Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
Ben East’s nonfiction debut recounts how JFK’s bold experiment shaped diplomatic careers and influenced modern American diplomacy.
Read, Listen, Watch
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Even after 5 months as a hostage John Limbert retained his identity as a diplomat, engaging Iran’s future Supreme Leader in language and custom Khamenei couldn’t ignore
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An author and former diplomat reflects on his hometown, his earliest career failure, and how Peace Corps helped him overcome it to tell America’s story abroad
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A brief pivot from Peace Corps profiles to pressing matters of climate change and opinion journalism.
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Peace Corps Nepal in the 1960s could feel slow. Adapting to the boredom turned out to be good preparation for enduring 444 days of tedium as a hostage in Iran
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Four of the 52 Americans held hostage in Tehran for 444 days had served as Peace Corps Volunteers: Victor Tomseth, John Limbert, Michael Metrinko, and Barry Rosen
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No communist country had hosted a Peace Corps program until Peter Tomsen negotiated a role for Volunteers in China, an objective that would take over a decade to fulfill
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Peter Tomsen cut a path from the Peace Corps to an ambassadorship through jungle warfare in Vietnam, negotiating Peace Corps into China, and serving as Special Envoy to Afghanistan after Soviet withdrawal.
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An author and former diplomat contemplates familiar Washington haunts, including the Kennedy Center, after his last act in service: cancelling his passport
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Not your typical Peace Corps-to-Foreign Service path, this rendering of an ambassador’s tale twists amid my own fascination with the era’s social influences.
Ben East Books 