Jeffrey Puryear
Before I Forget outlines one person’s journey from growing up rural to helping some of Latin America’s top academic and political leaders make the world a better place-and the lessons he learned. It documents what made that possible: a warm but demanding family, a land-grant university, the Peace Corps, the University of Chicago and the Ford Foundation. It draws lessons about giving away millions, promoting democracy, falling in love, dealing with military dictatorships, and playing the policy game. And it profiles Michigan’s great North Woods, life on an old-fashioned family farm, attending a one-room country school, the surprising merits of acquiring a second culture, studying at one of the world’s great universities, psychotherapy, climbing snow-covered volcanos, collecting art, and the delights of Manhattan. The result is thoughtful, interesting and beautifully written. And it is framed-surprise-by the author’s reflections on what good writing is all about. A terrific read.
