Emissary's Tales

In 1991, Delta Air Lines purchased Pan Am's European route structure, causing the large and difficult task of visiting each of Pan Am's international marketing and reservations offices to assess which employees remained essential to operations-and which were not. Author Terrence Burns was part of the acquisitions team saddled with this responsibility, and "Emissary's Tales" is his heartfelt account.

Burns's travels to cities like Rome, Madrid, and Moscow, maintain a tourist-like wonder with a businesslike purpose. His curiosity in different types of people and their cultures results in an emotional, and at times humorous, memoir that paints three-dimensional portraits of those he encounters and, on occasion, befriends. These individuals are in most instances much older than him, with much more experience, yet this acquisition has suddenly placed their futures in his hands. A strong sense of humility and compassion wraps each of his interactions in the true humanity of the moment, resulting in a compelling narrative.

Follow Burns from Frankfurt, Germany, to Moscow, Russia, just one year after the fall of the USSR, in this unique travelogue that hits the tourist traps but truly comes to life in his listening and learning while traveling abroad for the first time.