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Biography & Autobiography Literary

His Doubtful Excellency

A Canadian Novelist's Adventures as President Havel's Ambassador in Prague

by (author) Jan Drabek

Publisher
Ekstasis Editions
Initial publish date
Oct 2006
Category
Literary, Personal Memoirs, Political
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781894800877
    Publish Date
    Oct 2006
    List Price
    $21.95

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Description

When, after the fall of communism, his former schoolmate, playwright Vaclev Havel, becomes president of the Czech Republic, Jan Drabek is named ambassador and chief of protocal. His Doubtful Excellency reveals one man’s experience of political atlas in flux as well as an entertaining glimpse below the smooth surface of diplomacy.

About the author

Jan Drabek was born in Prague and spent the war there, with his father, a member of the Czech underground surviving Auschwitz to serve as the chief prosecutor at several trials of Nazi war criminals. In 1948, when he was a teenager, Jan’s family escaped on skis from the newly Communist Czechoslovakia, eventually making their way to the United States where he finished his schooling and served in the U.S. Navy. He has called various countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa his home while working as a taxi driver, refugee resettlement officer, high school teacher, radio broadcaster, an ambassador and chief of diplomatic protocol. Married with two daughters, he is the author of more than 20 books, both in English and Czech. He has conducted seminars on memoir and biography writing and has served on the board of The Writers’ Union of Canada, also three terms as President of the Federation of British Columbia Writers. He lives in Vancouver.

Jan Drabek's profile page

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