PATTERN OF CIRCLES: An Ambassador's Story

A Horatio Alger story as Dolibois, former Reagan Ambassador to his native Luxembourg, offers memoirs of a life begun in tragedy but uplifted by achievement. Born in Luxembourg just after the WW I armistice, Dolibois lost his mother only weeks later and was raised mostly by an older sister. Following her to Akron, Ohio, at age 13, the young Dolibois immersed himself in studying his new country, the Boy Scouts (""the Scout dues were an investment, the best I've ever made""), baseball, and hard work, culminating in his acceptance at Miami Univ. and a commission in the Armored Force during WW II. After serving in military intelligence, he assisted in the interrogation of Nazi war criminals before the Nuremberg trials, and following a stint with Proctor and Gamble, he went back to his alma mater, rising to become one of its vice presidents, a position he served before being tapped by Pres. Reagan. Here, the author adds narrative tension in relating the somewhat shabby manner in which his ""resignation was leaked to the press"" (when only months before, Reagan had personally promised him the job for a second term). Fortunately, Dolibois and his wife, Winnie, had already decided to return to private life. Dolibois--who here appears as the finest sort of public servant, competent yet humble--calls his book ""an essay in gratitude"" to America. It's a class act, and an inspiring story of the rise of a ""barefoot boy"" to high station.