About Peggy

Peggy Faw Gish grew up in Chicago and has been active in peace and justice work all of her adult life. Since October 2002, she has been working in Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams. She was in Iraq before, during, and since the March 2003 U.S. invasion.

Her first book, Iraq: A Journey of Hope and Peace (2004), covers the first year and a half of the Iraq War. Her second book, Walking Through Fire: Iraqis’ Struggle for Justice and Reconciliation (2013), picks up the story from Summer, 2004 to Summer, 2011.

Peggy is a mother, has five granddaughters, is a community mediator, and member of the Church of the Brethren. She has been an organic vegetable farmer and lives on a farm near Athens, Ohio. She loves to walk in the woods and loves to hunt wild mushrooms, fruits, and berries.

The following are comments about her book, Walking Through Fire: Iraqis’ Struggle for Justice and Reconciliation (Cascade Books 2013)

“Peggy Faw Gish steadfastly refused to let war sever the bonds of friendship that had grown between her and numerous Iraqi friends. She witnessed the ongoing U.S. torment of Iraqis. By remaining with people afflicted by economic and military warfare, listening carefully and honestly chronicling what she saw and heard, she has created a compelling description of life in a country devastated by invasions, dictatorship, sanctions, and war.”—Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence “By living in Iraq under U.S. bombs and occupation,

Peggy Faw Gish has learned to see with Iraqi eyes. By reading her inspiring story of suffering love, we, too, can learn to see—and be transformed.”—Jim Douglass, author of JFK and the Unspeakable

“This account of civilian peacemaking in the Iraqi war zone by a seasoned human rights worker combines poignant personal reflection and hard-nosed analysis. Gish’s moving stories of Iraqi and Kurdish endurance, hospitality, and dignity amidst the most violent years of U.S. occupation challenge us to refuse to forget this war.” —Tim Nafziger, Christian Peacemaker Teams, and Ched Myers, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries

“This long-overdue book is the fruit of many years of bold adventures for peace. It reads like a journal, but a thrilling journal filled with horror and hope, written from the trenches of one of the most troubled war zones in the world. Peggy has seen things that did not make the news—some of them are more terrible than we can ever imagine, and some of them are more beautiful than we could ever dream. Her life and words are a daring call for us to get in the way of violence.” —Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution