Interviews

Bonnie Lee Black decided to join the Peace Corps at the age of 50 in 1995. In 1996 she was posted to Gabon in Central Africa as a health and nutrition volunteer.   Bonnie was a caterer and food writer in New York prior to her Peace Corps service. Bonnie’s engrossing and practical memoir of her experiences in Gabon, How to Cook a Crocodile: A Memoir with Recipes , was recently published by the new imprint, Peace Corps Writers.

Bonnie Lee Black is a graduate of Columbia University and has an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She currently teaches English and creative nonfiction writing at the University of New Mexico in Taos.

John Dwyer of Over50andOverseas.com recently interviewed Bonnie and discussed her memoir.

John: Your new book How to Cook a Crocodile is a fascinating literary travel narrative and, as described in the subtitle, A Memoir with Recipes.  It is also an inspirational story of how to adapt and survive anywhere in the world.  What inspired you to write the book?

Bonnie: Well, as a writer, I feel I must share my experiences the best way I know how, through the written word.  Two classic books especially inspired the theme and structure of my How to Cook a Crocodile – M.F.K. Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf and Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa.  I like to think of my new book as “the wild grandchild” of these two well known and well loved books by wonderful women writers.

John: Your book is about your two-year Peace Corps service as a health volunteer in Gabon, Central Africa, when you were in your early 50s.  What made you join the Peace Corps at 50?

Lawrence Siddall, a retired psychotherapist, volunteered to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1997 at the age of sixty-seven. He served as a teacher of English in Poland. His excellent book, “Two Years in Poland and Other Stories”, vividly describes the training he received, his adjustment to his assignment in Poland, and his interaction with fellow volunteers and the Polish people. Incorporated into the book are delightful and interesting flashbacks, among which is his account of a fascinating trip that he and an army buddy took in 1956, driving in a VW Beetle from Europe through the Middle East to India.

Lawrence Siddall’s book may be purchased at his website: www.lawrencesiddall.com or BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com
I interviewed Lawrence in September 2008.

I first met Muriel Horacek a number of years ago at a travel show in Orange County, California. She was working in a booth for the Earthwatch Institute at the time. We talked briefly and Muriel convinced me to sign-up for the Earthwatch newsletter. I next met Muriel at the 2008 Los Angeles Travel Show. She was enthusiastically greeting visitors in the Earthwatch booth. I reminded her of our earlier meeting and I also told her of my website that is a resource for those over 50 who are interested in international volunteering. Muriel told me that she was over 80 years of age and was planning a bird-watching trip to India at the time. This interview, which took place in April 2009, is a result of our talk at the travel show. By the way, Muriel in now 84 years old!

African Conservation Experience-www.africanconservation.net My name is Silvia and I am 66 years old. My concerns that I wouldn’t be up to the task of volunteering soon vanished. The bush camp in Tuli delivered one highlight after another with so many events in one go! I couldn’t really take it all in at once. At 7:45 …

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African Conservation Experience-www.africanconservation.net Stuart Spindler The Game Ranger course was brilliant! There were six of us, five guys and one girl of ages ranging from 18 to 50+. Our course leader was an absolute legend, an African, who had worked for 30 years in the bush. He had a wealth of stories to tell, about …

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African Conservation Experience- www.conservationafrica.net Chris Barrass, age 55“Nine lions were to be transported to Mozambique to restock an area depleted in wildlife. This involved darting them, taking blood samples and checking them for TB. This was carried out by a wildlife vet as we witnessed the whole event. On another occasion one of the researchers …

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