The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir: Bronx Boy, Social Justice Attorney, Carter Administration Official, International Development Official, and Hollywood Producer - Softcover

Hirshen, Al

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0578584867 ISBN 13: 9780578584867

Publisher: Al Hirshen, 2019

Synopsis

Al Hirshen has led an unusual life. He learned street smarts in the Bronx, helped out at his father’s candy store, worked as a waiter in the Catskills to pay for his schooling, and became a lawyer. A participant in many of the pivotal changes of our times, Al was a Civil Rights and pioneering anti-poverty lawyer and created the first public/private partnerships in the Carter Administration. He was among the first USAID consultants to work in Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia and Albania.

Ready for new challenges and adventure, Al travelled the world, was a successful international development consultant, and tried his luck at movie production in Hollywood. For nine years he worked as a consultant to the leadership of Indonesia during that nation’s turbulent transition to democracy.

Al writes with a sense of humor and a profound love of life, the world, and people. As a recovering alcoholic, father, grandfather and husband in a happy twenty-five-year third marriage, he sees himself as an “ordinary man” blessed to live life fully in an imperfect, yet stunning world.

“This book is a vibrantly alive, candid, and compelling memoir of a son of Jewish Immigrants from the Bronx, an intensely restless soul, ever in search of the next adventure, driven to making the world a better place along the way.”

Thelton Henderson, Judge (Ret.) United States District Court

“A beautifully written, gripping, and amusing memoir, full of psychological insights, humor and world-wisdom. Al Hirshen has the determination, chutzpah, self-irony, and heartfelt generosity of a true lover of life.”

Kim Chernin, author of In My Mother’s House

“The title of this memoir may at first glance resemble a kited check; but there is more than enough in the bank of Hirshen’s life story to cover two books. Not since Sybille Bedford’s The Faces of Justice have I encountered such sharply observed stories of public life in the trenches.”

Richard Buxbaum, Ralston Professor Emeritus of International Law, UC Berkeley Law School

“Al Hirshen weaves a remarkable tale of people, places, and events. His reflections on his illness and his recovery into the life of sobriety are rich and helpful. These are good words, written by a good fellow.”

Fr. Tom Weston SJ., 12-Step Retreats, Renewal Ministries

About this title

Review

"An action-packed memoir both affecting and fun: from a boyhood in the Bronx to
giving presidential lectures at Oxford to running anti-poverty programs in the US to
wheeling and dealing for development projects overseas. Al Hirshen writes a disarmingly
honest,introspective, and sensitive but realistic portrait of working in foreign cultures,
hobnobbing with wealthy investors, and taking on officialdom and corruption, all the
while trying to improve the lives of poor families and minorities. Donor governments,
corporations,and international organizations will benefit from this book."

ROBERTA COHEN, SPECIALIST IN HUMANITARIAN AND REFUGEE ISSUES
(UNITED NATIONS, US STATE DEPARTMENT, NGOs, AND ACADEMIA)

"A hilarious and, at the same time, excoriating account of what can happen when a novice
producer attempts to conquer the Byzantine world of Hollywood filmmaking."

JOHN WALCUTT, PRODUCER AND ACTOR (THE TITANIC AND SEABISCUIT)

"Al Hirshen is an astute observer of the human condition in its beauty and its maddening
shortcomings.His narrative seamlessly--with wit and kindness--demonstrates what
I,as an educator, want all youth to understand: that we are all ordinary people living
extraordinary lives."

CHARLIE PLANT, AWARD-WINNING TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL

"Al'sstory is a coming-of-age story told by a tap-dancing eighty-year-old. He spins tales
and distills wisdom. It is an extraordinary story because of his rampant curiosity,love of
adventure,and capacity for wonder."

TERRY MYERS, PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES (RET)
FORMER USA ID MISSION DIRECTOR, INDONESIA

"What is so astonishing about Al Hirshen is not just that he had the guts, tenacity,
and intelligence to go beyond the apparent limits of upbringing in 1940's Bronx,but
tha the describes his journey forward with such deep affection and generosity for all he
encountered.His is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale."

GILLETTEED MUNDS JD, LLM, AUTHOR OF HOW TO RETIRE EARLY, RETIRE ON THE HOUSE, AND THE FORTHCOMING WE WERE: A CALIFORNIA STORY

"This book truly is an account of an extraordinary life, a life overflowing with purpose,
passion,adventure, and wonder. A life well lived and well observed. Al Hirshen has packed
so much into his years and his travels that it seems almost impossible to capture it all in
words--but he's done it! For inspiration and sheer pleasure, pick up a copy of this book!"

KARINE VANS, AUTHOR OF THE LOST DAUGHTERS OF CHINA

About this edition

• Publisher: Al Hirshen
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0578584867
• ISBN 13: 9780578584867
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 270
• Editor: Stendhal Renate