THE SON OF A NEW YORK CITY POLICEMAN, William R. Meara studied international affairs and economics at Manhattan College. While a student, he worked as a volunteer English teacher at a Catholic mission school in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. As an army officer, he graduated from Ft. Bragg's Special Forces and Foreign Area Officer courses and served in Honduras, El Salvador, and Panama. In El Salvador, Bill was one of fifty-five American trainer/advisers assisting in the struggle against the Communist FMLN. After leaving the army, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service and was sent back to Honduras as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador, serving as one of the embassy's liaison officers to the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance (the contras). A career diplomat, Bill went on to serve in Spain's Basque country, in the Dominican Republic, in the United Kingdom and in Italy. From 2000-2003 he was principal officer and American consul in the Azores islands of Portugal. He can be reached at bill.meara@gmail.com.