About
I was an American in Paris in May 1968. I witnessed the barricades in the Latin Quarter—felt the energy of students, writers, and artists seeking to change the world.
I fell in love with Paris that May. The history, architecture, language, food, culture, and the passion of each generation that has shaped her.
For two centuries, Paris was where young American writers and artists sought an inspirational rite of passage drawn by the intoxicating appeal of the ancient city.
I reveled in the powerful mystique of the “lost generation,” the Paris of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Waldo Peirce, Sylvia Beach, T. S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein.
The epoch may have changed, but the allure of Paris lives on, no less strong a gravitational force today than in generations gone by. Paris remains a destination of the heart.
Bill Pearl’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 1970s, 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. In addition, he is the author of two award-winning chapbooks of poetry, Heart Songs and China Heart.
The screenplay of Hearts on Fire ranked in the top 24% of projects on Coverfly, a clearing house for the entertainment industry.
Bill is a Rotarian and three times president of the Rotary Club of Palm Beach, Florida. His proudest moments in Rotary have been in organizing professional exchanges between America and France.
“In today’s overcommunicated world where the internet has drowned out journalistic integrity, supplanting it with hyperbole and fear-mongering – some of it inspired by malevolent actors – it is more complex than ever to think beyond the comfort of polarized positions and come together to achieve mutual and collective understanding. Love and connection, personal and community are easily lost in the turmoil of ignorance and confusion. We need to move beyond this.”
