Happy New Year

The new year is upon us. I’m glad. Let’s lift our chins to the future and think positive thoughts.

If I have to look back, then this is where I’ll do it, proud to count myself among the SoftPower/FulStories community of listeners and contributors.

Hear thoughts from the Class of 2025 below.

For my part, here’s an edited outtake of what I had to say:

I wanted to reflect on what 2025 meant for me, both as a newly retired Foreign Service Officer and as a returned Peace Corps volunteer, and
and how this podcast contributed to it.

Primarily, being asked to participate forced me to sit down and think about what my career had meant. It brought to mind an essay I had started about 15 years ago, reflections on Peace Corps, my career as a public diplomacy officer for the State Department, and telling America’s story to the world. What had all of these things really done for the United States?

And frankly, it comes down to how it improved me as an individual and gave me the confidence to really push beyond boundaries. As I as I prepared to participate in the podcast, I developed a better draft of that essay. I was pleased with it enough that I wanted to share it in the Virginia Writers Club annual Golden Nib contest.

Just last month I learned the club awarded me first place for nonfiction. That essay, titled Mr. Mediocrity’s Great American Novel, is available for review upon request. My fiction submission, Down on Jupiter, placed third.

The second thing that made 2025 extraordinary was that my first nonfiction book was accepted for publication. Profiles in Service looks at the careers of first generation Peace Corps volunteers who later served as ambassadors, and how the one experience informed the other.

This is important in 2026, as the Peace Corps looks to celebrate 65 years of service around the world. It’s the United States’ 250th birthday, but it’s the Peace Corps’s 65th birthday, and I’m very excited for Profiles in Service to be a part of these celebrations*.

So, I want to thank this community again, and it’s great to be a part of it. I applaud Christopher Wurst for this incredible initiative. You all inspire me and please keep it up. Keep up the great work and have a great 2026.

*Eager readers can find a proof draft of Profiles on Amazon now. There are non-substantive errors on the back jacket and table of contents. I am eager for the publisher to render the final, corrected version and will alert the community once it is available.

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