Burning the Ambassador's Desk

About the Book

The life of a diplomat is not all receptions and black tie affairs. There are long trips, even longer weekend duties, befuddled and befuddling colleagues, problems with water and electricity, and cockroaches, lizards and wars to deal with. Thom Gradisher chronicles his twenty-two years as a Foreign Service officer in Burning the Ambassdor’s Desk from his beginning as a “neophyte” in Africa through tours of duty in India, Sri Lanka, Washington DC and Singapore. Here is the diplomacy behind the tuxedo.

About the Author

Before entering the Foreign Service Thom Gradisher was a bricklayer, U. S. Marine, actor, stagehand, janitor, student, librarian and university instructor. He joined USIA in 1982 and left the State Department in 2004 when, he says, “I started to hear my name and the word ‘Baghdad’ in the same sentence.” Since then he has been living in North Carolina with his wife, Pam Fabian, and, apart from Burning the Ambassador’s Desk, has been writing poetry, plays and a cookbook. He is also very proud of his Hungarian Wax peppers.