About
I am a former U.S. diplomat and a life member of the American Foreign Service Association. I reported from Brazil, Mexico, The Netherlands, Canada, the U.K., Chile, Venezuela, Peru, France, Argentina, and Washington DC. I write on financial crime, foreign affairs, Labor, and cyber. Memberships include The American Society of Journalists and Authors, National Book Critics Circle, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Agricultural History Society, California and New York State Societies. Dad was a Korean vet who served with Alabama's National Guard 1962-67 for Cuban Missile Crisis, Selma to Montgomery March, integration of the Univ. of Alabama. I have a role as a reporter in 2015's "Selma." I contribute to Alabama Voices at the Montgomery Advertiser. My work appears in Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Christian Science Monitor, Des Moines Register, The Albany Times-Union, Indianapolis Star, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Daily News, and many more.
My political battles are legendary. See New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/22/business/at-work-promotions-and-family-matters.html My reporting changed the personnel policies of the U.S. Foreign Affairs Agencies.
See https://glreview.org/supreme-job-blow-to-jesse-helms/ In this case, my reporting eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of LGBT workers. After my encounters with Helms, my work appeared in Bay Area Reporter, Bay Times, [both San Francisco], San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, The Hill, Washington Times, Florida Sentinel, The Advocate, (Raleigh) News & Observer, many more.
Featured Work
Fearless: Wilma Soss and America's Forgotten Investor Movement
I wrote the Foreword to "Fearless: Wilma Soss and America's Forgotten Investor Movement" (All Seasons Press) by Drs. Janice M. Traflet and Robert E. Wright, (Bucknell University and American Institute for Economic Research, respectively). The authors have a chapter on my late wife, Dutch Holocaust survivor and pioneering businesswoman Evelyn Y. Davis.
Former Home Depot CEO Ken Langone wrote: "It's a must-read for anyone who believes in our market system. The world belongs to risk takers, and Wilma Soss was one of them!"
Nell Minow, shareholder advocate, and Vice Chair ValueEdge Advisors wrote: "She was often dismissed as a gadfly. But remember; the gadfly may be tiny, but she can make an enormous animal move."
Other Works
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Helen Keller First Lady of Courage Op/ed Montgomery (AL) Advertiser
June 2023
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Gone with the Windbag: Carl Icahn "Special" op/ed by James Patterson for Inside Sources
June 2023
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Easy Money in a Strawberry Field, Chico (CA) Enterprise Record
July 2023
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Remembering Dr. Len Hirsch Founder of Federal GLOBE, Washington Blade
July 2023
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The Unsinkable Fascination with the Titanic
July 2023
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Author Harper Lee Spoke to the World Through To Kill a Mockingbird https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinion/contributors/2023/04/17/author-harper-lee-spoke-to-the-world-through-to-kill-a-mockingbird/70123597007/
April 2023
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As Jazz Enters the Realm of Diplomacy, Cleveland Does its Part to Keep the Beat Going https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2023/04/as-jazz-enters-the-realm-of-diplomacy-cleveland-does-its-part-to-keep-the-beat-going-james-patterson.html
April 2023
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Economy's Soft Landing May Not Save Biden from Crashing Orlando Sentinel, December 31, 2023. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/12/31/commentary-economys-soft-landing-may-not-save-biden-from-crashing/
2023
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Where is Biden's Diplomacy, DC Inside Sources, Nashua (NH) Telegram, others
2023
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LGBTQ Pride 2022: Jesse Helms and Me
2022
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Professional Development Through Community Connections: A Local and Global Perspective
2021
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Our America: Remembering September 11
2021
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‘Imagine’ if John Lennon had his way and we all lived as one
2021
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Acts of courage amid danger inspiring years later
2021
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US Department of Labor is defrauding Health Care System
2021
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https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinion/2020/07/29/rep-dismukes-should-resign-celebrating-kkks-gen-forrest/5538719002/
2020
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I Didn't Compromise My Alabama Upbringing for Hollywood
2019
Awards and Recognition
- 2018 Honorary Colonel Alabama National Guard.
- 2017 Chairman's Award Special Olympics of Alabama
Press and Media Mentions
- Tuskegee (Alabama) News, May 20, 2021. Native of Alabama Seeking to Have National Guard Unit Name Changed by Alton Mitchell, Community News Editor. My dad served with Alabama's National Guard for 1965's Selma-Montgomery march led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I had a role as a reporter in the film. Since I wanted a role as a Guard, I asked Gov. Kay Ivey for an honorary title in the National Guard. She commissioned me as an Honorary Colonel in the William Calvin Oates, Voluntary Guard. According to http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-4214, Oates was a White Supremacist. I asked Gov. Ivey to change the name of the outfit as it is no honor to my family to be associated with Oates. I asked Presidents of Auburn and Tuskegee Universities to contact Ivey. More to come. The Tuskegee News does not have a website.
- Washington Post, May 24, 2021, John Kelly, Metro Columnist: "An insider solves at least one mystery connected to the infamous Evelyn Y. Davis." I provide details on my marriage and the live of Dutch Holocaust survivor, stockholder activist, and "Queen of the Corporate Jungle" Evelyn Yvonne De Jong Davis. She has a large gravesite at DC's Rockcreek Cemetery. See my 2019 Baltimore Sun article "Evelyn Y. Davis: Dragging Me into the Afterlife." https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0809-evelyn-davis-20190808-dgtglnsmtrd5fgr2o7sopky7lq-story.html
- Gone with the Windbag: Carl Icahn "Special" Op/Ed by James Patterson for Inside Sources, June 8, 2023
