Title: Rare and Used: Adventures of a Book Scout’s Apprentice

Genre: Memoir

Author: Daniel Dietz (Peru 2003-05)

Published: Sept. 1, 2026 (Oregon State University Press)

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Reviewed by Ben East (Malawi 1996-98)

A Cocktail of Poverty and Art with a Dash of Revolution

With Rare and Used: Adventures of a Book Scout’s Apprentice, Daniel Dietz introduces readers to a world populated by strange and colorful figures. These “bookmen”—more so than the books they chase—are the objects of scrutiny, letting the title serve as metaphor. It’s not called “Rare and Used Books.” Rather, Rare and Used might better describe the individuals that chase them.

At the center are Dietz and his stepfather, Michael Karn. Nearing 80, Michael comes off as both clown and king, a shaggy individual in shabby attire but possessing an esoteric understanding of the value of objects coupled with a moving affection toward those he loves. This includes books and some people, especially Dietz’s mother Diane.

Along for the ride are a handful of other booksellers, most notably Michael’s friend Gerry Rouff and, on the other side of the author’s generation, Abe Richmond. These men don’t so much make a living off their thousands of books as cling to them. They part with handfuls at a time to cover expenses rather than to demonstrate any particular business strategy. In some cases, their sales and purchases are reciprocations of earlier sales and purchases to and from each other.

Set in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, the story guides us through what it means to gather, possess, and set free the things we hold dear in life. It’s about the transfer of knowledge, from father to son, and a way of being in the world. There’s a stutter to the voice, one that betrays the author’s sense of self as an outsider to the book dealers’ world. As a state government bureaucrat, salaried, pensioned, he’ll never know the uncertainty of living off margins established through arcane values—first editions; signed copies; dust jacket condition; Gary Snyder’s Shodō hand inscribing Ginsburg’s book of photos beside a picture of the birthday cake baked for Snyder’s mother by Beat poet Diane di Prima.

How to put a value on that without back story?

Dietz—thoughtful, introspective—is unfair in judging himself an outsider. Consider how deeply he learns a central lesson of the bookseller’s art: books are beloved objects and a sale is a loss, even if it turns a profit. What’s $500 compared to a hole in your heart?

For Dietz that book is di Prima’s This Kind of Bird Flies Backward. His fixation on it peppers the narrative with appropriate references to Ginsburg, Snyder, Kerouac. This book works subtly as a sort of On the Road, Dietz in Cassady’s role behind the wheel on drives to and from Albany, Portland, Eugene, Corvallis, pursuing not jazz and thrills but books, boxes and boxes of books. Dietz captures the Beat milieu thus: “The classic cocktail of poverty and art with a dash of revolution.”

Best of all, we learn the evolution of Dietz’s views on di Prima, including a climactic night in the mountains with her poem Loba, full moon and all. The depth and clarity of his self-examination in this dramatic passage alone make the journey worth taking.

Rare and Used presents touching scenes about leaving the nest, caring for aging parents, wrestling with the complications of raising children, and returning home to find beloved old-timers puttering about a claustrophobic, chaotic space. Sometimes tender but never mawkish, the adventure Dietz shares is fun: who can’t chuckle at a bookstore called Mother Foucault’s? And midway through we get one of the zaniest car chases ever scripted, a Prius chasing “a rusted collection of aluminum.” To wit: Gerry’s Toyota.

“By the time we got onto Highway 34, I’d gathered some momentum and was finally about to overtake Gerry in his jalopy. He didn’t look over as I passed him, his eyes locked onto the road ahead.”

What makes this “chase” so delightfully absurd is the object at stake: an old literary magazine featuring work by the much-sought-after di Prima. If Gerry can beat Dietz to Browser’s bookstore in Albany, he stands to gain a windfall for the journal by negotiating with Abe for the copy. In this we learn from Gerry, “You have to be crazy to open a store. All bookstores are run by crazy people.”

Crazy people, a group that includes those of us who enjoy the Beats and lose our hearts to certain books, are the best.

As for the reading habits of these crazy booksellers, we learn that Abe has plans to start a club that reads only difficult books, “to build a community around thousand-page tomes of experimental fiction from the mid-twentieth century selected on the bases of length, obscurity, and lack of appeal.”

This is not how the author takes his books, and maybe one way in which he actually is an outsider. “I like books with stories in them…I prefer writing that introduces me to characters I come to care about and then shows me what happens to them.”

