Patrick Hemingway's Birthday

Today, June 28, is Patrick Hemingway's birthday. He was born on June 28, 1928. What a coincidence of numbers. 

I called him and he answered the phone right away. Despite his advanced age, he has no problem remembering me and my voice. I had hardly greeted him when I said Happy Birthday. He sounded more lively than he has been for many months.

I thanked him for all he has done to help me in my study of Ernest Hemingway. We went on to chat about Ernest Hemingway, of course, and we focused in particular on the mystique of Hemingway and how Hemingway himself delighted in not just letting it flourish but also stoking it with his own imaginary tales which he passed off as true. Patrick mentioned Hemingway's alleged affair with Mata Hari story and I mentioned Hemingway's tale of a love affair and marriage with Debba, the Kamba woman in Under Kilimanjaro.

Patrick has always expressed his support and admiration for my efforts to articulate an African perspective on Hemingway. I am touched also, by how he likes my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, which he calls "a tool of survival" for Americans. He lived in my country for twenty five years and knows what he is talking about.

I am happy to have talked with Patrick on this special day.

A Tool of Survival

This is the most touching photo of my book Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences that I have ever seen. Abraham Thomas, a member of the Mto wa Mbu Cultural Tourism Program in northern Tanzania, posted this photo on Facebookk, describing the book as a valuable resource for tour guides. That it is so battered amply proves the point.

I am grateful to have written this book the way I wrote it, and always touched by what readers say. Ernest Hemingway's son Patrick, who lived in Tanzania for twenty five years, called the book "a tool of survival" for Americans in Africa.

The Final Session of the Trade with Africa Business Summit 2021

This is a video of the concluding session of the Trade With Africa Business Summit 2021, which was held from May 31 to June 4. It was an enriching and stimulating five day experience. Summit organizer Toyin Umesiri, had requested me to talk about my book Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences.

I cannot express enough how grateful Summit participants were to Toyin for all the work she had done of organizing and running the Summit. I cannot express enough how much we all learned from the Summit and how valuable it was as a networking opportunity.

On a personal note, I was touched by how Toyin and other Summit participants received my presentation. The video exemplifies this, especially at the very end, when Vera Moore, CEO of Vera Moore Cosmetics,displays my book, telling everybody that she had just bought it. The videos of all the summit presentations, a veritable treasure trove, are available here.

Ms. Vera Moore - President & CEO Vera Moore Cosmetics

This lady, Vera Moore, surprised me today, during the last session of a five day Trade With Africa Business Summit. In the course of speaking to the audience, she raised a copy of my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultual Differences telling us she had just bought it. I was surprised by how she got it so fast. In any case, I apprecite the warm receptionn my perspective has encountered at the Summit. I am glad to have Ms. Moore as yet another reader