Dilettante: Tales of How a Small-Town Boy Became a Diplomat Managing U.S. Foreign Assistance

By: Clifford H. Brown

This book is a memoir of a small-town American kid who worked on farms, tugboats, railroads, ran away to sea for a year on an oceanographic vessel, finally finished college, won a fellowship to travel in Latin America for a year, went to law school, became a partner in a Beverly Hills law firm, and then gave up a lucrative career to join the U.S. Agency for International Development ("USAID"). It is filled with American country and laborer philosophy, served with a healthy dose of juvenility and plain old fun. It will interest anyone thinking life in small-town America has become a dead end. Readers may be keen to read the second half of the stories, as and when they become available.

About the Author

Clifford H. Brown is a lawyer and former member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. He served with USAID in eleven countries over a career of 27 years. He also is a former partner of the law firm of Ervin, Cohen & Jessup, an accomplished musician and professionally fluent in Spanish, Russian and French. He was one of the founders of My Friends Place, the first licensed shelter for homeless teenagers in Southeastern Washington State.