Staying Alive: Surviving Surprises

A chance meeting on an English Channel ferry changed her life from safe and predictable to one of potentially

perilous adventures. 1960s Africa was in turmoil. Opportunistic leaders took power and bullied their way to the top. They needed resources like the helicopter pilot she met on the ferry. That's how they ended up in Nigeria during an ugly civil war. Having committed to supporting Biafra, the author tells intimate details of day-to-day life on the edge of despair. These true stories touch on her defiance, escapes to normalcy, sad and deadly experiences, and the abrupt ending to her time in Biafra.

Her stories resume in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Now a wife and mother, the challenges of living in a police state without personal freedom strike deeply into the author's heart.

This is a different kind of fear. Again with her resilient spirit she manages to overcome constant threats, shakes

off the demons, hugs her son, and carries on.