Career
Following the Nazi occupation of France in World War II, he fled to England and under Charles de Gaulle served with the Free French Forces in Europe and North Africa. As a pilot, he took part in over 25 successful sorties, logging over 65 hours of air time. During this time, he changed his name to Romain Gary. He was greatly decorated for his bravery in the war, receiving many medals and honours among which Compagnon de la Libération and commander of the Légion d'honneur. It was in 1945 that he published his first novel Education européenne . Immediately following his service in the war, he worked in the French diplomatic service in Bulgaria and Switzerland., ultimately becoming the secretary of the French Delegation to the United Nations in New York, in 1952. In 1956, he became Consul General List of diplomatic missions of France#North America of France in Los Angeles. It was in this post he became acquainted with Hollywood.
Read more about this topic: Romain Gary
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Work-family conflicts—the trade-offs of your money or your life, your job or your child—would not be forced upon women with such sanguine disregard if men experienced the same career stalls caused by the-buck-stops-here responsibility for children.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)
“He was at a starting point which makes many a man’s career a fine subject for betting, if there were any gentlemen given to that amusement who could appreciate the complicated probabilities of an arduous purpose, with all the possible thwartings and furtherings of circumstance, all the niceties of inward balance, by which a man swings and makes his point or else is carried headlong.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)