Dirty Wars and Polished Silver
The life and times of a war correspondent turned ambassatrix
Growing up in 1960/70s Detroit, Lynda Schuster felt certain life was happening elsewhere. And as soon as she graduated from high school, she set out to find it. Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is Schuster’s story of her life abroad as a foreign correspondent in war-torn countries, and later, as the wife of a U.S. ambassador. It chronicles her time living through a war on a kibbutz in Israel, reporting on uprisings in Central America, dodging rocket fire in Lebanon, and grieving the loss of her first husband, a fellow reporter, who was killed only ten months after their wedding.
But even after her second marriage, to an American diplomat, all the black-tie parties and personal staff and genteel “Ambassatrix School” grooming in the world could not protect her from the violence of war. Equal parts gripping and charming, Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is a story about one woman’s quest for self-discovery—only to find herself, unexpectedly, more or less back where she started: wiser, saner, more resolved. And with all her limbs intact.
Book preview from Melville House Publishers.
Read an excerpt on Literary Hub.
Read an excerpt on mylittlebird: Weekend Reading.
“A riveting international thriller . . . A page-turner thanks to lucid writing and thrilling storytelling.
— Kirkus, starred review
"Raw and moving...Schuster writes with wry humour deftly woven throughout Dirty Wars and Polished Silver.”
—Times of London
"As a former newspaper correspondent, Schuster knows how to string together a story… [it] will pull you in, whether or not you’ve been posted to any of the same countries as Schuster.”
—Foreign Service Journal
“Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is the fabulously entertaining story of Lynda Schuster's adventures as a foreign correspondent and wife of a U. S. diplomat. It captures all the glamour, intrigue, love, and, yes, loss that's to be found in a life lived on the frontlines, but it's also a deliciously fun (and funny!) story of transformation. A delight from start to finish.”
—Valerie Plame Wilson, author of Fair Game
“....This engaging, personal story of self-discovery will appeal to readers who enjoy memoirs of adventuresome and rebellious women.”
—Library Journal
“Lynda Schuster’s memoir Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is the story of a woman breaking down barriers to become an accomplished war correspondent, and an on-the-ground narrative of the conflicts that wracked the world in the 1980s and -'90s. It is also a tale of love, great loss, and love again that demonstrates the resilience of the soul. I recommend it to all, but especially to those who wonder how to succeed in life by following both their head and their heart.”
—Jeffrey Herbst, President and CEO, Newseum
"Veteran reporter Lynda Schuster takes readers on a nostalgia tour through journalism as It Used to Be"
—Meghan Daum, New York Times Book Review
“Engaging and humane… Schuster’s humor and common sense shine through, as well as her sense of adventure... Schuster wins you over.”
—John Allison, Pittsburgh Quarterly
“A wonderful, witty ride about hurtling towards happiness and embracing maturity. If you ever wondered: What do I want and how do I find joy? Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is a book for you.”
—Sonia Nazario, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Enrique’s Journey
"A sparkling chronicle of her life... Dirty Wars and Polished Silver is a sharply observant and well-rendered telling of the life of a courageous international journalist and diplomat’s wife. Great story. Amusing prose... Do not miss it."
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“For the armchair traveler and imagined war correspondent, and for anyone who misses the tropical non-paradises of Africa and Latin America that furnished the intrigues of Graham Greene, I heartily recommend Dirty Wars and Polished Silver. It throbs with the romance, and the anguish, of a life lived in excitement and in peril, tracking sundry and dubious American missions abroad.”
—Roger Lowenstein, author of When Genius Failed and America's Bank
"Lynda Schuster’s new memoir Dirty Wars and Polished Silver pulls back the curtain... Her memoir showcases the myriad ways in which the field of journalism has shifted since her time as a foreign correspondent."
—Mackenzie Weinger, Washington Diplomat
CNN International interview: Longtime correspondent on love and war
Top of Mind with Julie Rose: Dirty Wars and Polished Silver
Pittsburgh Quarterly Magazine: Living in Harm's Way. A Squirrel Hill author unwinds her years in international hot spots.
Michigan Radio, Stateside with Lester Graham: From El Salvador to apartheid: Detroit native reflects on time as foreign correspondent
Q&A with Lynda Schuster: “There’s a saying that journalism is the first draft of history…”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Story of a Daring Life
Northeast Public Radio’s program, 51%, hosted by Allison Dunne: Life As A War Correspondent And Ambassatrix
Washington Diplomat: Journalist Reflects on Switch from Covering Conflict to Being Ambassador’s Wife
On the Line of The Commentary podcast: Joseph Planta speaks with Lynda Schuster