BEIRUT DIARY: A Husband Held Hostage and a Wife Determined to Set Him Free

by Sis Levin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1989

A very moving and very gutsy ""let-the-chips-fall"" account of the kidnapping of the author's husband by Muslim terrorists and of her effort--all too often frustrated by image-conscious bureaucrats at home in America and fanatics abroad--to secure his release. When Sis Levin's husband Jerry was snatched off the street in Beirut on March 7, 1984, he was the CNN Bureau Chief in that troubled city. During his 11«-month imprisonment--Levin escaped in January 1985--his wife attempted to interest Lebanese and Syrian officials, then the Reagan Administration and her husband's employers, in the case. What she encountered was venality, self-interest, and seeming indifference. It was when she decided to ""go public"" with her story in late August 1984 that the narrative picks up and Sis Levin reveals herself to be a woman of remarkable courage and faith. Despite accusations of ""un-Americanism' and pleas from both her own and Jerry's Jewish parents ""not to rock the boat,"" Levin accused the State Department of frustrating the hostages' families from communicating with one another, among other face-saving policies. She carried her case to the American people via TV and personal appearances, even enlisting Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter in her campaign. Gradually, she came to see that it is only through peaceful dialogue between the participants in the Mideast conflict that reconciliation can be achieved. Finally reunited with Jerry, she became even more active in the peace movement. Today, they work together in the field. The most powerful true-life hostage tale since Betty Mahmoody's Not Without My Daughter (1987). Politically shocking, admirably frank, Levin's story deserves attention.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Inter Varsity Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION