Mission in Paris 1990

A SKILLFULLY CRAFTED, PAGE-TURNING SAGA OF THE ENDURING POWER OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS
The year is 1990. Vietnam and America have not yet made peace. Vietnam is freshly wounded from fighting border wars with China and on the eve of becoming a market economy. The first bombing of the World Trade Center is three years away, so America is not yet awake to the dangers of terrorism. Vietnam and America begin to recognize the importance of ending their differences. Mission in Paris 1990 is the story of how an American media tycoon, Robert Samberg, whose youth in 1968 tied him to Vietnam's future, is recruited to serve his country, never expecting that a mission to explore political reconciliation would lead him to a path of personal reconciliation. On the eve of his greatest business triumph, he rediscovers My Hanh, a long-lost love from Vietnam, and learns they have a son. Robert's life is upended in this tale about the enduring strength of love and the power of forgiveness. This novel, set during the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, explores reconciliation among people and nations. It also tells a powerful love story - between a man and a woman as well as between a father and a son.

After a successful and rewarding detour of forty years in radio and real estate, Bill Pearl turned back to becoming an author. Bill's experiences as a student in Paris inspired his first novel, Hearts on Fire, Paris 1968. His experiences in a family business and longstanding interest in Vietnam inspired the sequel, Mission in Paris 1990, which he researched with visits to Vietnam, Paris, and Auvergne, France. Bill holds a master's degree in International Relations with a specialty in diplomatic history. During the 1970's he served as a speechwriter for John C. Sawhill and Frank Zarb, the first heads of the Federal Energy Administration, and wrote a weekly column for 800 newspapers in the United States. His poetry and prose have been published in Time Magazine, the George Washington University Hatchet, and Paris Voices, Paris, France. He is the author of two award-winning chapbooks of poetry, Heart Songs and China Heart. Bill founded and served as president of the Palm Beach County Radio Broadcasters Association and the Providencia Park Business Association. Bill knows something about the struggles between fathers and sons in a family business. Like the character he created, Robert Samberg, he was recruited by his father and left behind a budding career in writing to join the family broadcast business. Like Robert, he was promised the helm upon his father's retirement and was passed over. He lived the emotional pain described in this story and the healing, eventually losing his father to Alzheimer's, but not before accomplishing a reconciliation, which he considers among the most important achievements of his life.