Chic Dambach as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Cover story in the Nov/Dec 1968 issue of Porvenir. Photo by Galiota, Colombia, South America.
Exhaust The Limits
The world is a better place because of Chic Dambach. If you’ve never heard of him, you’re about to. He was instrumental in stopping the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the second Congolese Civil War. That is to say, he personally reasoned with the prime ministers involved and helped to save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives. Not too shabby.
If these were the only two things this man ever did he would have already accomplished more than most of us but wait, there’s more. As well as formerly serving as the President of the National Peace Corps Association and currently serving as the CEO for The Alliance For Peacebuilding he has list of credentials that would take the better part of this issue to list so you’re just going to have to trust me when I say that his experience is impressive. To be honest, I find myself being very thoughtful about what I’m writing here because it’s a privilege to do so.
Chic recently released his memoir, Exhaust the Limits: The Life and Times of a Global Peacebuilder. The book is an inspiration in that it frames the enormity of the world’s problems around the story of a man who set out to change the world and did so. He proves that within each individual lies the ability to enact great change in the world.
During the 1960s after Chic Dambach witnessed the horrific torture of black teammates at Oklahoma State University, he became a student activist and went on to join the Peace Corps, become an Olympic Games Official, visit 55 countries, help put an end to the most deadly war since WWII, and become one of the premier leaders in the peacebuilding world. This is his story. It’s a story about dedication to peace in the face of personal tragedy, the murder of his best friend and many struggles.
The Big Picture
Believe it or not, there’s an inherent danger when using dynamite to catch fish. Delicate ecosystems are destroyed and fisherman lose appendages. Well, that’s just what was happening in a remote fishing village in Colombia in 1968. The local fisherman were stealing explosives from a construction site to increase their catch. That is until a young Chic Dambach rode into town on a glistening silver stallion with the sun beaming from behind him. That’s when he approached the villagers and said, “My friends, there is another way and I am here to show you, for I am Chic… Chic Dambach.” (Okay I made up the silver stallion part and I’m not entirely sure what he said when he got there, but that’s how I imagine it.)
Exhaust The Limits
Chic with Barry Goldwater and David Block at OSU in 1966
In the sixties, Chic went to OSU on a football scholarship. It was during this time that he saw the terrible racism and abuse enacted on black athletes by the coaches. The experience helped to push him into the social justice and activist arena.
“…the experience had a powerful impact on my sensitivity to racial issues and it helped shape my social and political values. It was my new awakening to the challenges others faced and to the social and political struggles ahead.” – Chic Dambach from Exhaust the Limits.
Story by Justin Allen and Brooke Hall.
Washington Canoe Club’s K-4 Team on the Potomac River in early 1980s.
As well as being a football player, master debater and student activist in college, and a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years, Chic was a champion kayak racer during the 1980’s.
“As a part-time athlete, I was in the Washington Canoe Club, but not part of the inner club of serious competitors. The others were much younger, and they had few distractions. To compete on their level, I had to focus as they did. I could not be both the leader of a national association and a serious kayak racer at the same time. I had to choose. Perhaps foolishly, I went with the water, the team, rigorous training, racing, and the remote possibility of becoming an Olympian myself.” –Exhaust the Limits
It was around this time Chic found something more significant than any medal. “During the Olympic Festival in Syracuse, Joanne Janus, one of my Washington Canoe Club teammates, whispered to me, ‘Someone in yellow likes you”….I noticed a particularly attractive blonde woman whom I had not met, and hoped she was the one—and she was. I introduced myself to Kay Edwards and found excuses to hang out with or near her for the rest of the week…We started a long distance romance that led to marriage and two fabulous children.” –Exhaust the Limits
Story by Justin Allen and Brooke Hall.
Photo by Chic Dambach. Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992.
Being a man of many talents, Chic found himself in the position of Olympic Games Official for the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics. This photo was taken by Chic during the lighting ceremony in 1992.
Photo by Chic Dambach, story by Justin Allen and Brooke Hall.
Exchanging gifts with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in 1999.
“When war border war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea I knew who to call. Chic Dambach would know what needed to be done and how to do it. We assembled a small team; worked with the leaders of both countries, and we helped them bring peace to their people.” -The Honorable John Garamendi, Member of Congress United States of America.
Book cover design by Brooke Hall. Photo by Galiota, Porvenir 1968.
Editor’s Note: For the sake of full disclosure, we’d like to note that Chic Dambach is a client of Brooke Hall Creative. Brooke designed the book cover and website. Brooke Hall is one of the publishers of What Weekly. Neither Brooke Hall Creative or What Weekly are being paid for this article nor are we profiting from the sale of the book. We are proud to be associated with Chic Dambach and feel that his memoir is an inspiration and could be of great benefit to our readers.
For the sake of your own knowledge and inspiration, you should really buy the book.
Book cover design by Brooke Hall, story by Justin Allen and Brooke Hall.
Photo by Brooke Hall
Chic Dambach with Meg Tipper author of Standing at the Edge: A Year of Days After Sudden Death, Kevin Atticks publisher at Apprentice House Press, D.R. Belz author of White Asparagus and Greg Wilhelm Founder and Executive Director of the CityLit Project. This photo was taken at Loyola University during a release party for recent books, including Exhaust the Limits, published by Loyola University’s Apprentice House Press.
Story by Justin Allen and Brooke Hall.
Photo by Chic Dambach. The mountains of Eritrea, and the road between Asmara and Massawa.
“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. The universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile or futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” -Albert Camus from The Myth of Sisyphus.
Photo by Chic Dambach.
Chic Dambach speaking to the Student Peace Alliance
When Sargent Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps, said to author Chic Dambach, “You have worked wonders,” he knew that Dambach is a real world hero. President Bill Clinton expressed his gratitude when he said “I want to thank Chic Dambach for his tireless efforts to build this organization [the National Peace Corps Association] into the powerful force it has become.” And one of Dambach’s dear friends, Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, tells us “Chic Dambach’s story will uplift and inspire many of us to action and commitment.” I hope that you will see in Chic Dambach’s fascinating memoir the same inspiration that some of the most influential people in the world have seen.
Chic Dambach will be performing a reading from Exhaust the Limits at Busboys and Poets in Washington D.C. on December 21st. For more details on the reading visit http://www.busboysandpoets.com/.
Story by Justin Allen and Brooke Hall.
