Is For Good Men To Do Nothing
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About the Book
On September 11, 2001, like everyone, the author awoke to a different world. In addition to taking up a collection at his Rotary club meeting that morning, he decided he wanted to do more. What caused this tragedy? What motivated the terrorists? These questions sent him on a journey. Not simply a physical journey to the Middle East and beyond, but a journey of discovery.
The Western world wrung its collective hands in response to a new survivalist fear of traveling following that fateful fall morning. Suicide bombers breathed their last in the West Bank. SARS contaminated the air. War ravaged Iraq. Or war liberated Iraq, depending on your perspective. In as lighthearted a way as was possible under the circumstances, the author sets out to explore these troubled hot spots and figure out why America continues to be sometimes loved and sometimes hated. Sometimes by the very same people. "Americans go home,” said a university student in India. “And take me with you.”
Is For Good Men To Do Nothing chronicles the author’s trek from the USA to Afghanistan, and 27 countries along the way, on a quest to try and figure out why this tragedy occurred; and maybe even do something about it. Along the way he is interrogated by Israeli security, enjoys the breathtaking views of Liechtenstein, stomachs the poverty of Ethiopia, gets abducted by an angry bus driver in Greece, meets with UN officials in New York and Geneva, gets his pocket picked in Rome, says goodbye to his aging grandfather on Maui, talks politics in Kuwait, visits the last of the white rhinos in Tanzania, crosses from Pakistan into India in a motorcade under full military escort, and finally interviews former Mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan. All the while trying to make a small difference in the world by creating a vocational education program to aid Afghan refugees. International politics with a human touch—and a human mission.
About the Author
From Afghanistan to Albania, Kuwait to Kenya, while war raged in Iraq, the author set out on an adventure to discover firsthand what the world thinks of American foreign policy since September 11. Chris Verrill, a non-profit director and volunteer with a mission, journeyed to 29 countries in an attempt to learn and perhaps make a little bit of difference in the world. Verrill is available for lectures, panel discussions, and children’s parties. “A tremendous read from a human chronicler of an historic venture and adventure who happens to be a Rotarian—that is, a humanitarian in the trenches.” —Steve Wright “Instead of taking a walk in the woods, Chris Verrill travels to the world’s hot spots. He’s the next Bill Bryson.” —Linda Monden “Witty, colorful, always entertaining. It’s The New Yorker magazine meets National Geographic.” —Heidi Davis