After a successful and rewarding detour of forty years in radio and real estate, Bill Pearl turned back to becoming an author. Bill’s experiences as a student in Paris inspired his first novel, Hearts on Fire, Paris 1968. His experiences in a family business and longstanding interest in Vietnam inspired the sequel, Mission in Paris 1990, which he researched with visits to Vietnam, Paris, and Auvergne, France. Bill holds a master's degree in International Relations with a specialty in diplomatic history. During the 1970’s he served as a speechwriter for John C. Sawhill and Frank Zarb, the first heads of the Federal Energy Administration, and wrote a weekly column for 800 newspapers in the United States. His poetry and prose have been published in Time Magazine, the George Washington University Hatchet, and Paris Voices, Paris, France. He is the author of two award-winning chapbooks of poetry, Heart Songs and China Heart.