And that’s exactly what he has done with Rare and Used. Mission accomplished, Daniel Dietz.

Editor’s note: Greg Emerson, editorial director of Peace Corps Worldwide, served as developmental editor on this book prior to publication. The review above was independently written and assigned without his/her involvement.

Ben East (Malawi 1996-98) is the author of Profiles in Service: Peace Corps Roots in American Diplomacy (Arlington Hall Press, 2026). The former State Department official serves on The Foreign Service Journal editorial board and with State’s public diplomacy bureau through Guidehouse.

Interested in writing reviews for Peace Corps Worldwide? Reach out to Review Coordinator Cindy Mosca at cnmosca69@gmail.com.

Title: Timeless Change: This moment in timeless change: from there to now to timeless tomorrow

Genre: Memoir

Author: Ralph Bates (Colombia 1964-66)

Published: Dec. 32, 2025 (Independently published)

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Reviewed by John Coyne (Ethiopia 1962-64)

Ralph Bates was in one of the first groups of PCVs sent to Colombia, and he spent his service with the Cooperatives Group that did rural development, building community credit unions and agricultural cooperatives. Telling his history in Colombia in this recent memoir, his reflections often touch on the humorous and humbling linguistic barriers of community organizing. He recounts, for example, an early blunder where he used the colloquialism “verracos” intending to praise his local counterparts as “damned hard workers”— only to find out the literal translation in that region meant they “work like stud pigs!”

Bates, like all of us, made mistakes, which he remembers and retells with honesty. (He must have kept his Peace Corps journals in good shape all these years.) He has written a detailed story of his life growing up in La Crosse, Wis. and going to college at the University of Wisconsin - Madison before joining the Peace Corps in the first years of the agency. He spent three months in training in California, and another three weeks in Puerto Rico before flying with 40 guys—there were no women in their cohort—to Bogota, Colombia, for another week of orientation and then were sent into villages as advisors to co-operatives.

He goes on to recount in great detail, and with a very clear narrative, all his trials and adventures in the host country and with the Peace Corps.

But Bates’s memoir does not just focus on his time as a PCV and on the Peace Corps staff after his service; it is the story of his life, family, and career. He fills in those details, and his involvements with girlfriends in high school, college, and the working world until he meets the woman he married.

His retellings are not the dramatic stories that will have you flipping pages to read to an exciting climax, but rather carefully crafted accounts of his life. You will know Ralph Bates through this book. Ralph finishes his long narrative by reprinting some of his writing with articles, op-eds and reviews he wrote over the years, many published in local newspapers. I am sure there is nothing left on his computer that isn’t in this book about his life.

This is a well-designed, well written book that tells the full story of a man who once was a PCV. Well done, Ralph.

John Coyne (Ethiopia 1964-66 & PC Staff 1965-67)) is the co-founder of Peace Corps Worldwide and is the author of more than 30 fiction and nonfiction books, including The Legacy and How to Write a Novel in 100 Days. He was a Foreign Service Officer, College Dean, and the New York Regional Recruitment Director for the Peace Corps.

Note: Some purchases made using the links on this page may generate a small commission for Peace Corps Worldwide.

Interested in writing reviews for Peace Corps Worldwide? Reach out to Review Coordinator Cindy Mosca at cnmosca69@gmail.com.

Mashed picked the best chocolate shop in every state, and its Mississippi choice is a Hattiesburg business with international roots — Mulukakao. Nicaraguan native Noel Montoya and Anjie Price (Nicaragua 2008-11), a Peace Corps volunteer from Mississippi, founded the company to support local communities and share their love of chocolate, according to the store’s website. There’s a sister shop in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The company creates artisan chocolate grown by small farmers. In addition to bonbons, the Hattiesburg shop sells chocolate bars, drinking chocolate and coffee.

Opinion: From Kansas to Central America, don’t let fear turn us against immigrants, by Sarah Amador (Nicaragua 2008-10), Special to The Kansas City Star | August 9, 2026.

I went to Central America in 2008 with the Peace Corps, fell in love with the country, married a Central American man and spent a decade working with Christian schools there. Living there taught me that you don’t have to have abundant resources to be generous. You don’t have to have everything perfect in order to build a community. There is a spirit in that culture — a warmth, a resilience, a faithfulness — that I genuinely believe we need here in the United States. So it is painful, on a deeply personal level, to watch the way immigrants are being talked about right now in the United States.

