I was on a hiatus, traveling internationally, but I’m back and wanted to give attention to and an update about Tonga where I served as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1973-74. As a member of Friends of Tonga (FOT), this past year has been the most challenging for FOT since their inception. January 14th marked…Read more »
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Tragedy in Tonga
I arrived in Tonga in 1973 as Peace Corps volunteer supervising a TB and Typhoid vaccination campaign throughout the islands. Here is an excerpt from my memoir, In Search of Pink Flamingos, Chapter, An Island Paradise, about the my work and the wonderful people of Tonga. Despite the general good health of the population, I…Read more »
Timbuktu, a Place Lost in Time
Forty-seven years ago almost to the day, just before New Years, I was traveling West Africa on vacation from my Peace Corps assignment in Liberia. The iconic Timbuktu was one imperative stop on my route. Following are excerpts from my book of this journey and proof this place really exists. Part VI: Chapter; Planes, Trains,…Read more »
Recent Publication
The occasional poet that I am proved fruitful for me. Two of my poems about Covid-19 have been published in the Anthology noted below. I and some of my colleagues will be doing virtual readings on November 20, 6PM PST. Here are the details from the publisher: This Uncommon Solitude by Lisa | Oct 17,…Read more »
Unfettered Love – Part II
What is it about Africa that causes its visitors or temporary residents to fall so deeply in love with this continent? I hear it over and over again. The words of love echo from the first Peace Corps volunteers who landed in Liberia in 1962 to the newly returned volunteers in 2020 (post-civil war, post…Read more »
Virtual Book Launch Countdown, Sunday, June 28, 4PM PST, 7PM EST. Signup on link below
https://www.villagebooks.com/event/litlive-susan-greisen-0628920 Note from the author: I look forward to all of my friends and family across the US from the East Coast, Midwest, West Coast and Hawaii. Even if you’ve read book, there will be new slides, readings, and Q&A. See you there.
Virtual Book Launch – Sign Up
Sunday, 06/28/2020 – 4:00pm PST Village Books in Bellingham, WA is pleased to include Susan E. Greisen as part of our Virtual Lit Live Event series! Event will be live nationwide in your timezone. In Search of Pink Flamingos is a story of a young woman who defies her parents’ demands to become a farmer’s…Read more »
Outdoor Book Club
On June 1st, Susan Cushing organized her monthly book club, hosted by Ginny Davidson. I attended as guest author of In Search of Pink Flamingos. We practiced social distancing outdoors (masks as needed) on Ginny’s gorgeous deck surrounded by towering firs and cedars with birds abound. I could have been in Africa. The sun drenched…Read more »
The Beatles and Mrs. Bartley
My Nebraska friends and family responded with vigor to the one-room school house blog, so I decided to do one more. The demise of our school, District 20, in the 90s saddened many of us in our local farming community. Life was changing and good farmland was more valuable then an abandoned school building, and…Read more »
One-room School House
By all rights, I should be 90 years old. Except for those living in the heartland, not many of us who have aged into our 60s have attended a one-room school house. My memoir In Search of Pink Flamingos tells of my experience in such a school in a remote part of Nebraska. For those…Read more »