Distaff Diplomacy or My Elegant Life As a Diplomat's Wife

About the Book

DISTAFF DIPLOMACY, a fascinating, funny and often irreverent look at life in Canada's Foreign Service, gives an insider's view of diplomacy and of travels in exotic and distant lands. This down-to-earth account of the life of a Canadian Foreign Service Officer's wife abroad, covers some thirty years.
It consists of six parts - one for each of the cities in which George and Rae lived, namely Ottawa, New York city, Vienna, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, and Port of Spain, Trinidad.

About the Author

Rae Hardy grew up in the village of Alliance, Alberta and in Edmonton before moving to Toronto where she studied film editing. Between 1953 and 1981 she accompanied her husband, George Hardy, on diplomatic postings to New York City, New York; Vienna, Austria; Helsinki, Finland; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Port of Spain, Trinidad.
She kept copious notes of her Foreign Service travels and started writing in earnest in Trinidad during the compiling of her mother's memoirs, which ultimately became her first book, "Along the Flagstaff Trail".
She has written numerous interviews, as well as about 200 humourous and historical articles for newspapers and magazines across Canada.
On her return to Ottawa in the late 70s, Rae joined the Canadian Authors Association and served on the executive, consecutively holding several offices for ten years, including a two-year stint as branch President.
The Hardys retired to Victoria in 1986 where Rae continued her work with the Canadian Authors Association.
George Hardy passed away in 1998 and shortly thereafter Rae moved to Nanaimo, where her daughter, Elizabeth resides. At present, Rae has two other works in progress and has lately become interested in poetry, taking classes via e-mail.