Opinion: Peace in the morning: Reading print newspapers brings calm to start my day, by Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Colton (Kenya 1968-70) in Asheville Citizen Times | August 10, 2026.

Many of us today are seeking to find best personal ways to start our unrolling days before outside demands, digital distractions begin overwhelming our daily allotment of waking-time. ‘If I were stranded alone on a desert island and could have brought only one thing from the outside, it would be a newspaper to read thoroughly over and over and memorize,’ my father’s saying stayed with me from childhood….Later as a young Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya, I happened once to find myself stranded all day alone in a strange place awaiting unscheduled transport for an expedition and decided to put into practice my father’s idea.

Opinion: Killing a Kodiak: Sullivan’s record of submission, silence, and damage, by Van Abbott (Jamaica 1968-70) in Peninsula Clarion | August 11, 2026.

Some trophies never stop bleeding. Senator Dan Sullivan’s campaign television commercial celebrating the killing of a Kodiak bear was intended to project strength. Instead, it revealed something more enduring: a view of power that measures success by domination rather than stewardship. A magnificent animal became a political prop. Triumph replaced respect. Conquest eclipsed responsibility. The same instinct that turns a living symbol into a trophy can also shape the exercise of public office. In the United States Senate, that instinct has left a record.

Advice Can Become Adventure – Just Listen! by George Place (El Salvador 2001-04) in The Trek | August 12, 2026.

I hadn’t even heard of the JMT until about 10 years ago. I was on my annual solo backpack heading south on the Appalachian Trail. I had just left Uncle Johnny’s in Erwin, TN to pick up a resupply box and stay on the move. I made it to the next shelter and met a couple in their 60s staying there. I hadn’t socialized in days so I was all ears for their various stories of adventure. After a moment of silence the wife told me that if I was to put a backpack trip on my ‘must do’ list it was the John Muir Trail. They shared memories of the rugged beauty in the Sierra Nevadas and I made a promise to myself that I would go.

Neighbors gather to celebrate Monona woman’s 103rd birthday, by Chris Lee in Leader Independent | August 12, 2026.

Sitting outside the Monona apartment where Helen Dyer (Costa Rica 1986-89 and Jamaica 1991-93) has lived for roughly 50 years, friends and neighbors gathered recently to help her celebrate her 103rd birthday. Dyer has seen and done a lot in those years. She served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Peace Corps, traveled worldwide, and became a centenarian. She raised a daughter and has two grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Through it all, she remains in remarkably good shape. When a reporter complimented her on how good she looked, she responded with a grin. “You don’t know what I’ll look like tomorrow!” she said. “Arrrgghh!”

What’s the status on the new memorials coming to Washington DC? by Mike Stunson, USA TODAY | August 12, 2026.

Washington DC is already filled with monuments honoring the nation’s history. Now, several more memorials are in the works, including tributes to war veterans, Peace Corps volunteers and fallen journalists. President Barack Obama signed the Peace Corps Commemorative Works Act into law in 2014, and the final design for Peace Corps Park was approved in 2024. Construction prep began in 2025 on the park, which “will serve as a national gathering place to honor the legacy of Peace Corps Volunteers and the values of service and global partnership.” It will be located across from the U.S. Capitol building. Organizers are still raising money for the project before construction begins, with installation and landscaping set to take up to a year to complete.

Father Dan Brady retires, leaving legacy of compassion, by Kristen L. Byrd in The Catholic Virginian | August 13, 2026.

The journey to priesthood for Father Dan Brady (Ghana 1967-70), who recently retired as pastor of St. Michael, Glen Allen, was anything but direct. A native New Yorker, his parents were nominally Catholic, but not practicing. His faith was instead fostered by his grandmothers, both of whom lived with Father Brady’s family while he was growing up. He occasionally mused about becoming a priest, but opted for a traditional education at Hofstra University instead of seminary. He then joined the Peace Corps where he worked at a teacher training school which was run by members of the Society of the Divine Word, a global Catholic missionary order.

Dem candidate slammed for hosting event at massage parlor accused of offering happy endings, by Charlotte Garcia in Pulptastic | August 14, 2026.

A Democratic congressional candidate is under fire from Republicans for hosting a fundraiser at a San Diego LGBTQ nightclub with sexually themed menu items. Marni von Wilpert (Botswana 2006-08), a San Diego city councilmember, scheduled the Thursday event at Gossip Grill, which bills itself as “San Diego’s only inclusive Queer Women’s and LGBTQ+ restaurant and nightclub.” Tickets start at $100, or $50 for young adults, with the gathering aimed at helping flip California’s 48th Congressional District blue.

