Author Description

This is the first collective memoir of VISTA volunteers from the Sixties, whom The New York Times once called "the shock troops in the war on poverty." Trained primarily as community organizers using Saul Alinsky's controversial tactics, these 35 ex-domestic Peace Corps volunteers share their stories and how those xperiences shaped their lives.These accountsanalytical, witty, sometimes irreverentare by ex-VISTAs who are movers in their own communities, as well as by those who wear a more public face. The latter include Pat Jehlen, Massachusetts state senator; Ray Magliozzi, co-host of NPR's "Car Talk;" Jeremy Rifkin, author and environmental critic; Jack Gherty, Land 'O Lakes ex-CEO; and Ben Taylor, former editor of The Boston Globe.