The Foreign Service Journal, October 2004

A M AN C OULD C OUNT ON H IM I met Mr. Horan for the first time in Cameroon in 1981, and I was impressed by his knowledge and integrity. He was a caring person and a gentleman. I haven’t heard him speaking Arabic, but his friends told me he is fluent in that language. He was an outspoken person and a man could count on him. Bijan Yazdani Certifying Officer REDSO/RFMC/ Nairobi-Kenya A S UPERLATIVE I NDIVIDUAL I first met Hume in Baghdad in 1960, where we both were junior offi- cers on the first year of our first tours with the Foreign Service, Hume with the embassy and I with USAID. He was a few years younger than I, a lit- tle shy and instantly likeable. We inducted him into our weekly embassy/USAID/spook/attaché nick- el-and-dime poker night. It didn’t take him very long to learn the game, become very good at it, and usually get the best of the rest of us. Thus, he quickly upset our plans to fleece him every week. We just didn’t get it. Here was a young man with a charm- ing way about him, who was seem- ingly somewhat naive. Or so we very mistakenly thought! It was obvious early on that this young man was bril- liant, and had a great career in the Foreign Service ahead of him. Baghdad at that time was definite- ly a hardship post, and the personali- ties of everyone in the mission played a key part in maintaining the high morale we all enjoyed there. Hume and his wife, Nancy, were contribut- ing factors leading to that result. In fact, I believed at the time that if the Foreign Service was going to be as great an experience as it was during that tour, it had to be the most satis- fying career one could have. And 70 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4 korman communities arlington CORPORATE SUITES arlington, va 880 north pollard street 866.korman.4 : kormancommunities.com live better. brand new luxury high rise : fully appointed one, one bed- room dens and two bedroom corporate suites : state of the art fitness and business centers : heated outdoor lap pool : custom made mahogany furniture : fully equipped kitchens : luxury towels and linens : soft, firm or hypoallergenic pil- low selection : weekday club breakfast serving Starbucks ® Coffee : afternoon Tazo ® Tea : digital premium cable and high speed internet : 27” and 20” sony wega tv and dvd : sony cd stereo : free local phone : on-site management, maintenance, housekeeping : concierge services : walking distance to ballston common mall, ballston and virginia square metro stops