Praise for Encounters
“What a story, told with verve, insight, and a sense of history! This account of growing up in the Philippines, internment during World War II, and a subsequent Foreign Service career in Asia and the Middle East against a background of international turbulence is brilliant testimony to all that is best in the American spirit. I suspect it of being a classic.”
“Nancy Forster has written a lucid, graceful, perceptive book that shows a deft grasp of the nuances of Japan and Asia. In particular, her book is a genuine tribute, and deservedly so, to her husband Cliff, who was interned as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II yet rose above that searing experience to become a lifelong student of Japanese culture. Not everyone in our generation achieved such equilibrium, but it enabled Cliff to serve America and the cause of transpacific peace with dedication and skill.”
“Cliff Forster’s life and mine intersected many times over the last 40 years. We shared interests and assignments in Burma, Japan and Korea. Cliff was always a “power for good” in his work, and this delightful memoir, written by his talented widow, is a clear reflection of what he did, and why he did what he did. America’s relations with Asia benefited greatly from Cliff Forster’s work, and his life is a clear argument for reconstituting an independent and well-endowed USIA. ”
“This is one of the most fascinating and unusual memoirs I have ever read. Nancy Forster skillfully weaves her own insights with judicious selections from her late husband’s writing, creating a seamlessly fluent and spellbinding narrative of an extraordinary life—a narrative that touches on seminal events of the twentieth century. A must read.”
“The reader will profit greatly from reading the memoirs of a true veteran. I appreciate the manner in which the author interwove her comments with Cliff Forster’s account.”
“Cliff and Nancy Forster, in their lifelong dedication to the U.S. Foreign Service, exemplified the best in American virtues: personal warmth, integrity, open-mindedness, and decency. They are the sterling personification of American ‘can-do’ spirit and idealism.”
“What a wonderful surprise to learn my wise and kind cousin, Cliff, was also a storyteller of remarkable talents. These fascinating accounts—of his youth in the Philippines and career in the Foreign Service—reflect a curiosity, insight and compassion that combine to produce a fascinating and illuminating read.”