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.
The figures highlighted here tracked looted antiquities after the invasion of Iraq, re-established diplomacy in Afghanistan after 9/11, and secured village infrastructure while war raged in Vietnam. As hostages in Iran, they maintained diplomatic discipline to bridge a volatile cultural divide. These are individuals of deep courage and conviction, whether integrating a southern U.S. high school or finding comfort in African village beliefs to cope with personal tragedy.
Read, Listen, Watch
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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.
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Sketch profiling Ambassador Franklin Pierce “Pancho” Huddle, Jr. from a forthcoming nonfiction boook of profiles that explore Peace Corps roots in American diplomacy.
Ben East Books 