The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2014 45 with his wife, Cora, also one of the six. He is treasurer of the Anacortes Sister Cities, a position he has held for 12 years. His account of the filming of “Argo” was featured in the October 2012 FSJ (“‘Argo’: How Hollywood Does History”). Fencing with Fidel and Other Tales of Life in the Foreign Service John Ferch, Miniver Press, 2014, $9/ paperback, $2.99/Kindle, 200 pages. In this memoir of his 30-year diplomatic career, retired Ambassador John Ferch does not simply give an account of his profes- sion and the times in which it was rooted, but includes insights into the peoples and cultures of Latin America and the diplomats themselves. Ferch also includes recollections from his wife, Sue—as he says, the pair always considered their Foreign Service experience to be a “twofer” arrangement. Ferch writes with candor and a sense of humor, starting with his first assignment in Buenos Aires where, on his very first day, he is given a case involving an American citizen who committed suicide and left a request that the consulate put a pox on Argen- tina. He openly discusses his experiences with culture shock and concerns in the field, which include attempted bribery by Dominican politicians and confessions of inconsistency by Mexi- can diplomats. As for the fencing with Fidel he mentions in the title, Ferch describes several conversations he had with the leader and what it was like to operate as chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana during the early 1980s. John Ferch served eight times in Latin America, including as deputy chief of mission in Mexico and ambassador to Honduras. Prior to his diplomatic career, he attended Princeton University and worked as an economist. He is a collector of Latin American contemporary and folk art and is an accomplished carpenter. A Dimanche Prochain: A Memoir of Survival in World War II France Jacqueline Mendels Birn, self-published, 2013, $49.95, paperback, 213 pages. The remarkable story of a Jewish family’s survival in Nazi-occupied France, A Diman- che Prochain illuminates the dark history of France from the invasion in 1940 to its liberation at the end of 1944. “As moving as it is engaging,” says Michael S. Koppisch, Michigan State Univer-