The Foreign Service Journal, October 2011

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33 Forever on the Road: A Franco-American Family’s Thirty Years in the Foreign Service Nicole Prévost Logan, Scarith, 2011, $26, paperback, 262 pages. This memoir offers an overview of the life and work of an American diplomatic family over 30 years in 10 countries on three continents. But in contrast to the typical Foreign Service memoir, author Nicole Logan backs up the report of her experiences and observations with thorough research. “Nicole Logan gives us insights into the political situa- tion in many of the countries in which she lived,” writes Ambassador Roger Kirk in his foreword to the book. “She is particularly effective in describing the social crosscur- rents underlying political developments, something we see all too rarely in analyses of world events.” The wife of FSO Alan Logan, the author took great pride in a career spent mostly in the field. She ap- proaches each posting with great curiosity, learning about each country’s history, its political system and its culture, clearly enjoying the constant discoveries. Against an ex- citing backdrop of civil war and overthrown governments, the story reads like an adventure that touches on U.S. for- eign policy in the Far East, turmoil in the Middle East, the “thaw” in the Soviet Union, U.S. economic assistance in Africa and the end of apartheid. Logan spices up her story with personal, often humorous commentary. Nicole Prévost Logan grew up in Paris, where she earned a law degree from the Sorbonne. She has master’s degrees in political science from Stanford University and in Russian studies from American University. After re- tirement from diplomatic life, she concentrated on ar- chaeological expeditions and published articles on digs in Tunisia, Israel and Russia. She has four grown children and now divides her time between Connecticut and Paris. Forever on the Road is part of the ADST-DACOR Mem- oirs and Occasional Papers series. Chicken Hill Chronicle: Memoir of a Jewish Family Lawrence Cohen, Xlibris Corp., 2011, $19.99, paperback, 322 pages. Chicken Hill Chronicle is the narrative of three gen- erations of a Jewish family who settle down in the low- end Chicken Hill neighborhood of a small Pennsylvania town in the 19th century. Lawrence Cohen recounts his rich family his- tory as passed on to him by his 80- year-old father, Norman Cohen. The first generation of the Cohen family are immigrants who find themselves in a strange new world, far removed from the Galician shtetl they have known throughout their lives. Led by the family patriarch, they embark on their new lives in America in a Christian town devoid of the Jewish institutions and traditions of their homeland. With the exception of the eldest daughter and her hapless husband, the second generation fares well in Chicken Hill, putting down roots and opening busi- nesses. Norman Cohen, a member of the third genera- tion, gives up his college ambitions to help the family run their shoe business during the Great Depression. Lawrence Cohen is a retired State Department For- eign Service officer. He has written for the Foreign Serv- ice Journal, as well as the American Philatelist and the National Speleological Society’s NSS News . He lives in Herndon, Va., with his wife and two dogs. Southern Memories During the War Between the States Anne L. Terio, Xlibris, 2011, $15.99, paperback, 63 pages. Southern Memories tells the story of the Park family of Georgia and their experience during the “War of the Federal Aggression” — the War Between the States, or the Civil War as it is more commonly known today. The book is based on the papers of Anita Pressley, a great-great-granddaughter of Joseph Park, the author’s ancestor. Among Ms. Pressley’s papers are notes from family Bibles and oral accounts from descendants who still resided in Green County, Ga., in the early 1920s and 1930s. The material provides part of the story of the Parks family and also chronicles a number of events dur- ing the unforgettable period in the history of the Ameri- can South from February 1861 to May 1865. “Even though there were struggles and a war, the Park family had a good life through hard work and a lot of fam- ily love. This continues to be true for the subsequent generations,” writes Anne Terio. “The purpose of this C OVER S TORY