by William Sommers Budapest During the 2009 holidays I sent a greeting card—along with a short poem—to an old friend—Andras Baltazar—in Budapest with whom I worked on local environmental projects in Hungary in the early 90s. I wasn’t sure that … Continued

A Visit to Bethlehem from In the Blood of Herod and Rome by Robert Earle While Herod continued to brood about which son should succeed him, Archelaus or Antipas, Joanna came to Nicolas of Damascus with disturbing news: the maiden … Continued

by Bob Baker Each Christmas, the London American staff threw a play and a bibulous feast for the British staff and their families in the Embassy’s big staff room. In 1972 PAO Bill Weld wore a white Stetson and cowboy … Continued

by Michael Cotter The summer of 1984, my wife Joanne and I headed off for assignments—our first as a tandem couple—to Kinshasa, capital of what was then Zaire and is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. My parents, inveterate … Continued

Farishta*, a fictional war memoir written by retired senior Foreign Service officer Patricia McArdle, is now available as an audiobook on Audible, Amazon and I-Tunes. McArdle’s novel, inspired by the year she spent in northern Afghanistan with a British Army … Continued

by Jim Creagan It was Christmas eve of 1988. Gwyn was dressed in her long black gown complete with mantilla and I was in white tie and tails (these were the “uniforms” for US officials accredited to the Holy See). … Continued