23 Peace Corps volunteers have taken the oath and will serve for two years in communities in Moldova, in IPN | August 14, 2026.

23 Peace Corps volunteers in the Republic of Moldova have taken the oath and will spend the next two years in communities across the country. According to the US Embassy in Chisinau, they will teach English, promote health education, and support community and organizational development projects, reports IPN. At the oath-taking ceremony, the US Chargé d’Affaires in the Republic of Moldova, Nick Pietrowicz, was also present. He mentioned that volunteers contribute to the creation of cultural ties between the United States and the Republic of Moldova.

Michael Saba’s ‘world was his dance floor,’ and he made SD part of it, by Morgan Matzen in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader | August 14, 2026.

Move over, Dos Equis beer guy, because Michael Saba (Malaysia 1965-67) might hold the title for most interesting man in the world. At least, the most interesting man in the Dakotas. Saba was once described by former Argus Leader columnist Stu Whitney as an “international man of mystery” with a “Forrest Gump-like” quality to his life story. By 2016, he’d met every U.S. president (except for George W. Bush) going back to Dwight Eisenhower. Saba spent days in the Arabian Desert with Nelson Mandela after he was released from prison in South Africa. He was one of hundreds of American hostages Saddam Hussein took in Iraq in 1990 during the Gulf War, later escaped through Jordan’s border, appeared on “Nightline” and “Oprah,” was featured in USA Today and testified before Congress after the experience.

Book: “Eat or Be Eaten” by Dr. Rick Bein, on Webwire | August 14, 2026.

“Eat or Be Eaten” by Dr. Rick Bein (Brazil 1964-66) is an engaging collection of firsthand experiences, agricultural observations, scientific investigations, and unforgettable encounters with the natural world. Drawing on his background as a geographical agriculturalist and experiences during and after his Peace Corps service, Bein takes readers across continents to explore the complicated relationship between people, food production, wildlife, and the environment. What makes this book particularly compelling is its unusual combination of scientific knowledge and personal storytelling.

Viroqua announces the appointment of Julie Emslie as the community’s new City Administrator, by Todd Coppernoll and Adam D. Hess in Civic Media | August 14, 2026.

The City of Viroqua is proud to announce the appointment of Julie Emslie (Jamaica 2010-12) as the community’s new City Administrator. Bringing more than 16 years of dedicated experience in economic and community development, her professional journey began with a master’s degree in Rural Development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, earned through the Peace Corps Masters International program. Emslie, who grew up in northwest Indiana, relocated to Viroqua with her family in 2016 to return to her Midwestern roots. Since moving to the area, she has become an integral part of the local professional landscape.

Opinion: The war we lost before it began, by Van Abbott (Jamaica 1968-70) in Homer News | August 15, 2026.

A president can declare victory. He cannot make it true. Wars are won when military force achieves a political objective, not when a president announces that the enemy has been defeated. America has repeatedly forgotten that distinction. It loses wars not because its soldiers lack courage, weapons or skill, but because political leaders replace professional judgment with loyalty, confuse destruction with strategy and mistake confidence for competence. A nation cannot bomb its way to a political settlement.

The Lapsed Atheist: Charles Murray Makes The Case For God, on Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson | August 17, 2026.

For most of his life, Charles Murray (Thailand 1965-67) was a casual agnostic who assumed smart people had left religion behind. Now he’s not so sure. Murray joins Peter Robinson to discuss the evidence that forced him to reconsider God, the soul, and Christianity—from near-death experiences and the mysterious Shroud of Turin to the historical reliability of the Gospels and the Resurrection. It’s the story of an empirically minded skeptic following the evidence wherever it leads—and discovering that faith may be far more reasonable than he once believed.

On World Humanitarian Day, Hear from Three Americans Committed to Protecting Refugees Around the World, on UN Refugees | August 17, 2026.

On this World Humanitarian Day, hear from three U.S. citizens working for UNHCR about the importance of supporting refugees and what motivates them to do the lifesaving work every day. Kevin Allen (Dominican Republic 1993-95), UNHCR, Representative in the Syrian Arab Republic: “I grew up in Colorado on a wheat farm where very few people have ever heard of UNHCR. What ultimately drove me to UNHCR was a desire to engage in public service. That path initially led me to the Marine Corps, then to the Peace Corps and ultimately to international humanitarian work. I wasn’t sure my military background would be welcome or even something I should talk about when I first joined UNHCR.

