LA MONTANA, Nicaragua, 1980s — The mountains of northern Nicaragua enjoy a mystique all their own. Nicaraguans refer to them not in the plural, “the mountains,” but in the singular, “La Montaña,” or “The Mountain,” as if the rugged backbone of the country were a single entity, one special realm apart from, but still within, Nicaragua. […]
MONACA, Pennsylvania, 1979 — During my trip to Pennsylvania after the revolution in Nicaragua, my brother takes me down to his wine cellar. A single yellow bulb hangs from the beams that support the main floor of his home. Strung from those beams are home-made Italian sausage and great legs of prosciutto, all products of […]
Excerpted from the memoir sub-titled, “A True Story of War, Love and Rock & Roll” Lt. Francisco Noel Talavera (L) is a 19-year-old from the northern mountain city of Jinotega. He has a bad complexion and the habit of spitting through the gap in his two front teeth. He also happens to be the commander of […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 16 January 2021 — We hear the word, “patriot,” bantered around so much these days that it deserves some clarification. So, I present you the man in this picture. He responded to the calls of a true president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to defend his country, the United States of America. This man did […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 6 May 2020 — I am proud to announce that the Overseas Press Club (OPC) Foundation voted me in as a member of its Board of Directors during a meeting yesterday. The Foundation “has a broad mandate to improve the media’s understanding of international issues and to raise the quality of news-gathering efforts […]
WASHINGTON, DC, 30 April 2020 — We are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s AU-Pulitzer Center International Reporting Fellowships, selected from a highly competitive field of applicants from across American University (AU). Emily Hayes (L) is a graduate student studying international journalism and public affairs. Her research focuses on rural depopulation and economic migration […]