Tales of a Footloose American: 1941-1951

After running a Detroit grocery store at 14 and a high school night club at 17, Warren Rovetch found his way to Europe as a delegate to the 1946 World Student Congress in Prague. In a world of freshly drawn borders and shifting rules, Rovetch was ready for any opportunity that came his way. His footloose adventures took him from Prague to Budapest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb, Trieste, Rome, Leuca, Naples, Paris, London and Oxford. Tales included interviewing an archbishop in his jail cell; asking Tito unscripted questions; escaping Yugoslavia out a train window in Ljubljana; refusing a request from the general’s mistress and posing as an ASPCA foreign correspondent in Trieste; living with El Greco; tossing a vodka-laden Russian ambassador in the air; mastering teatime on a British auto assembly line; and taking an unorthodox route to Oxford. With his trademark wit and astute observation, Rovetch illuminates the post-war world and shows what can happen when you approach life asking, Why not? Rovetch also provides illuminating background including the liberation of Paris, Churchill’s many facets, the Truman Doctrine, and the birth of Israel.