Jan Barry

Photo/ Colleen Delaney

Life Lessons

Long ago,
when I was 19
and hot to trot –
three-sport, national
honor society,
“most likely to succeed”
high school grad
bored to death in
droning college classrooms –
I whirled off campus
one day in a fitful itch
of impatience
and joined the army.
In no time, I landed in Vietnam.
I was never bored again.

Thirty years later,
my kamikaze course
of education was capped
by tasseled cap and gown,
recipient of a degree
(summa cum laude)
for lessons learned
in Vietnamese villages,
West Point parades,
peace marches
and public debates
after I discovered the gumption
to say “No, sir!”
to a military career,
shucking that chic
killer combat gear
and joining civilians
building bridges
across
battle lines.

Civic Action

Co-director,
"Leave No Soldier"
Veterans Day Town Meetings

Member, advisory board,
Warrior Writers

Member, board of directors:
NJ Foundation for Open Government
Teachers for Vietnam

Past member, board of directors, Montclair chapter, United Nations Association

Cofounder, Montclair-Cherepovets Sister City Committee, 1990

Co-director, New Jersey-Volgograd Bridges for Peace citizen exchange program, 1986-87

Director, Essex County (NJ) Office on Peace, 1986-87

Public information officer, YWCA of the USA, 1981-87

Cofounder and past president, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, 1967-71

Current Affairs

Member, Authors Guild, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science Honor Society), Society of Environmental Journalists, Society of Professional Journalists, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans of America

Listed in A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, Who's Who in America

Events

Seasons: Summer dusk, Cape Cod, MA

Recent and Selected Speaking Engagements

(Philadelpha, PA) Robin's Books, "When They Come Home," Warrior Writers reading with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

(New Brunswick, NJ) Rutgers University, Teach-In on Afghanistan and Pakistan

(Upper Nyack, NY) Fellowship of Reconciliation, "Poems for Peace from the World of War" poetry reading with veteran poets

(Boonton, NJ) Boonton High School, presentation at Vietnam era course

(Hoboken, NJ) Hoboken High School, panel discussion, "Leave No Soldier" Veterans Day Town Meeting

(Ithaca, NY) Unitarian Church, panel discussion, "Leave No Soldier" Veterans Day Town Meeting

(College Park, MD) University of Maryland, workshop on poetry for peace, Veterans For Peace convention

(Piscataway, NJ) Rutgers University, annual presentation at NJ Press Association/Rutgers Journalism Resources Institute workshop for journalists on reporting stories on municipal and school budgets

(New Brunswick, NJ) Rutgers University, "Tapping the Grassroots: Unofficial Sources - the News-making Role of Ordinary Citizens," talk as journalist in residence

(Newark, NJ) Rutgers University Law School, panelist in seminar on New Jersey's Open Public Meeting Act sponsored by NJ Foundation for Open Government

(Washington, DC) Brookings Institution, presentation at "Winning Hearts and Shaping Minds: Public Diplomacy and International Education in an Age of Conflict" symposium

(New York, NY) New School University, panel discussion on "Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam," a new book edited by Lloyd C. Gardner and Marilyn B. Young

(Brooklyn, NY) Brooklyn Historical Society, panel discussion on Iraq and Vietnam wars

(Philadelphia, PA) Crane Arts Building, poetry reading at "Operation Rapid American Withdrawl" art exhibit in the Ice Box Project Space

(Sparkill, NY) St. Thomas Aquinas College, presentation on poetry and Vietnam at "Literature & War" class

(Teaneck, NJ) Puffin Cultural Forum, veterans' poetry reading

(New Brunswick, NJ) Rutgers University, presentation at Vietnam Legacy class; poetry reading with Iraq veterans, students with Rutgers Against the War; remarks on Iraq veterans' Combat Paper Project at Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions Annual Exhibition at Mason Gross Galleries

(New York, NY) Dieu Donne artist workspace, poetry reading with Iraq veterans in Combat Paper Project

(New York, NY) Jews Uniting to End the War and Heal America conference, panelist on addressing veterans' issues

(Montclair, NJ) Presentation at fund-raisers for production of a documentary film, "Leave No Soldier," on ways war veterans cope with death and grief

(Smithfield, RI) Bryant University, panel discussion on "Leave No Soldier" documentary

(New York, NY) Pratt Institute, panel discussion on "Leave No Soldier" documentary

(Holmdel, NJ) NJ Vietnam Veterans' Memorial and Vietnam Era Educational Center, panel on "Weighing In On War: Public Opinion and Its Influences, Vietnam to Iraq"

(Chicago, IL) Roosevelt University, panel discussion and poetry reading, Vietnam Veterans Against the War 40th anniversary celebration

(Newark and Paterson, NJ) Presentation to New York University journalism students on bus tour of historic industrial areas in New Jersey

(New York, NY) Columbia University School of Journalism, guest speaker at news reporting class

(Paramus, NJ) Bergen Community College, panel discussion on "Toxic Legacy" project

(Mahwah, NJ) Ramapo College, presentation on "Toxic Legacy" project to environmental science class

(Mahwah, NJ) Ramapo College, presentation on "Toxic Legacy" project at Ramapo River Watershed Conference

(Fort Worth, Texas) Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, panel presentation on "Toxic Legacy" project

(New York, NY) New York University, presentation on "Toxic Legacy" project to investigative journalism class

(New Brunswick, NJ) Rutgers University, presentation on "Toxic Legacy" project to investigative journalism class

(Burlington, VT) Environmental Journalism Boot Camp, Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism program at Society of Environmental Journalists conference, presentation on covering environmental issues as a municipal reporter

(Hackensack, NJ) Journalism program for Lakeland Regional High School class visiting The Record newsroom

(Wanaque, NJ) Wanaque Elementary School and Haskell Elementary School, Newspaper in Education program classroom visit

(Trenton, NJ) New Jersey Land Conservation Rally panel on "Communicating Your Message to the Press and Donors"

(Piscataway, NJ) Rutgers University Busch Campus, NJ Foundation for Open Government conference, "Know Your Rights" panel presentation by NJ chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

(New York, NY) Panel discussion after showing of "Winter Soldier" film at Quad Cinema, Greenwich Village

(Princeton, NJ) Panel discussion after showing of "Winter Soldier" film, Princeton Public Library

(Boston, MA) Emerson College, panel discussion on veterans' literature, Veterans For Peace convention