A Saigon Party

About the Book

After her brother Kenny was killed in the Mekong Delta, Diana Dell went to Vietnam with USO. Her short stories are not about battles, blood, gore, or angst. They are about participants of the war other than grunts: war profiteers, disc jockeys, rock stars, landladies, pedicab drivers, movie stars, pickpockets, beggars, journalists, celebrity tourists, and other REMFs. Irreverent, outrageous, cynical, satirical, intelligent, and insightful are a few of the words used to describe A Saigon Party (And Other Vietnam War Short Stories).

About the Author

Diana Dell was born in 1946 in East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, where she grew up, and graduated from West Virginia University with a degree in journalism. She worked as a journalist on a newspaper and also taught second and seventh grade classes. In 1970, after her brother Kenny was killed in the Mekong Delta, she went to Vietnam as a civilian with USO. There she was a program director in Cam Ranh Bay and director of public relations in Saigon, where she hosted "USO Showtime," a daily program on American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) radio. In addition, she set up "Feed the Children" programs in orphanages, coordinated programs and publicity for the 14 centers in-country, and escorted USO shows and visiting celebrities around Vietnam--from the Delta to the DMZ. Upon leaving Vietnam, following the Easter Offensive in 1972, she worked in Europe for a year as publicity director at the Frankfurt USO and two years as a freelance writer and photographer in Athens and Madrid. After owning an advertising agency in Massachusetts for 10 years, she taught Vietnam War history and journalism classes at Tampa College. Diana divides her writing time between Boston and Clearwater, Florida. She is also the author of Memories Are Like Clouds, a childhood memoir set in the 1950s.