Since his earliest childhood in Texas, Bruce Byers has traveled and lived in many different locales around the world. He frequently had to start out as the new kid and adjust to the local culture. Church activities and Boy Scouts played significant roles in his youth and adolescence. He learned many skills and, perhaps most important, how to be self-reliant. Survival camping in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico taught him to be resilient and inventive especially in winter weather.

During high school in Albuquerque several teachers challenged him to do better. With the encouragement of his French language teacher, he applied for a foreign exchange student grant, hoping to live with a family in France. He was accepted in the 1960 American Field Service summer program and was welcomed by a family in Germany. His experiences with them changed his life and helped him pursue a life-long career in international affairs.

Through a series of fortunate circumstances, Bruce began his college studies in Munich in 1961. European History, German literature, and Latin became major guideposts in his intellectual development. He continued to travel around the Continent during semester breaks and wrote journals about his experiences that, more than fifty years later, have become the backbone of his current writing efforts.

Returning to the United States in 1965 Bruce entered graduate school at the University of Maryland and continued studying modern European history. After earning a Master’s degree he changed majors and studied Russian and Soviet history in pursuit of a Ph.D. He worked as a translator. Later, he worked in the Office of the Historian at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington, D.C.

In 1971 Bruce received an appointment in the Foreign Service with the U.S. Information Agency and began language study before moving with his family to his first overseas assignment. He developed his career in public affairs and served in different diplomatic positions in South Asia, Europe, and East Asia. During all of these years Bruce wrote about his experiences and travels.

He retired from the U.S. State Department in 2000 and continued working part-time for several years in the Office of International Visitors. He applied his knowledge of the peoples, societies, and countries in which he had lived during his career to developing programs for official visitors. He has continued writing that is reflective of his travels and his life among people of different cultures and regions of our planet. He has posted essays on foreign policy topics on AmericanDiplomacy.org and has written commentary for the Foreign Service Journal.