My signed copy of Living the American Dream

Before we delve into the contents of the book, here are scans of the front cover of the Henry Kimelman memoir and of the author's autographed inscription. The bookseller’s listing had noted that the book had been autographed for a former ambassador, yet the script mentions only Hannah and Phil, so I wondered how they knew it was to a former ambassador.

A quick search on Hannah Phil ambassador immediately answered the question. From Wikipedia:

Philip Mayer Kaiser (July 12, 1913 – May 24, 2007) was a United States diplomat. On June 16, 1939, Philip Kaiser married Hannah Greeley. Kaiser served in the United States Department of Labor as Assistant Secretary of Labor for International Affairs, during the administration of President Harry S. Truman. He was a special assistant to Governor Averill Harriman of New York from 1955 to 1959. Later during the administration of President John Kennedy, Kaiser was ambassador to Senegal and Mauritania. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he persuaded the President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, to deny the Soviet Union landing rights to refuel its planes. Finally, during the administration of Jimmy Carter, Philip Kaiser served as ambassador to Hungary. While ambassador to Hungary, Philip Kaiser was instrumental in the return of the Crown of St. Stephen to the Hungarian government from the United States in 1978. [4] After serving as ambassador to Austria, Philip Kaiser retired from government service in 1981.

It is not hard to imagine that when Philip Kaiser passes away in 2007, eight years after receiving a copy of his friend Henry Kimelman’s memoir, that his book collection would return to circulation and this volume would end up at a Maryland bookseller who is listed at Amazon.com.

Finally, here's the dedication page of Henry's book, honoring his wife, three children and six grandchildren. The John and Susan mentioned here were two of the family members who contacted me.