Opinion: How Trump’s Iran war continues Washington’s costliest tradition, by Van Abbott (Jamaica 1968-70) in the Juneau Empire | August 18, 2026

War poverty begins the moment America chooses another foreign war over its own future. Donald Trump promised to rebuild America. Instead, his expanding military confrontation with Iran repeats one of Washington’s oldest habits: finding massive money for war while insisting the nation cannot afford universal health care, higher education, or reliable child care. Every military commitment carries a price paid in opportunities abandoned here. This is not a new story. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Iran follow a familiar script.

Industry veteran to lead Polkadog as CEO, by Sofia Muller in Pet Food Processing | August 18, 2026.

Polkadog recently announced the appointment of Jay Pusey (Ukraine 2010-12) as chief executive officer, marking a new chapter for the Boston-based retailer and pet treat brand. Founded in 2002, Polkadog has grown from a neighborhood pet shop into a nationally recognized independent pet brand, known for its thoughtfully crafted treats, loyal customer community and commitment to quality. Pusey joins Polkadog at a pivotal moment in the company’s evolution following its acquisition by TAW Ventures earlier this year.

Polk County’s Florida and US House primary results, by Sara-Megan Walsh in the Lakeland Ledger | August 18, 2026.

Two Congressional candidates and one state House candidate have decisively won their party’s nomination for Nov. 3 elections. Kelly Kirschner (Guatemala 1999-2003) and Sydney Gruters have emerged from two large candidate fields to claim the Democratic and Republican nominations, respectively, for Congressional District 16’s open seat. A third-generation native Floridan, Kirschner, 51, is the vice president and dean of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, splitting his residential time in Sarasota. Kirschner founded a nonprofit called UnidosNow helping first-generation students get into university, graduating largely debt free.

Coming Soon: “Paper Flowers” Brings the Viral HuffPost Story “Thank You, Cancer” to the Big Screen, on Urban Asian | August 18, 2026.

You may remember the name Shalin Shah (Peru 2014). His HuffPost essay “Thank You, Cancer” went viral, touching readers around the world with its message that love and happiness are as essential to life as gravity itself. Now, that story is coming to theaters as “Paper Flowers” — a film that promises to bring Shalin’s journey to life with heart, honesty, and beauty. The film follows Shalin, a compassionate USC graduate who steps away from his family’s expectations and the comfortable life he’s built with longtime girlfriend Fiona to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru, chasing a path that feels genuinely his own. Everything changes when a persistent cough turns out to be synovial sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer, pulling him back home to face a future he never saw coming.

From Sequim to Senegal: Local couple returns from two-year stint in Peace Corps, by Kathy Cruz in Sequim Gazette | August 19, 2026.

Matthew and Naomi Richards (Senegal 2024-26) knew that serving in the Peace Corps would be challenging, but the hurdles began before they even left the states. Multiple doctor’s office visits had to be scheduled for physicals and immunizations against exotic illnesses. Then, when it came time to board a plane for their assignment, there was another hurdle: They had to leave behind everything except what they could pack into two suitcases each. The couple, who grew up in Sequim and met at Peninsula College, recently returned from their service in West Africa and are spending the summer with family members in Sequim before deciding what comes next. They came back home with a story to tell.

Nonprofit Brand Trust Isn’t Built by Staying “On Message”, by Michael Ward (St. Lucia 2005-07) on Medium | August 19, 2026.

Ask a longtime donor why they stuck with an organization for a decade and branding rarely comes up. You’ll hear about the time someone called back. The time a program director admitted a mistake instead of spinning it. The tone of an email after a grant got denied instead of approved. Nonprofit brand trust builds in the moments nobody designed. How fast a staff member responds to a confused volunteer. Whether the person answering the phone sounds like they believe in the work. What field staff say about the organization when they’re off the clock and not on camera

Family Pantry’s New Exec Brings Global Experience To Cape, by Alan Pollock in Cape Cod Chronicle | August 19, 2026.

