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After being hauled out of a rice paddy in Vietnam in 1969 and then spending 18 months in various neuro-psychiatric wards in the USA, with time, David Holdridge evolved to become a stalwart in the promotion of the American Narrative overseas. As such, he witnessed that promotion grow from a rather lonely pursuit to the global industry it is today; most commonly known in the West as “Overseas Relief and Development”. The Avant Garde of Western Civ and The Water below are stories of a ‘foot-soldier’ and his family as they sought to provide salve and transformation within various wars and their aftermath from 1980–2017. It explores how difficult and often complicit ‘giving’ can be. And how ‘untoward’, as it was transformed into a ‘force multiplier’ by the United States Government. His books follow the family of four from the Middle East to the Maghreb, to Africa, to Asia, Russia, the Balkans and back to the Middle East. Partially a policy critique, partially an expose of how the “Charity Industry” hoodwinks the Western public but more often about the struggles of a family as it confronts the threats to its own survival. Since 1981, David has been the author of dozens of Op-Eds, participated in as many TV and Radio interviews, and has been the head of an advocacy organization in Washington DC.
Prize Americana for Prose 2015: David Holdridge
David Holdridge served in the Vietnam War in 1969 as an infantry platoon leader outside of Chu Lai. He was wounded and spent eighteen months getting repaired at various hospitals in the United States, culminating with operations at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut where neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb managed to free him from his trauma. Subsequently, he spent thirty-five years working with humanitarian organizations amidst populations suffering from war, exploitation, and impoverishment, including assignments in West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. From 2010 to 2012, he directed an advocacy effort in Washington D.C., which argued for significant transformation of the current systems and approaches of American assistance abroad. Currently, he commutes from Beirut, Lebanon to his farm in Vermont, managed by his wife, Annie. His daughter Hank was born in Beirut; his son, Alex, in Tunis.
ADVOCACY---The Middle East
Holdridge can relate his own compelling personal stories of the successes and failures of delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. relief funds over decades, some of which with sustainable results but a great deal of which were misdirected by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. who had no on the ground experience of the cultures, religions and needs of the refugees and war ravaged populations they were trying to win over. He is a natural storyteller. His stories are brought to life by a mélange of colorful characters, from intimidating spies to morally compromised Clerics to predatory US contractors.
Holdridge is an experienced radio, podcast, bookstore, academic and round table speaker and guest. While he has no crystal ball, he can clearly and sometimes emotionally connect the dots leading to the current deadly Israeli – Hamas war and suggest some shrewd possibilities for the outcome. He is available for remote interviews and travel in the US at large.