Between Arrivals and Departures

The thirteen non-fictional stories and poetry that are included in this book represent a testimonial to a member of the "Greatest Generation," a remarkable, charming life of an honorable and thoughtful human being. The stories chronicle Thomas Peyton's' life from about 1925 until 2008; they vary from memoires to poetry, to living with domestic animals, and travels in Egypt, Haiti, Africa, and Europe. Among such charming stories, we read about Thomas' first visit to Europe in 1936 where...
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The thirteen non-fictional stories and poetry that are included in this book represent a testimonial to a member of the "Greatest Generation," a remarkable, charming life of an honorable and thoughtful human being. The stories chronicle Thomas Peyton's' life from about 1925 until 2008; they vary from memoires to poetry, to living with domestic animals, and travels in Egypt, Haiti, Africa, and Europe. Among such charming stories, we read about Thomas' first visit to Europe in 1936 where he witnessed Hitler at the XITH Berlin Olympic Games. In another, he relates his life as a corporal in the U.S. Army Air Corps in WWII, in Great Britain. Thomas' memoires are touching and carries a fine brush of a sensitive artist that enhanced the "Minnesota boy" into a grown-up man! For example, his encounter with President J. F. Kennedy at the White House' lawn before travelling to Africa as one of the first Peace Corp volunteers, in 1962, was a memorable moment that he never forgot. The Peace Corp experience was a high point in Thomas' life, as narrated in "Letters from the Ivory Coast," as he shares his humanitarian service in that country, where he taught French to schoolchildren. Thomas Peyton was born on 23 June 1919 in Duluth, Minnesota, and passed away on 30 March 2010, in Oxford, Ohio. In 1942, he earned a BA from Carleton College, Minnesota. Also, he earned MA in History, in 1961, from New York University, and another in French, in 1970, from Middlebury College.