Jeffrey Cornish (Russia 1995-97; Country Director Tonga and The Gambia 2007-12) has fought hunger all over the world, looking into the faces of people for whom finding their next meal might mean life or death. He’s bringing that experience back to Cape Cod as the new executive director of the Family Pantry. Cornish’s family has been in Eastham for two generations; his late parents, Donovan and Roberta, were active in the community. They recently passed away, and Cornish found himself living here full-time, looking for a new opportunity. He was recruited for the top job at the Family Pantry of Cape Cod, and is glad to be the newest member of the team.

A woodworker’s journey from beehives in West Africa to spoons in Walnut Creek, in The Standard | August 19, 2026.

When Joseph Brody (The Gambia 2002-04) was building wooden beehives as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa after college, he couldn’t have predicted how that early-2000s experience would influence the course of his life years later. In 2016, the Contra Costa County husband and father left his corporate job at Restoration Hardware to go to a master craftsman’s school in Maine and learn to make furniture. He returned to the Bay Area to launch JBrody & Co, his own custom woodworking business, out of his Walnut Creek garage. Brody has since moved to a larger workshop in an industrial space in Concord while gaining a national following for making smaller items.

To save the reef, this island is raising clams by hand, by Mary Kate McCoy in Conservation International | August 19, 2026.

Palau was the birthplace of giant clam farming. The practice spread from there to neighboring countries across the Indo-Pacific — but stalled at home, held back by inconsistent access to juvenile clams and a lack of support for farmers. That history is what first attracted Tom Watson (Federated States of Micronesia 1977-79), of Watson and Sons Aquaculture, to Palau as a Peace Corps volunteer. Today, his third-generation aquaculture business is working to balance protection and production — rebuilding self-sustaining wild populations while selling clams for food and ornamental shells.

Title: Interpretive Theme Writer’s Field Guide: How to Craft Strong Themes from Big Idea to Presentation, S…

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• May 28: Spice of Life, by A.K. Frailey (Phiippines 1990)

• June 30: The Seed of Joy, by William Amos (Korea 1979-80)

• July 20: Jungle Gyre, by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski (Malaysia, 1969-71)

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I’ve known Sam Farr, “Mr. Peace Corps” to his former colleagues in Congress, for two years now, through my work as communications officer for the campaign to build Peace Co…

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Title: So My Teacher Wrote a Book

Genre: Memoir

Author: Derek Smith (Nepal 2004; Moldova 2004-06)

Published: Dec. 12, 2015 (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)

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Vir­ginia Emmons McNaught (Niger 2000-02) has served in the Peace Corps, help­ing refor­est the desert and found­ing a lit­er­acy pro­gram in the West African nation of Niger. She’s foun­ded non­profits in Miami that provide dis­ad­vant­aged youth access to edu­ca­tional oppor­tun­it­…

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When Claire Stiglmeier (Paraguay 2011-13) was 13 years old, and the aeroplane began its descent over Paraguay, the first thing she noticed was the colour red. The roofs of Asunción, the red earth stretching beneath them, a…

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Title: Fiddler on the Roof of Africa: How to Fail Successfully as a Peace Corps Volunteer

Genre: Memoir

Author: Derek Lowstuter (Ethiopia 2010-12)

Published: …

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U.S. Rep. Scott Perry’s creation of a legislative amendment to eliminate the Peace Corps illustrates his ideological ignorance of policies in general and this one in particular. We often said that, dollar for dol…

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After 250 years of USA history beginning with “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence of 1776, women’s equality is still not included as an amendment to the U.S. Constituti…

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Title: Truthful Lies & Bent Realities: A Truly Believed Love Story

Genre: Fiction

Author: Stephen Foehr (Ethiopia 1965-66)

Published: April 30, 2026 (Fohr & Son)

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Title: The Road Back to Touba Kolong: From Peace Corps to War and Back Again

Genre: Memoir

Author: Willie Clayborn (The Gambia 1992-95)

Published: April 29, 2026 (USA Publ…

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Montana State University’s program for Native American nursing students received an endowed gift that will help strengthen its mission for years to come. Housed in the College of Nursing, the Caring for O…

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The event, which began by honoring volunteers who died in service at Arlington National Cemetery and processed to the Lincoln Memorial, inspired at least one of the RPCVs in …

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Title: The Founders

Genre: Fiction

Author: Bryan Tenney (Armenia 1992-94)

Published: Sept. 4, 2025 (Dorrance Publishing Co.)

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Title: Water Drumming in the Soul

Genre: Fiction

Author: Eric Madeen (Gabon 1981-83)

Published: April 29, 2021 (Independently published)

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