The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

48 NOVEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and discovery. Sixty-five riding days later, he reached his goal: riding up to and across the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Along the way, he faced many trials, including strong headwinds and severe weather, riding his loaded bike over the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, crossing the Great Plains in brutal summer heat, dealing with the aftermath of a collision with a car and traversing the Nevada basin and range country and the Great Salt Lake’s desert. But the spectacular landscapes and grand vistas afforded just as many rewards. In Old Man on a Bicycle , Petterson relates how he prepared for the journey and gives a crisp, detailed account of what he saw and did during two months on the road. Combining journal entries and reflective commentary, the compelling narrative includes thoughtful discussion about the meaning of aging and research-based advice on its physical aspects that all readers of a certain age will find valuable—bicyclists or not. Don Petterson’s Foreign Service career included ambassa- dorships to Somalia, Tanzania and Sudan. He is the author of Inside Sudan (Basic Books, 2003) and Revolution in Zanzibar (Basic Books, 2004). A Man Named Jay Damian Wampler, self- published, 2014, $41.41, paperback, 35 pages. A Man Named Jay is a tribute to the late Jason Whitney Chellew (1973-2006) by his friend Damian Wampler. He wrote the book for Jason’s son, who never had the chance to meet his father. An avid traveler, Jason Chellew met his wife, Pei, while traveling in Taiwan. The two married, relocated back to Califor- nia, and were expecting their first child when Jason tragically died. He was in his home when a sinkhole opened beneath the house; by the time rescue workers finally reached him, it was too late. Pei gave birth to their son, Phoenix, four months later. In this short, whimsical and richly illustrated book, Wampler paints a poignant portrait for Phoenix of his father, Jay. Damian Wampler, a photographer, playwright and graphic novelist, joined the Foreign Service in 2009. He has served in Dushanbe and Harare, and is now posted in Karachi. Prior to joining the Service, he had served with the Mercy Corps and as a Peace Corps Volunteer, with Jason Chellew, in Kyrgyzstan. FICTION AND POETRY Whisper in Bucharest Kiki Skagen Munshi, Compania, 2014, 35 Romanian LEI ($10.15), paperback, 344 pages. Kiki SkagenMunshi’s intimate knowledge and appreciation of all things Romanian propels this passionate novel, covering the country’s turbulent history from1939 to 1987. It draws much of its inspiration from the life of GeorgeMuntean, who was born in Bilca and for whom the loss of northern Bukovina was an unhealed wound. However, as Munshi says in her introduction, “Authors are thieves, stealing bits and pieces of other people’s lives and weaving them into the stories they create.This book is not about any actual individual, living or dead, but it contains snatches of many conversations andmemories generously shared by Romanian friends and acquaintances.” Kiki SkagenMunshi joined the U.S. Information Agency in 1980. Her Foreign Service career was bookended by postings to Bucha- rest: After serving as assistant cultural attaché during her second tour, she returned nearly 20 years later as counselor for public affairs. Other assignments included Lagos, Bucharest, Athens, Freetown, Dar es Salaam, NewDelhi andWashington, D.C. ThoughMunshi retired from the Foreign Service in 2002, she returned to head a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Baquba, Iraq, from 2006 to 2007. She received a doctorate in Romanian his- tory from the University of Bucharest in 2006, speaks the language fluently, and continues to visit the country regularly. This book can be ordered online at http://anthonyfrost.ro/ ecommerce/fiction/whisper-in-bucharest. The Feller from Fortune Robert Mearkle, Lulu Publishing, 2014, $12.45/paperback, $2.99/Kindle, 230 pages. Inspired by a Newfoundland folk song, FSO Robert Mearkle wrote The Feller from Fortune during Arabic-language training, as “daydreaming of chilly North Atlantic breezes in a simpler time provided refuge from the Arabic verb system and the desert blaze to come.” His novel is set in a sleepy fishing village in Newfoundland during the 1940s. Cat Harbour has the expected number of drunk sailors and loose girls—and a library. The arrival of two visitors,