Voices from the Heart: In Celebration of America's Volunteers

by Brian O'Connell

An unprecedented pro bono effort by Jossey-Bass Publishers and Chronicle Books.

Americans young and old, rich and poor, in cities and in rural areas, from all faiths and races, come together to volunteer.

Voices from the Heart is a tribute to this spirit of giving and the ideal of community. Author Brian O'Connell and editor Rebecca Buffam Taylor present a moving portrait of compassion at work. We meet volunteers from across the country and hear their passionate voices speak about what they do and why. Compelling images by leading photojournalists add to the story of each volunteer's work and its rich rewards.

A nonprofit joint Andeavor by Chronicle Books, Jossey-Bass Publishers, and major national foundations, profits from the sale of Voices from the Heart will go to INDEPENDENT SECTOR, a nonprofit group dedicated to America's volunteer organizations.

Everyone who gives time and effort to help other people or important causes will appreciate this homage to the manifold benefits of volunteering.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 1998

About the author

Brian O’Connell is a former chairman of Shannon Heritage, the State company which operates a network of cultural tourism venues, such as Bunratty Castle, in Counties Limerick and Clare. In that role, and as a member of the Hunt Museums Trust, he had the opportunity to observe the economic and cultural legacy that John Hunt left to the region. He has spent years travelling world-wide researching the life of Hunt and his impact internationally on the art world.


He initiated the publication in 2004 of an oral archive on regional development pioneer, Brendan O’Regan. He is the co-author of ‘In Bello Fortis’, a biography of Tipperary man General Sir William Parker Carrol, published in Spanish by Fundacion Gustavo Bueno, Oviedo, May 2009.