Interview with Jerry Leach, November 1, 2021

Interview Summary

Inspired by John F. Kennedy, Jerry Leach and his wife Marianne served as PCV’s in Turkey 1964-1966. They taught high school English in Adana near the southern coast. Jerry presents their problems in learning how to teach English, and how--even with their good training--to keep huge all-boy classes under control. He overviews the geography, economy, and culture of the Hatay Region in southeast Turkey. He describes their housing situation, leisure activities, and their relationships with Turks, Arabs, Europeans, and American PCV’s and Foreign Service members. He highlights their trips to many fabulous sites in Turkey, and in Crete, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. He recounts how his post-Peace Corps graduate education at Cambridge University and UC Berkeley led him unexpectedly to teach at the University of Papua New Guinea. He outlines the many positive impacts that his service in Turkey has had on his life. He discusses ways the Peace Corps can achieve its Third Goal.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (U.S) Turkey (Country of service) 1964-1966 (Years of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) Marianne Leach (Jerry Leach’s wife, herself a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey, 1964-1966) Montgomery, Alabama Emory University Incirlik Air Base Ankara (Capital of Turkey) Adana (Major city in southern Turkey) Kurds Armenian Genocide Min-Mem (Instructional method used to teach languages in the Foreign Service Institute and elsewhere) Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Founder and first president (1923–38) of the Republic of Turkey) World Affairs Councils of America Taurus Mountains Hatay (Turkish province on the Mediterranean coast) Maiden’s Castle CARE (International aid organization) Göbekli Tepe Gaziantep (Capital of Gaziantep Province) Greece, Israel, Jordan, and Syria (Countries Marianne and Jerry visited during their PC service) Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, France, Italy, and Yugoslavia (Countries Marianne and Jerry visited after their PC service) Damascus table cloths Miletus (Ancient Greek city on Turkey’s Aegean coast) Cambridge University University of California, Berkeley Dr. Hortense Powdermaker (Professor at U.C. Berkeley) Papua New Guinea University of Papua New Guinea British Institute of Archaeology “Trobriand Cricket: An Indigenous Response to Colonialism” Film by Jerry Leach and Gary Kildea shown in Britain on BBC1 at opening of 1976 cricket season) “The Strategy of Turkish Boys’ Verbal Dueling Rhymes,” by Jerry Leach, Alan Dundes, and Bora Ozkok (Published paper) Peace Corps: Third Goal.

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Interview Usage

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