PASSPORTS TO ADVENTURE
LIVING AND WORKING AROUND THE WORLD
by
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Excerpt from Part II – Assassins for Hire
Finally I was sent to
As is customary, we spoke of family matters, international politics, and other subjects, leaving business discussions for later, until the atmosphere was right and the stage was set.
While we were eating, Kenan Bey ventured a mild comment, "As you know, Mr. Riess, Mr. Parviz has not made himself popular or useful here."
He paused. "Please try some of the baba ghanoush eggplant dip."
A little later, after some desultory conversation and with no preamble, he remarked, "
Additional rounds of food appeared, accompanied by jasmine tea. We talked about present business conditions in
I was startled but had to admit that I did not. It was not something I had ever investigated or priced-out.
"It costs only $100
No more was said on the subject but it did not require a great deal of insight to know we had been given a very clear warning - and not one that we should disregard or take lightly. I had been in the
As I flew back to
Assigning Darius to another country would merely shift our troubles to a different Ford company. Still, he was one of our people and we could not risk his safety. We had to find a way out. Luckily, fate took a hand as it sometimes does.
Darius'' wife Nancy was an American from
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About the Book
Passports to Adventure tells, in a highly readable, down-to-earth, and amusing style, how an international businessman and his family met the many challenges of living and working in Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia.
The author and his wife dealt with an remarkable variety of unusual situations and colorful characters, including a smuggler and an assassin, an archbishop and a Mafia don, a bigamist and a prince, a counterfeiter and an Abbott, as well as scores of farmers, business people, government officials, educators, and ordinary citizens in all walks of life in some forty countries.
The book describes unorthodox business operations and fascinating personal experiences. It offers acute insights into many diverse cultures. Although primarily written as entertaining reading, it is also informative. Anyone interested in travel abroad, international commerce, and the customs, practices, and life in foreign lands, will enjoy this book.
The tales are all true, although the names of certain individuals have been altered to protect their privacy.
The author has been a senior executive of giant multinational corporations, as well as the founder of several small entrepreneurial companies. He has worked in a number of widely diverse industries ranging from automobiles to motion pictures and from paper products to medical devices.
The book spans a period of several decades. Consequently, the political environments and the standards of living in some of the countries have changed over the years. However, the basic cultures, business practices, and moral dilemmas continue to be very much as the author described them. His observations and recommendations to individuals interested in traveling, living, or working abroad remain valid and pertinent today.
Some of the material in this book was published in “Confessions of a Corporate Centurion” by the same author, from 1st Books Library.
About the Author
Gordon Riess was born abroad and has spent his entire career in international business.
He has been a senior executive of major multi-national corporations, including Ford Motor Company, International Paper Company, and Cinema International Corporation, the world’s largest international motion picture company. He now heads a worldwide consulting and training consortium with partners in North and South America, Europe (including Eastern Europe), Asia, and the Middle East.
Mr. Riess lived in nine foreign countries over a period of 30 years, and has been responsible for corporate operations on five continents. Two of his three children were born abroad. He is an active consultant, lecturer, trainer, and adjunct professor of international business. He is a frequent speaker at government, professional, business, and academic conferences and conventions, as well as a guest on radio and television talk shows and interviews.
Mr. Riess founded and ran five entrepreneurial companies and has served on the boards of twelve others. He has been an overseer or advisory board member of two U.S. colleges and the Czech Management Center, as well as the board chairman or a trustee of ten educational and charitable foundations in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
His earlier book, “From Communism to Capitalism,” describes his Volunteer Executive assignments assisting individuals, companies, city governments, and charitable organizations in Eastern Europe to make the difficult transition from the centrally-controlled Communist system to the highly competitive free market environment.
He is a U.S. Army veteran and an honors graduate of Whitman College. He received his MBA degree, cum laude, from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.
Mr. Riess now resides in Beverly Hills, California, where he can be contacted by e-mail at: gsr@mindspring.com.