The Kindness of Random Strangers: Hitchhiking San Diego to Panama 1961

Based on journals kept by three of the five travelers who made it as far as Costa Rica, two of which continued to Panama, this account of their journey describes some of the people they met, the places they saw, and things they did. The book is an expression of gratitude for the people who helped them along the way.

About the Author :
Carl is an ICMA-CM, and a Life Member ICMA and APA. He is co-editor of CITIES GOING GREEN, GLOBAL MODELS OF URBAN PLANNING, and URBAN TRANSPORTATION INNOVATIONS WORLDWIDE. He has more than forty years of local government management experience and is a Life Member and Certificated Manager with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), as well as a Life Member of the American Planning Association (APA). He began his local government career with two years service in the United States Peace Corps as an urban community development worker in Bogota, Colombia. Following the Peace Corps, after two years of study at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Carl received his Bachelor's of Arts degree in social science from the University of California at Berkeley. Carl was awarded a summer fellowship to the United Nations Development Programme by the Berkeley Institute for International Studies prior to beginning his studies at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. After completing his course work at Syracuse for a Master's in Regional Planning he was selected as a New York City Urban Fellow where he worked in the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Government as a liaison to three New York City neighborhood city halls. Following completion of his Urban Fellowship, Carl re-located to San Diego where he worked in the County Planning Department for eight years and served as Chief of the Community Planning Division. In 1978 Carl re-located to Albany, Oregon, where he served as a Senior Planner for two years before being appointed as the Benton County Planning Director. He was subsequently elected to the Albany City Council, and then to the Linn County Commission. For three years he served as Chairman of the County Commission, and the Oregon District Four Council of Governments. He was also selected to serve a three year term as the representative to the Bonneville Power Administration's Local Government Advisory Committee by the Association of Oregon Counties. He served on the President's Committee of the National Association of Regional Councils, and for three years chaired a 501C3 Certified Development Corporation of the Small Business Administration which he organized to enable the Oregon District Four (now Cascades West) Region to take advantage of low-cost small business loan opportunities. Carl has been a sought-after speaker by such organizations as the ICMA, the American Planning Association (APA), the Working Lands Alliance, the National Center for Small Communities, the Association of Towns and Townships, and numerous others. He has published articles thru the ICMA, the APA, and many other organizations. After leaving Cave Creek, he was appointed to serve as the Community Development Director of the Town of Paradise Valley, Arizona, where he wrote a new General Plan for the Town and initiated the preparation of a complete new development code. Carl served as the Town Manager of Gila Bend, Arizona, for three years before assuming his duties as the Executive Director of the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency. In 2000 he was appointed to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC). After completing his term on LGAC, he was appointed to serve on the EPA's National Drinking Water Advisory Council.

Review :
What a great book!! Enjoyed every minute of it! Kent Hirschi, Tulsa, Oklahoma