2006.04.28: April 28, 2006: Headlines: Figures: Writers: COS - Ethiopia: Headquarters: Communications: Publishing: Books: Peace Corps Writers: John Coyne writes: Those who are ignorant of History are doomed to repeat it
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2006.04.28: April 28, 2006: Headlines: Figures: Writers: COS - Ethiopia: Headquarters: Communications: Publishing: Books: Peace Corps Writers: John Coyne writes: Those who are ignorant of History are doomed to repeat it
John Coyne writes: Those who are ignorant of History are doomed to repeat it
"What is particularly annoying is that the current Communications office of the Peace Corps is full of Schedule Cs who have no history of the agency, certainly no experience as PCVs, and are desperately trying to make themselves look good. Thank God they will all soon be gone. Maybe they can go live with Gaddi in Rome. He’s going to have a great big house, I’m told, paid for by the U.S. government. And who said the Peter Principle doesn’t work." John Coyne, editor of the "Peace Corps Writers" web site, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia in the 1960's.
John Coyne writes: Those who are ignorant of History are doomed to repeat it
Where's the Smoking Gun Website when we need it!
Coyne, John P.
I did an event for the NYC Peace Corps Office the other night at the Mid-Manhattan Library. They were celebrating the 45th Anniversary of the agency and the publication of a new book of Peace Corps stories, the fourth of its kind. George Packer (Togo 1982-83) read from his Peace Corps book, A Village of Waiting, saying that he wanted to help the Peace Corps because he had been such a bad PCV. True enough.
The New York Peace Corps Recruitment Office gave away copies of their new recruitment book. In a hand out given out that evening the Peace Corps claims this new compilation of volunteer stories "A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service" is the first of its kind because it "will be available in bookstores and libraries across the country."
Well, it is not the first to be available to the general public. You can buy old editions of the three editions I edited in the 1990s on eBay or on-line or down the street from where you live in used bookstores.
The books I edited -which weren’t the first Peace Corps books either--were also "real" books, with Library of Congress #s. As well as ISBN #s. We shipped copies to the GPO and to libraries across the country. We did not have the books published by the Government Printing Office as the GPO was too expensive. We got our books printed cheaper by using a commercial printer. [The first book, published back in the ‘60s, was done by the publishing company Quadrangle Books.]
So, Barbara Daly, or whoever it is in her office who wrote this press release is stretching the truth, [but that is typical of this administration, as we have learned.] I know Barbara will come up with some slice of story of how really this is the "first" of its kind because, etc., etc….but that will only remind us all of how chubby Scott McClellan ran his White House briefings and sliced the truth everyday.
What is particularly annoying is that the current Communications office of the Peace Corps is full of Schedule Cs who have no history of the agency, certainly no experience as PCVs, and are desperately trying to make themselves look good. Thank God they will all soon be gone. Maybe they can go live with Gaddi in Rome. He’s going to have a great big house, I’m told, paid for by the U.S. government. And who said the Peter Principle doesn’t work.
Here is the history of the "Peace Corps books" as I wrote in last month’s issue of www.peacecorpswriters.com, a history of a publication that goes back to the beginning days of the Peace Corps.
New recruitment book from the Peace Corps
This month the Peace Corps issued A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service. It was published by the agency’s Office of Communications and is the fourth book in the recent series of Peace Corps-printed publications that highlight the experiences of PCVs. The very first book of this kind was entitled The Peace Corps Reader and published by Quadrangle Books for the Peace Corps in 1966. That book was an expansion of a "monograph series" started by Donovan McClure, then director of Public Affairs for the Peace Corps. McClure had been the CD in Sierra Leone and after returning to PC/W commissioned several Volunteers and staff members to write monographs about the Peace Corps. These monographs were circulated on college campuses in an attempt to reveal more about the "real life" of a PCV. McClure’s successor as Director of Public Affairs, Andy Hays, turned the monograph series into the first edition of The Peace Corps Reader. The editor of these two editions was Mary Hoyt. Paul Reed, the Peace Corps’ art and production director, designed the first two volumes.
In the mid-1990s when I returned to work at the Peace Corps, I reconceived the idea of Peace Corps stories to be used in recruitment and edited three editions: To Touch the World, followed by At Home In The World (1996) and The Great Adventures (1997). Many of these essays came from newsletter Marian Haley Beil and I started in 1989, Peace Corps Writers & Readers. Approximately 125,000 copies were printed of each issue of these recruitment books. The books were free for the asking.
This new edition is also free, though the Government Printing Office is also selling it as a paperback for $15.95. (I suggest you call 1.800.424.8580, Option # 1, and when they answer, say you are thinking about joining the Peace Corps and would like a free copy of A Life Inspired.) By the way, the GPO has categorized the book as "Inspiration/Travel/Adventure."
When this story was posted in May 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| It's Official: Vasquez nominated to FAO Exactly one week ago we predicted that Director Vasquez would soon be receiving a major ambassadorship. Today the White House confirmed that Vasquez will be the new Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture replacing Tony Hall.
PCOL Comment: Director Vasquez, let us be the first to thank you for your service to the Peace Corps, congratulate you on your new appointment, and wish you good luck in your future endeavors. Although we have had our differences over the years and we opposed your nomination in 2001, we think you are leaving a solid legacy of accomplishment and have served the Peace Corps well.
Initiatives and Accomplishments: Vasquez's major initiatives and accomplishments since becoming Peace Corps Director include: an agreement with Mexico in 2003 to host volunteers, sending RPCVs to work domestically in Hurricane relief after Katrina, emphasis on recruitment of minorities and of community college graduates, upgrading Peace Corps' infrastructure especially IT upgrades in the online application tracking process and the Volunteer Delivery System, an emphasis on safety and security of volunteers including the creation of a Situation Room at Peace Corps Headquarters, modifying Peace Corps' "Five Year Rule" for employment, and the expansion of the Peace Corps to its highest level in 30 years. He is the third longest serving Peace Corps Director after Loret Ruppe Miller and Sargent Shriver. |
| The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world. |
| Interview with a Hit Man RPCV John Perkins says that for many years he was an "economic hit man" in the world of international finance whose primary job was to convince less developed countries to accept multibillion dollar loans for infrastructure projects that left the recipient countries wallowing in debt and highly vulnerable to outside political and commercial interests. In this exclusive interview for "Peace Corps Online," Colombia RPCV Joanne Roll, author of Remember with Honor, talks to Perkins about his Peace Corps service, his relation with the NSA, "colonization" in Ecuador, the consequences of his work, why he decided to speak out, and what his hopes are for change. |
| Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that Peace Corps has blocked their request for information on the Volkart case. "After the Tidings requested information pertaining to why Volkart was denied the position — on March 2 — the newspaper received a letter from the Peace Corps FOIA officer stating the requested information was protected under an exemption of the act." The Dayton Daily News had similar problems with FOIA requests for their award winning series on Volunteer Safety and Security. |
| PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
| PC announces new program in Cambodia Director Vasquez and Cambodia's Deputy Chief of Mission Meng Eang Nay announced a historic new partnership between the Peace Corps and the Kingdom of Cambodia that will bring volunteers to this Southeast Asian country for the first time. Under King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia has welcomed new partnerships with the U.S. government and other U.S. organizations. |
| Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say. |
| Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: Volkart reverses stance, takes new assignment in Paraguay. |
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
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Story Source: Peace Corps Writers
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; Writers; COS - Ethiopia; Headquarters; Communications; Publishing; Books
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