NJ Veteran of War and of Peace Movement Pens Poetry Book – Meet / Greet 9/26
WAGING PEACE: FROM VIETNAM TO VOLGOGRAD
Friday, September 26, 2025, 7 pm
Puffin Cultural Forum
20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ
Art, poetry and music celebrating publication of Waging Peace: From Vietnam to Volgograd, a new collection of essays, art and poetry by Jan Barry, is scheduled for September 26 at 7 pm at Puffin Cultural Forum. 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ.
Waging Peace traces the arc of a citizen activist from GI in Vietnam to helping found Vietnam Veterans Against the War, participate in a US-USSR Bridges for Peace delegation to meet with citizens of the Soviet Union, which helped end the nuclear hair-trigger Cold War, and work on numerous Veterans For Peace actions. Waging Peace conveys memorable stories about the transformation of soldiers into peace activists.
“Jan Barry has woven decades of waging peace into this spectacular book, growing from a 19-year-old aviation radio specialist in the early years of the Vietnam war to peace activist elder. He details astounding antiwar campaigns … to find creative responses to seemingly endless wars and threats of war.”
–Tara Krause, artist, poet, West Pointer, veteran of nuclear Cold War and first gulf war
A Teaneck resident and retired reporter for the Bergen Record, Jan Barry is a US Army veteran of the Vietnam War who resigned from West Point to become a writer and peace activist. New Jersey coordinator for the Warrior Writers project, which provides writing workshops for military veterans and family members, he recently served a term as Veterans For Peace Poet Laureate.
A poetry reading on themes of Waging Peace will be presented by Jan Barry, Tara Krause, Walt Nygard, James Yee and others. Music will be provided by the Solidarity Singers. The event will include a display of artwork by veterans affiliated with Frontline Arts, including Jan Barry, Ron Erickson, Tara Krause, Walt Nygard, and James Yee.
Author of more than a dozen books of poetry and prose, including Waging Art: Tackling Grief and Trauma with Creative Arts, Jan Barry creates art with Frontline Arts (formerly Combat Paper NJ) and the Secaucus Vet Center Art Group. He has performed spoken word poetry at many locales, including the Dodge Poetry Festival, New York Poetry Festival and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York.
