per cent of all volunteers at the beginning. Second, all volunteers in the first years were assigned to be "teacher's aides," a position that was never clearly defined and that the Country Director later admitted was a "non-job." And third, the Philippine program occurred in a nation that only fifteen years earlier had become independent from the US, having been America's single effort at establishing an imperialist colonial empire. This history gave the Philippine program a distinctly different political and social dynamic from what was the case in all of the other early Peace Corps countries. These are the reminiscences of a group of young Americans of varying degrees of idealism who answered President Kennedy's call to do what they could for their country. Assigned each to a separate school in the central part of the country, they lived far from the bright lights of Manila. The stories illustrate varying degrees of integration into the local culture, different ways of coping with the frustrations of their "non-job," and what many learned as they came to terms with themselves living far from familiar comforts on a salary of about $55 per month. Above all the stories tell of the determination and spirit of these early volunteers in establishing a strong basis for one of the important first Peace Corps programs.

Tom Young, still lamenting the death of his Chilean fiancé thirty years earlier, returns to southern Chile. When thousands of black-necked swans disappear, it is an environmental disaster. What's going on! He meets a handsome young couple, Amanda and Carlos, who suspect a new paper mill is poisoning the waters of the swans' refuge, and set out to prove it. The amoral mill owner, financially strapped, can't let them succeed, and will do anything to stop them, including murder. When middle-aged Lilia, tortured by the memory of being raped when she was twelve years old, meets Tom, he feels a stirring he hasn't felt since before his fiancée's tragic death. She too is attracted to him, but they are soon caught up in the mill owner's violent attempts to silence Amanda and Carlos, with disastrous results. The tragic, surprising, and, finally, hopeful twists and turns of this fast-paced, environmental drama make it difficult to put down.

JB's elderly brother and sister were recluses and never spoke to anyone... They were the only ones who could possibly know what had happened to JB, but they did not talk to anyone. They seemed intent on taking JB's secret, if indeed they knew his secret, to the grave with them. Journey to another time and place in Mark Wentling's magical new novel, Africa's Release. The residents of Gemini, Kansas, have grown used to the odd man who goes by the name of JB and roams their neighborhood in a befuddled state. But when he abruptly disappears one night, the townspeople find themselves facing uncomfortable questions, as JB's life and the dark discoveries in his ramshackle home are made public. Little do they know that JB's ramblings have all been for a purpose: to transport him back to the African village he left many years before. Now he has returned to the old baobab tree that had years ago swallowed him up-an event that elevated him to the level of demigod in the eyes of the remaining villagers. This sequel to the popular Africa's Embrace, and the second in Wentling's African trilogy, is sure to enchant readers once more.

Kirkus Review: "Brooks' prose is lush and delectable...there are many...moments of stunning imagery...An intelligent ... blend of romance and family conflict.

Casting caution to the wind at the age of fifty, New York caterer and food writer Bonnie Lee Black decided to close her catering business and join the Peace Corps. Posted to the tiny town of Lastoursville in the thickly rainforested interior of Gabon, Central Africa, Bonnie taught health, nutrition, and cooking, in French, primarily to local African women and children. In the two years she served in Gabon, Bonnie developed her own healthy recipe for a purposeful life, made in equal measures of good food, safe shelter, meaningful work, and unexpected love. Like M.F.K. Fisher's classic, World War II-era book, How to Cook a Wolf, Bonnie's true stories comprise a lively, literary, present-day survival guide.

Kay had already left her family and friends speechless when she departed for Peace Corps training. Explaining further that her first full time job is in a red light district in Colombia, South America, was impossible. Nonetheless, Kay is determined to follow her dreams, to risk and explore this big world full of mystery. Reared in a small town in western Pennsylvania, Kay's story begins there in the 1950's during simpler times. A long distance telephone call was a big deal! Television sets displayed only three channels. It was the social revolution of the 1960's that enabled Kay to exit this environment to explore places she had only read or heard about. Her story takes us from her early years through her Peace Corps experience during its formative years with yet another twist. When she marries Kevin, who shares her wanderlust, together, they move their family to Saudi Arabia and live there for five years.

For over a year the town of Twisting Creek, Kentucky has been obsessed with the enigmatic African immigrant accused of the brutal strangulation of a popular young Sunday School teacher. A self-described "ear-witness" describes overhearing an argument that ended with Lovemore Ngweyna shouting at Sarah Lester, "You're dead, woman." Sheriff Greer says, "Of course he's guilty. Do you think one man threatened to kill her, and lo and behold an hour later another man did?" The prosecution knows it's open-and-shut. "Women of any color don't like men of any color who strangle women--of any color." Thus does Assistant DA James Miller explain the prosecution's eagerness to seat African-American women on the jury. Miller adds, "At the time of the arrest, Lovemore was in possession of Sarah's missing jewelry." That adds up to premeditated murder, Miller says, and that means it's death for Lovemore.

Harriet Denison joined the Peace Corps in 1966 and spent two years in Tanzania teaching at Bwiru Girls' Secondary School. At the time, Tanzania was a new nation full of optimism and challenges, much like Denison. Mixing details of her daily activities with her adventures, Leopards at My Door gives readers a sense of the life of a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa in the 1960s.Situated on Lake Victoria near the Serengeti, Bwiru Girls' School had regular visits from leopards as well as an array of other wildlife. One of the highlights for Denison during her time in Africa was her stint as an instructor with the Outward Bound Mountain School and subsequent climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro.After two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, Denison traveled for several weeks before returning to the United States. In her chapter "A Lesson from the Poorest of the Poor," Denison describes volunteering in India for a few weeks, specifically working with people who suffered with leprosy. At the time, the Catholic nun Denison worked with was little known beyond Calcutta. Years later, that same nun, Mother Teresa, would be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for her work among India's poorest.In Denison's final chapter, she reflects on her Peace Corps experience and how it affected the remainder of her life. She went on to serve on nonprofit boards, serve various communities, and of course, travel internationally.

In their late forties, Eloise and Chuck Hanner decided they wanted to do something new and challenging for the second half of their lives. To the amazement of their friends and family, they walked away from their stock-brokerage careers and joined the Peace Corps--again. Twenty-five years before, they had gone to Afghanistan as volunteers and had loved it. They had thought it would be fun to do it again when they were older. But, Eloise and Chuck discover that it's one thing to join the Peace Corps as carefree college graduates and quite another to go as middle-aged business professions, obligated to family and accustomed to stateside amenities. Hanner's humorous and insightful tale will take you on a tropical journey to the middle of South America--to a small village called General Artigas, where life delivers unexpected adventures, adversities and friendships.

Politico Cole Gibson says of Congressman Hatling: "Yes, well...I've heard of him." There could hardly be a more obscure member of Congress than the representative from Kentucky's Fifth District. When his name arises as a potential presidential candidate, no one is more surprised-or horrified-than Hatling himself, for Hatling lives a secret life. With the reappearance of his old college sweetheart, a French-Palestinian woman in Beirut, he has even more to hide. And if his ideas regarding the State of Israel become known, the result will not be a simple election defeat. It will be a battle for peace or war, for life or death. No Senator's Son is a story of families under strain, of failures and redemption in love, of our passage through history, and the passage of history through us. "I've heard of him," Cole Gibson says. He's about to hear a lot more.