Great story! My first Foreign Service post was Havana, where I arrived in 1995 at the same time with a husband and wife tandem couple who had just finished their first tour in San Salvador. They recounted having to find a squash court that hadn’t been destroyed during the civil war that had ended the year before. The DCM tried to explain to the Senator’s staff the difficulties of finding a squash court and a suitable partner. Apparently Spector’s staff was unmoved. They eventually found a court and the husband in the tandem couple was a brilliant tennis player who was able to transfer those talents to squash. My recollection of the story is that the husband ended up thrashing the Senator. When Spector later switched parties and became a liberal hero I always thought about his selfishness and could never really muster much enthusiasm for him.
When I first published this in the FSJ in 2018 or so I received a number of emails from people who had been drafted into squash duty by the Specter squad in all sorts of outlandish circumstances (including for example Christmas Eve in Israel). He couldn’t have cared less. He was not a nice guy, something I picked up on pretty quickly. But you know, the career folks just grin and bear it for the most part, and do their best. I believe I would have beaten him had I not been recovering from a cold. And that’s the god’s honest truth. 😳
Something utterly OT, but I wanted to write it to draw your attention to something. After our conversation the other day about diplomatic skills of Witkoff/Metternich I realised that I had given away my copy of vol 2 of the Penguin Atlas and so I bought it again. I have just received it - the section on the post-Napoleonic re-ordering of the world order is extensive!
I'll repeat my recommendation of the book, I am certain, absolutely certain that you (and your students) will find it very very useful.
The Penguin Atlas of World History: Vol 1 - From the beginning of time to the French Revolution, Vol 2 - From the French Revolution to now.
(Please note, it's an atlas, it has got graphs, charts and maps. If you're expecting a narrative, then you'd better look elsewhere.)
You might like my latest post, in which I mention Metternich in passing. I will look for the book you mention in the library. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great story! My first Foreign Service post was Havana, where I arrived in 1995 at the same time with a husband and wife tandem couple who had just finished their first tour in San Salvador. They recounted having to find a squash court that hadn’t been destroyed during the civil war that had ended the year before. The DCM tried to explain to the Senator’s staff the difficulties of finding a squash court and a suitable partner. Apparently Spector’s staff was unmoved. They eventually found a court and the husband in the tandem couple was a brilliant tennis player who was able to transfer those talents to squash. My recollection of the story is that the husband ended up thrashing the Senator. When Spector later switched parties and became a liberal hero I always thought about his selfishness and could never really muster much enthusiasm for him.
When I first published this in the FSJ in 2018 or so I received a number of emails from people who had been drafted into squash duty by the Specter squad in all sorts of outlandish circumstances (including for example Christmas Eve in Israel). He couldn’t have cared less. He was not a nice guy, something I picked up on pretty quickly. But you know, the career folks just grin and bear it for the most part, and do their best. I believe I would have beaten him had I not been recovering from a cold. And that’s the god’s honest truth. 😳
Hopefully in another few years, the story will change to recount the drubbing you inflicted on him despite your cold! 🤣🤣
Something utterly OT, but I wanted to write it to draw your attention to something. After our conversation the other day about diplomatic skills of Witkoff/Metternich I realised that I had given away my copy of vol 2 of the Penguin Atlas and so I bought it again. I have just received it - the section on the post-Napoleonic re-ordering of the world order is extensive!
I'll repeat my recommendation of the book, I am certain, absolutely certain that you (and your students) will find it very very useful.
The Penguin Atlas of World History: Vol 1 - From the beginning of time to the French Revolution, Vol 2 - From the French Revolution to now.
(Please note, it's an atlas, it has got graphs, charts and maps. If you're expecting a narrative, then you'd better look elsewhere.)
You might like my latest post, in which I mention Metternich in passing. I will look for the book you mention in the library. Thanks for the recommendation.
Great story Alexis…
That's a nice vignette.
Thank you for posting.
Thank you for reading and reacting. 😀